This staff post is by Timothy Evans. He has worked for Transprint for eight months in our IT department. In a former life, Tim has also worked as a graphic designer. In addition to his work in our New York office, being a husband, and father, he attended the Parsons School of Design.

My 8-year-old daughter, Maritai, came home from school a few weeks ago and, as usual, I asked her what she had learned that day. Turns out, it was a lesson on the values of the “Three R’s.” But not the ones you’d expect. Maritai was talking about Reduce – Reuse – Recycle.

The lesson showed the kids that there are many simple things one can do to make the earth a better place for the future. Maritai reminded me that using something once and tossing it into the trash is a wasteful habit. Maritai told me, “We are the stewards of our planet.” Sounds like the lesson certainly caught her attention.

Of course, this wasn’t news for Maritai. At home, we teach our children about the importance of recycling. For example, the entire family diligently separates out paper, plastic, and aluminum for trash day.

But, it dawned on me that I should take this issue more seriously, especially when the lesson comes from an 8-year old who will one day inherit this planet. Not to mention, it’s important that, as a parent, I give my children and others the opportunity to enjoy the beauty of our wonderful world.

After our chat, I had an idea for a project to really bring the “Three Rs” home for our children.

old chairs become re-new chairs

The problem was that my kids have several old, dirty chairs that we were thinking about replacing. But that wouldn’t due, not now. We weren’t going to toss these in the trash and buy new ones. Instead we’ll reduce landfill by reusing the old chairs and recycling a few yards of sample fabric from the Transprint office.

As you can imagine, the Design Studio in New York creates quite a lot of samples. We have fabrics of all types with beautiful designs. But, they do go out of fashion but still serve a purpose.

I brought home a few choices and working with my kids, I allowed them to choose a pattern they liked and we began to reupholster the chairs. It didn’t take that long, and they looked great. Not to mention, we embraced the Three R’s concept.

Fortunately, I work for a company that is also committed to sustainability. The entire team is dedicated to conserving water by encouraging the textile industry to use AirDye technology, which also saves energy, reduces pollutants, lowers cost, and promotes strict global environmental standards while producing beautiful textile products. I’m happy to be a part of the solution, and my kids love their “re-new” chairs.

Earlier this month we gave you a few gift ideas for the treehugger in your family. One of the suggestions was a rain barrel to capture and recycle water for landscaping or even indoor use.

Well, turns out quite a few people are getting into rain harvesting. KQED’s Quest had a great piece on the radio today on how it’s working for a few communities in the San Francisco Bay Area. We thought you might like to hear the story and read the reporter’s notes which includes links to site that can show you how to set up a rain capture system of your own.

One interesting bit, it’s illegal in some communities to disconnect your downspout from the sewer system. So, be sure to check on your local building codes before setting up your system.

What do you think about harvesting your rainwater? Is it worth the effort and cost?

photo credit: thanh.ha.dang / flickr

An estimated 1.2 billion people lack access to clean water worldwide. Water borne disease is one of the greatest threats to the world’s poor. Diarrhea, cholera, polio, and typhoid are common diseases spread via contaminated water. The United Nations Children’s Fund, commonly known as UNICEF, believes that in India 400,000 children die from diarrhea each year. To help address the problem, Tata Group, an Indian conglomerate perhaps best known to Americans for its purchase of Jaguar Land Rover, has developed a “water purifier for the masses.”

The Tata Swach – which means “clean” in Hindi – is a water purifier that doesn’t require running water or electricity to operate, and is priced for mass adoption – according to the Associated Press, the 19 liter device costs 749 rupees (about $16 dollars).

Speaking at the product launch, Tata Group Chairman Ratan Tata, pictured above, said:

Safe drinking water is the most basic of human needs. The social cost of water contamination is already enormous and increases every year. Although today’s announcement is about giving millions more people affordable access to safe water, it is an important step in the long-term strategy to find a solution to provide affordable access to safe water for all.

The purification “filter” uses a combination of paddy husk ash, and microscopic particles of silver that, according to company executives, eliminates bacteria that cause 80 percent of waterborne diseases. The Tata Swach will purify up to 3,000 liters of water, and will automatically stop water flow after its purification limit is reached.

The Tata Group plans to initially produce one million units a year, and will distribute the purifier through a network of 30,000 rural Indian retailers. In the future, the company plans to expand distribution to Africa.

Ramakrishnan Mukundan, managing director of Tata Chemicals, said, “With the launch of Tata Swach, we are taking a small step towards fulfilling our Chairman’s vision of making safe drinking water available for all at an affordable cost…so with the launch of this product we are committing ourselves to work towards wiping out the curse of water-borne diseases.”

Some wonder why this hasn’t been done sooner, or in other markets. Perhaps the Swach will cause a price war and even western countries will benefit from this new, inexpensive alternative to the good ole Britta. If the Swach is available in your area, will you buy one?

The New York Times ran a story yesterday about the abundance of dirty water running through the pipes of American homes. In fact, according to the article, “20 percent of the nation’s water treatment systems have violated key provisions of the Safe Drinking Water Act over the last five years.”

