Over the hype of 2017 already? Today is February 23rd and my iphone says it's 16degrees out. I did my laundry in a tank top and shorts. What a frightening winter.
I have seen posters for WaterAid on the TTC subway for months now and finally got a chance to look into it. WaterAid is an international organization that works to provide safe water and sanitation in 37 different countries. Their approach is inclusive and their impact has reached over 25 million people. It's pretty amazing. I'm not a consistent donor of any charity, but WaterAid reminded me of a number of charities and organizations that focus on clean water and sanitation. I started to wonder how many of these organizations exist. Where are they all working and is all of their impact this great? How are we still so far from EVERYONE having clean drinking water if we are doing so much work towards it? Through doing some research I really didn't find my answers (I feel like this is a phd thesis) and realized I'll have to continue learning about the role of charities over time.
Goodnet (founded in 2011, which reminds me of Good Magazine's website, founded in 2006) has a list of "7 Water Organizations You Should Know" (remind me to do a blog about how aggravating internet lists are). The organizations focus on clean water and sanitation for both rural and urban areas through donations, school or sales. I also discovered a list created by The Water Brothers- wait, what's Water Brothers?
The Water Brothers is a series produced by TVO (<- the bombdiggity) premiering season 4 on March 3rd! The Water brothers have an awesome list of water-based organizations and charities on their Education tab that showcases firstly, more Canadian-based companies, and secondly, organizations doing a larger range of work. Similar to the other list, there are organizations working on clean water around the world, there are also a number of water protection, restoration, reef, ice, plastic and environmental footprint based projects. One that I recognized and love, but haven't been overly active in including in my life consistently is Ocean Wise. Ocean Wise is a Vancouver-based organization that is focused on sustainable seafood and has created relationships with restaurants, stores, retailers and shops to provide Canada with sustainable seafood. I love this organization because it does the work for you. Ocean Wise has done the work of understanding what is in season in our oceans as well as sorting out farming vs wild fishing sustainability practises. All we have to do as fisheaters, is buy it! Make the effort to go to the shops and markets that have an Ocean Wise partnership and be a conscious consumer (blogpost foreshadowing). Their website even has a map of where their partners are located. They really can't make it any easier.
In reflection this post has brought out an example of something I think about quite a bit. I realize that I am a fan of efficiency (not convenience, efficiency), and even though I understand the benefits of having variety, I don't understand replication. For example, I understand having a variety of independently owned coffee shops scattered throughout the neighbourhoods of a city. The range of owners gives each shop individuality, it has potential to become a hub for a specific community, and prevents the shops from having tp uphold similar standards (aka starbucks), amoung other things. I get that. But...is it the same with charities? If multiple charities have the same mission and the people who run the charities work from and in the same countries...wouldn't it benefit the charity's mission to band together? To combine resources and ideas and work together? Even when I think about my place in the dance community, I think about what exists, what is needed, and what I have to offer. And that's what I try to do. In the arts community, similar to the avenues of social good, there is no room for competition. If we want to be successful in changing the world and contributing to, it we have to work together.
Similar to the ending of my last post, maybe I'm missing something. You are always invited to inform me.
Happy Spring.