Matinees that Matter Follow-Up Resources


APRIL'S FILM: FLOW

Worried about water?
HERE’S WHAT YOU CAN DO TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE....

Right to Water

Water is essential to life - no one should be able to control it or expropriate it for profit. When water becomes an expensive market commodity, basic rights become privileges that are earned only by the depth of one’s pocket.

Action Tips...

  • Just say “no” to bottled water consumption.  Bring water from home in a reusable container or use a product like Clear2Go™ water bottles, with its own replaceable filter. 
  • Learn the facts about bottled water at New Dream.
  • Help fund wells in Africa. Donate to Charity: Water.
  • Contribute to mapping North America’s local springs. Visit www.findaspring.com.
  • Take action to protect the right of water for all. Write to Congress.

Organizations...

  • A Child’s Right is committed to providing the very best in water purification technologies and clean water systems to desperate children in orphanages, street shelters, children's hospitals and schools in impoverished nations throughout the world.

  • The Alliance for Democracy: Articles and actions on Alliance efforts to keep water resources in the public trust and "Water for People and Nature," a broad overview of the problem in the U.S. and around the world.

  • PlayPumps International’s mission is help improve the lives of children and their families by providing easy access to clean drinking water, enhancing public health, and offering play equipment to millions across Africa.  

  • Food & Water Watch is a nonprofit consumer organization that works to ensure clean water and safe food. We challenge the corporate control and abuse of our food and water resources by empowering people to take action and by transforming the public consciousness about what we eat and drink.

  • New American Dream- The Center for a New American Dream helps Americans consume responsibly to protect the environment, enhance quality of life, and promote social justice. Great material on bottled water.

  • Think Outside the Bottle is a campaign of Corporate Accountability International, working to promote, protect and ensure public funding for our public water systems.

Books...

Articles...

  • Synopsis on bottled water use and alternatives. Link here.
  • What's Nestle doing with the water in Michigan, California, Maine and other places? Hear the truth from the people who live there. Read Article.
  • Compilation of water stories in the news by Alternet. Read More.
  • Yes! Magazine 2004 Winter Issue- Whose Water? Read More.

Protect Water Quality

Water quality is commonly defined by its physical, chemical and biological characteristics. A healthy environment is one in which the water quality supports many different organisms and protects public health.

Action Tips...

Organizations...

  • People for the Puget Sound is a citizens' group established to protect and restore the health of our land and waters through education and action.  

  • WSU Beach Watchers are members of communities around Puget Sound who are dedicated to learning about its creatures, landscape and natural resources so that we can better protect this priceless heritage.

  • USGS- WA Water Science Center: Monitoring water quality in the Puget Sound basin.

  • Environmental Protection Agency: Drinking Water and Health: What you Need to Know.

  • Seattle’s Restore Our Waters program goals are to reduce stormwater runoff and water pollution, and restore aquatic habitat in the city's waters. For more information please visit the website.

  • Wastewater Works- To advocate for modern water treatment and usage policies.

Books...

Articles...

  • Unique Drainage System Will Filter Capitol Hill Stormwater ‘Swale on Yale’ Will be Nation’s First Large-scale Urban Biofiltration System. Read Article.
  • Kitsap County and all four of its cities are rapidly embracing cleaner stormwater systems, commonly called low-impact development. Read Article.

 

 

Conserve Water in your Garden

From May through September, water use in our region nearly doubles, primarily for lawns and gardens. Experts estimate that 50% or more of this water goes to waste, due to evaporation, runoff, or simply overwatering.

Action Tips...

  • Landscape your yard with native, drought-tolerant plants that reduce water use.  For a list of plants that thrive in a variety of NW conditions link here.  
  • Build better soil with compost and mulch. Good soil absorbs water easily, drains well and retains moisture. Mix compost into the soil when planting, and mulch   established beds with organic material each year to improve your soil.
  • Harvest rainwater! Install a rain barrel to collect and use small amounts, or a cistern for larger amounts. Link here for more information.
  • Water early in the morning to avoid excessive evaporation from the midday sun.
  • More garden watering conservation tips:
    http://www.almanac.com/garden/starting-garden/watering-garden
    http://www.cityofbremerton.com/content/wc_conservationgarden.html
Organizations...