Of course, this isn’t the first time we’ve heard about this problem. The Times’ on-going series Toxic Waters has talked about this issue a number of times this year. Earlier this year, Frontline on PBS documentary Poisoned Waters did an excellent job documenting the extent of the problem.

What is clear is that the U.S. government and the Environmental Protection Agency  (EPA) have not put our safety first, despite the enactment of the 1972 Clean Water Act.

While we all have a lot to do, especially at this time of the year, we think it’s worthwhile for you to take a few minutes to do what the EPA doesn’t seem to be willing to do: enforce the clean water standards.

Educate

A good place to start is the EPA’s website which lays out the national drinking water standards.  Another valuable resource is the American Water Resources Association’s May 2007 edition of their Water Resources IMPACT magazine, which they have made available for download. It’s quite intense, but if you’re really into the details, they’ve got them for you.

Verify

Check to see if your own local water system is providing clean, safe drinking water or if they are one of the many violators. Often you can simply pull up your local water company’s website and look for the most recent water quality report. Of course, if you can’t find it online, call!

Act

If you find that you’re an unlucky customer of a violating water treatment system, don’t just sit there. And just buying a water filter isn’t good enough either. Take action.

1. Write a letter to the water company demanding to know what steps they are taking to remove the contaminants from their system. Ask your neighborhoods to sign it as well.
2. Write a letter to the editor of your local paper. Make sure your entire community is aware of the problem. It affects everyone.
3. Join or start a local watershed organization. You can see what’s available in your area using the EPA’s Surf Your Watershed tool.
4. If things are really bad, take legal action. The Poisoned Waters website says:

Leon Billings, former U.S. Senate staff member and the law’s co-author, said the provision is ‘absolutely the single most important provision in clean water and air law in the vast narrative of environmental law enacted since,’ because it introduced accountability to the government — meaning EPA had to implement the congressional mandate. ‘If they failed to do so,’ Billings says, ‘citizens could go to court and force them to do so.’

5. Of course, you should also make sure you’re not polluting the local water system. You can take your car to a car wash, refrain from rinsing off your driveway, stop using toxic chemicals in and outside your home. More tips are in this post.  And those are just the tip of the iceberg.

We’d love to know what you found when you looked up your local water quality measurements. If your water is healthy, great, work to keep it that way. If not, what are you going to do about it?

photo credit: Metropolitan North Georgia Water Planning District

Perhaps you have a water-saver on your Christmas list and you’re not sure what to get her. Yes, we know, she probably bores you with facts about how much water is wasted with leaky pipes, how less than one half of one percent of the water on the planet is available for us to use, and how each day more than 4,000 children die each day from water-related disease, but you still love her.

Here are five gift ideas for the water conservationist in your family or circle of friends.

1. colorful, filtering, stainless steel water bottles

No wire hangers plastic water bottles! By now, you know that buying a fresh, virgin-plastic water bottle every time you’re thirsty is bad for the planet in so many ways. Outfit your family with the their own stainless steel water bottle this holiday. Take a look at the line up at Watergeeks. Not only are their stainless steel water bottles BPA-free, but they have a built in filter. The filters, which can actually be used with other water bottles too, remove chlorine, lead, heavy metals and other tap water contaminants. Each filter is good for 400 uses – that’s a lot of plastic water bottles that never have to be used. We love the wide variety of colors and sizes.

2. water barrels from recycled plastic

This is a bit big for under the tree, but…for the ultimate water-saver, how about a water barrel, made from recycled plastic, of course. Perfect for your favorite green gardener.

3. smart shower heads

Smarter shower is a gift that keeps on giving every day. We found a showerhead that’s smart enough to switch to a trickle once the water gets hot. Very handy if you’ve got to wait for hot water to find it’s way to the bathroom. Plus, saving just one minute’s worth of water each day conserves 900 gallons per person in a year.

4. a good read

A good book or two is always a nice gift. We uncovered a few well-reviewed titles out at Amazon that you might like. May we suggest you get the Kindle version, and then it’s a true eco-friendly gift.

• When the Rivers Run Dry by Fred Pearce looks at the looming crisis where water is more valuable than oil;
• Following the Water: A Hydromancer’s Notebook by David M. Carroll shows and tells his annual observations from the first breaks in the ice through its reforming in a New Hampshire wetland;
• and Endurance: Shackleton’s Incredible Voyage by Alfred Lansing. OK, so we’re a bit off topic, but this is a wonderful read and there’s certainly plenty of water in it!

5. a worthy cause

And the final suggestion for the ultimate conservationist: Make a donation in your friend’s name at one of the many worthy water-related charities. Here are a few to chose from: charity:water bringing clean and safe drinking water to people in developing nations, UNICEF’s Tap Project is gearing up for a 2010 program to provide safe drinking water for people in more than 90 countries, or find a group committed to keeping your local watershed, river, bay or other body of water clean and safe.

We’re sure one of these items is sure to be a hit. Of course, if you can think of others, feel free to leave your suggestion in the comments. Happy shopping!