Nothing is softer or more flexible than water, yet nothing can resist it. ~ Lao Tzu

For this month’s theme, Green Living on a Blue Planet, we focus on one of the most basic and important things in life—water. As the world’s
population grows and pressure increases on our natural resources, reliable sources of fresh water become an ever more precious resource. Many environmentalists and economists predict future wars will be fought not over oil, but over water rights and holdings.

In our feature article, “Water Water Everywhere… But Will There Be Enough?” Sandra Postel suggests some proven community solutions to this crisis. It’s clear that cities, towns and rural areas everywhere must move now to manage water supplies if we are to have enough water for present and future needs.

But wow, it’s eye-opening to learn of the volume of water used to produce our food and common household items. Have you ever considered the tonnage of water used to manufacture a computer, television or car that we replace every few years? A new pair of jeans costs 2,800 gallons of fresh water to produce.

What about golf courses? They collectively cost U.S. citizens 3.1 billion gallons of water a day, and only a small percentage of it recycled wastewater. Reading the list on page 22 reminded me how easy it is for us to take water for granted.

We do not have to completely live “off the grid,” as Daryl Hannah does at home in “Loving a Sustainable Life.” But there are many things we can do right where we are. The more we are aware of the impacts our daily practices have on the environment, the better we are able to contribute to the conservation of our precious God-given resources, including energy and water.

Don’t forget to pick up a copy of our 2011-2012 Conscious Living Resource Directory Directory, available free all over Tucson. It contains a comprehensive listing of holistic and alternative healthcare providers, products and spiritual options for you to explore.

When oxygen and hydrogen find one another, their joining produces fiery passion. Out of this fire, water is born. Quaint Victorian chemistry gives us an image of one oxygen and two hydrogen atoms in a fixed molecule that bounces around from place to place. The reality of water is not so orderly. The hydrogen atoms are not owned by any particular oxygen atom. Water is a substance very much in love with itself, and the atoms connect in webs and clusters where oxygen shares around the hydrogen atoms freely, a fluid situation indeed. ~ Ian D. Anderson, Ian Lurking Bear