Taking Water For Granted

Reading my friend Liz's blog about water reminded me of an amazing issue of National Geographic I read recently (the April 2010 issue). Please - click on the magazine cover for a link to some incredible pictures and even more incredible stories (or better yet, go to the library and read the hard copy).

I realized just how much we take water for granted in our country. There were some interesting stats:

• 2.5% of Earth's water is fresh. About 2/3 of that is frozen. That leaves less than 1% to grow crops and supply drinking water.
• Americans use about 100 gallons of water each day. Millions of the world's poorest subsist on less than 5 gallons.
• Women in developing countries walk an average of 3.7 MILES to get water.
  
• There is a picture of women in Kenya who spend 5 HOURS each day carrying heavy jugs to get their water.
• In Florida, 3,000 gallons are used to water the grass for each golf game played.
  

I'm being more careful about the water I use. After seeing how fortunate we are to have the luxury of clean running water, it has made me feel grateful each time I fill up a glass of water.