EVENT

PATTERNS

STRUCTURES

MENTAL MODELS

in 2040 most of the world won't have enough drinking-water to meet year-round demand

misjudged value of drinking-water by government and citizen

major cities like Cape Town, Sao Paulo, Melbourne, Jakarta, London, Beijing, Istanbul, Tokyo, Bangalore, Barcelona and Mexico City all face their Day Zero in the next few decades

only 1% of the water on earth is liquid fresh water, climate change makes available water much more eratic, access to drinking-water depends on where you live, water consumption has increased sevenfold over the last century, most water is used for agriculture and industry, only 8% for personal use

water source
(surface water,
ground water)

water treatment plant

waste water plant

sewer lines

distribution

water tower/
storage

water mains + service lines

discharge

Industry

Agriculture

industrial waste, pesticides, animal waste, pollution, leaks

water

salt

fish, shellfish (seafood)

beer

toothpaste, shampoo, cosmetics

microplastic for peeling effect

water treatment

desalination

salt production

~60% of clothing is synthetic

we consume ~5g of plastic per week
(equivalent of 1 credit card)

~10% of produced plastic

breaks into smaller particles

fish eat plastic particles

sewer system

increasing use of plastic

1769 particles

11
particles

182
particles

10
particles

(both tap and bottled water)

Fresh water plays an irreplaceable role in all of our lives. Our body is made of 50-65% water, we can not survive without drinking it for more than a couple of days, and it is also used in most industrial processes. And yet, we do not value it accordingly, even though we are slowly running out of fresh water resources.
Not only are we wasting drinking-water because of leakages or inefficient use in the industry and agriculture, but we are also polluting it with plastic and other toxins from industrial and agricultural waste so much that we are consuming around 5g of plastic a week.
At first glance polluting our oceans might not seem connected to our drinking-water problem, as ocean water is undrinkable for us. But when I applied Linda Booth Sweeney's system thinking technique, I was able to see the bigger picture and the connections from ocean water to the water coming out of our tap and the food on our table. Around 10% of all produced plastic finds its way into the ocean, and an increasing amount of this plastic finds its way back to us. Desalinating is not a widespread enough technique to explain the high amount of micro-plastic in our water and food, but if we also take a look at lets say two more ocean-based productions like fishing (plastic breaks down into smaller particles over time, through waves, salt and sunlight, and gets eaten by fish, whales and turtles, which are then captured by us humans) and the salt production (ocean water evaporates and leaves salt, but also micro-plastic and other components behind, and salt being used in almost all processed food and in the production of dairy products such as cheese or butter), the extent of possible ways in which plastic finds its way into our bodies becomes apparent. The micro-plastic and the toxin, which hitchhike onto the plastic, enter our fresh-water system and are difficult to filter out, and therefore this reinforcing feedback loop happens, where more and more micro-plastic gets into our drinking-water. Bottled water is also contaminated with micro-plastic, as it is often simply bottled tap water and the federal regulations are often less strict than those for tap water. Additionally this builds another reinforcing feedback loop, as these bottles might end up in the ocean again, because of the lack of recycling systems in many countries.

THEORY ESSAY:

A quote from Arturo Escobar's “Designs for the Pluriverse” stuck with me during my research: “Collaborative organizations should be considered as bottom-up initiatives not, because everything happens at grassroots level, but because the precondition for their existence is the active involvement of the people concerned.“ I feel like this concerns pretty much every problem, but especially global issues, as the people who are concerned, so mostly normal citizen, should be much more invested into these issues, because if we put our strength together there is so much we can accomplish, or to put it into Escobar's words: “[...]the potential for gaining strength through connection is huge.“
I found most of my other sources through documentaries and the associated website of the organization which produced them, which linked their information further to governmental institutes and special agency, such as the World Health Organization (WHO) or the World Wide Fund For Nature (WWF).
We need to use water and plastic much more responsible and establish a better working recycling system to save resources, money, energy and ultimately the planet. Therefore my awareness campaign is aimed at teenagers and young adults, as they have a much bigger interest in stopping the ongoing pollution, as they still have to live on this planet for a long time. Additionally, they are widely connected through the internet and can also have a huge influence on the behavior of their parents and grandparents, as they want to make sure their (grand)children have a bright future ahead of them.

Practice - Emilio

Theory

Practice - Bibi