Following on from the first post in our water miracle series (It’ll take a miracle… and we can do that) – how do we go from the knowledge of the solutions needed to achieving practical change? Here are five things we can do in any given scenario listed above to help move the country towards the water miracle needed:
1. Practice voluntary simplicity
How can that help? Well, by minimising the trail of stuff in our lives, right back to source, we can begin to live without unnecessary ingredients in our foodstuffs (avoiding food with chemicals added during growing, avoiding cosmetics and cleaning products with toxins and microplastics, avoiding artificial fibre clothing and the many thousands of individual plastic particles released into waterways with each wash). That all has direct benefits for water quality at the point of manufacture of each individual ingredient and also at the point of use (or specifically, downgradient of the point of use, when the septic tank effluent reaches the water table).
2. Spend money consciously
Use the vote that is your spending power to support the world you want rather than going for the cheapest option. Thus we can support local regenerative farmers in the market, or suppliers who use ecofriendly methods of manufacture which minimise water pollution.
3. Engage in advocacy
Speak truth to power. While groundswell, bottom-up actions are what will probably see us herald in a new future, sometimes that means flagging the top-down changes that are needed. People generally want to do the right thing, and sometimes a letter, an email or a phone call can be the nudge needed to push through policies that are actively beneficial for water quality.
4. Hold hands
Link in with others. Many heads are generally better than one when it comes to bringing about change, and it’s certainly more encouraging to have company in any endeavour. Whether it’s learning from others about Korean Natural Farming, linking in with your local Tidy Towns group to put in community rain gardens or working together to build a large stormwater community wetland for radically improving your local river water quality, having others to share the process with is well worth while.
5. Hold the vision
Imagine the future you want. See the waterways alive with salmon; smell the tangy salty air of the estuary after the wastewater system has been upgraded and overhauled; taste the freshness of the mountain stream, clean and clear and safe to drink; Hear the birdsong along the riverbanks on your farm, where they nest and breed in the new riparian woodland. The newest developments in the area of quantum physics, consciousness studies and healing all point towards a certain magic in the world that responds to our thoughts and intentions (call it science if you prefer, but remember that it’s not Newtonian cause and effect as we learned it at school!). The clearer the vision, the surer the outcome. Now is a time for clarity of a beautiful vision of what could be. Go ahead, nurture the miracle. Expect the amazing!
If you’re interested in a more general view of these five things, check out this talk given to the Eco-Quaker group in 2020: Five things you can do for the Environment.