Books...

Video...

  • Creating a Home Graywater System Follow the water as it drains from the bathroom tub (and sink and laundry) through a unique valve leading into the backyard garden, where it supplies water for plants growing above it.

 

Conserve Water in your Home

Water conservation has proven successful in reducing supply problems over the long and short terms. By using water efficiently, we are being good stewards of this precious resource.

Action Tips...

  • If your toilet predates 2000, replace it with a dual flush or high efficiency toilet, or install a conversion kit for your existing toilet to reduce water usage to current standards - 1.6 gallons. For more information go to www.epa.gov/watersense.
  • Install a showerhead that flows at 2.0 gallons per minute (gpm). Link here for more information.
  • Retrofit all water-wasteful faucets by installing 1.0 gpm bath aerators and 2.0 gpm   kitchen aerators.
  • Fix your leaks. Dripping faucets and other leaks can add up to thousands of wasted   gallons. Visit: http://savingwater.org/inside_fixLeakWeek.htm.
  • 15-minute, surefire way to find out if you've got a leak: Turn off all the H2O inside and outside your house, then look for your water meter. If the meter's hand is moving, you've got a leak. If it's not moving, note the position of the meter and recheck it in 10 minutes. If it moved, you've got a slow leak.

Rebate Offers for Low-Flush Toilets
On Bainbridge Island, the water billing department gives rebates to install low flow toilets if the customer is on their sewer system: $100 per toilet or half of the cost of a new toilet.   Call City Hall at 842-7633 or go to www.ci.bainbridge-isl.wa.us/utility

Through the “Saving Water Partnership”, the Kitsap Public Utility District currently only offers free low-flow toilets or $100 per-toilet rebate to apartment complexes or condo associations.  For assistance, contact Billie Fisher at billie.fisher@seattle.gov  or (206) 615-1282

Organizatons...

Books...

Make Small Changes to your Daily Routine

By making conscious and deliberate choices with your water usage, you can save thousands of gallons a year within your own household.

  • Take short showers instead of baths. Showers usually save 40 gallons of water over baths. Shorten your shower by 1 minute and remember to turn the water off while brushing your teeth, shaving, etc.
  • Your toilet is NOT a trash can.  Disposing of trash down toilets can lead to sewer   overflows and backups that can cause harm to human health and our local   environment.  Flush only toilet paper. Use the trash can for everything else.
  • Scrape grease and food scraps from cooking surfaces into a container and compost or put in the trash.  Over time, grease build-up can block pipes and cause sewage   backups. Link here to find out what goes where!
  • Be sure all your soaps, shampoos and detergents are free of sulfates & phosphates.  Both chemicals suffocate oxygen levels in the water and contribute to algae blooms.
  • Link here for small and large investments you can make to conserve water.
  • Link here for no cost water-saving tips.

 

Get Involved Locally

  • Read the Bainbridge Island Ground Water Report. Link here.
  • The Bainbridge Island Watershed Council is an all-volunteer group of citizens concerned about the health and integrity of Bainbridge Island's Watersheds. They meet monthly and welcome your participation.
  • Get invloved with the new Water Resource Action Committee. Contact info@sustainablebainbridge.net and we will forward your email to the organizers.

Other Helpful Organizations...

  • Circle of Blue is the international network of leading journalists, scientists and communications design experts that reports and presents the information necessary to respond to the global freshwater crisis.
  • Polaris Institute- The CEO Water Mandate is a voluntary corporate driven initiative within the confines of the United Nations Global Compact. This fact sheet exposes how companies who profit from selling and exploiting water for private gains are using the United Nations to legitimize their damaging impacts.
  • Clean Water Action- Clean Water Action is an organization of 1.2 million members working to empower people to take action to protect America's waters, build healthy communities and to make democracy work for all of us.
  • Water for Humans is a nonprofit social venture enterprise working to bring clean water solutions to communities in need by partnering with local, social entrepreneurs. These partnerships ensure clean drinking water, local job creation, and the protection of local water assets.