🤐 A Vow of Silence for Water

My journey to eliminate the single use plastic water bottle began with a 30 day pledge on February 21, 2018. That pledge became a challenge, that challenge created a habit, and that habit became my lifestyle. It’s been 1,226 days since my pledge to #DrinkDifferent and I’ve recorded savings of 919 plastic bottles since I started keeping tally. Today I am making another pledge.

In years past during Plastic Free July, a month-long global movement that helps millions of people be part of the solution to plastic pollution, Tap activated beach clean ups around the world. This July, I am taking a vow of silence for 30 days to raise awareness for the plastic pollution crisis and the global water crisis. I am choosing silence for the sake of the children of our planet, and will take part in the WE Charity’s #WeAreSilent Campaign.

Our voices are a powerful tool for social change — and so is our silence.
- WE Charity

In a social media world where everyone has a voice, I feel like there is far too much noise.* We live in a world where the most influential people, in particular those in power politically and socially, are not speaking enough about climate change and not doing enough to end this crisis before hundreds of millions of people die and potentially billions are displaced from their homes. While at times it can feel like the climate crisis is far away, or that we still have enough time to address it, people are dying around the world today — children in particular — from water related illnesses.

The WHO estimated in 2019 that “829,000 people die each year from diarrhea as a result of unsafe drinking-water, sanitation, and hand hygiene. Yet diarrhea is largely preventable, and the deaths of 297,000 children aged under 5 years could be avoided each year if these risk factors were addressed. Where water is not readily available, people may decide hand washing is not a priority, thereby adding to the likelihood of diarrhea and other diseases.” Bad water is literally liquid death.

We all learned the importance of proper hand washing during the COVID-19 pandemic. Right now in America 58 out of 1,000 Native American households don’t have access to indoor plumbing — I saw this firsthand. Just imagine if you didn’t have running water in your home, how much sicker you and your family could have been in the past 18 months? I believe clean tap water is a human right because it’s a matter of gender, social, and racial justice.

Bottled water is not the answer to these problems. According to research in The Big Thirst by Charles Fishman, in 2010 Americans spent $21 billion a year on bottled water, while $29 billion was spent on maintaining and improving the entire water infrastructure. Regardless of the type of packaging, bottled water is a symptom of a much greater problem of a failing tap water system.

Almost everyone heard Greta Thunberg’s rally cry that “our house is on fire.” It was the right time and place for the children to speak up and be heard. I think the time is now for the the adults to stop talking and start listening.**

So, here goes. I pledge to be silent and not speak a word for 30 days to:

• Raise awareness for the plastic pollution crisis and inspire you to refuse single use plastics in your life this July.

• Raise awareness for the dire needs of children, women, the poor, and BIPOC communities who are disproportionately affected by lack of access to clean water.

• To inspire silence in you — be it an hour, a day, a week — because “the quieter you become, the more you can hear.”

If you wish to honor me with financial support for this artistic challenge, donations can be made to the WE Charity with the earmark for “Clean Drinking Water and Basic Sanitation.”

Talk with you later.***

-SIR aka Captain Planet

Notes
* For example, have you ever seen an Instagram post of the beautiful turquoise waters in the Maldives make any mention of how vulnerable these islands are to disappearing by the end of the century? What a buzz kill! I see countless Instagram stories from revelers dancing the night away in Tulum, but how many are even aware of the poisoned waters in its underground aquifer? I certainly wasn’t when I was there in 2015/16. The recent trend of changing outfits set to Busta Rhymes “Touch It” on TikTok “flexed” consumerism, yet behind the changing curtain is a fashion industry with poverty wages for garment workers that’s labeled modern slavery. Of course, there are exceptions. Shout out Venetia La Manna, for your inspirational work to educate and be fashionable with your #oootd (old outfit of the day), and Max La Manna for your inspirational work to eliminate food waste, reduce carbon emissions, and eliminate food packaging.

** I was very much inspired by John Francis, an activist who took a 17 year vow of silence.

*** I will selectively utilize written communication primarily for work; however, not at the expense of artistic expression.