Living Downstream, Walking Upstream
Living Downstream, Walking Upstream
(27) Living Downstream, Walking Upstream - Melissa Schultz, Department of Chemistry
Water is essential for life. Yet, it is a resource that we often take for granted in developed countries. In many parts of the world, including parts of the United States, access to clean, fresh water is a growing concern. Today’s high-intensity industrial agriculture coupled with the ever-growing world population has quickened the pace of water’s depletion and pollution. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon has warned that “water wars” might fuel the major conflicts of this century, and many have warned that “water will be the 21st century’s oil”. This seminar will critically explore the many issues related to water from cultural, scientific, environmental, and political perspectives. Specifically, we will examine the connection between water and one’s (cultural) identity, the unique molecular properties of water, water footprints, sources and routes of water contamination, the bottled water debate, and the politics of water, including privatization and fracking. Readings will include regular excerpts from the New York Times and other media, as well as texts by, for example, Akiko Busch (Nine Ways to Cross a River), Alex Prud’homme (The Ripple Effect), Sandra Steingraber (Living Downstream), Charles Fishman (Big Thirst), and Peter Gleick (Bottled and Sold). Finally, we will explore and rethink how we approach and use water from small lifestyle changes such as reducing our shower times and rainwater harvesting to the larger scale innovations from global corporations that reduce water consumption.