PRESERVING OUR WATER
Things we can do in our homes
As a contractor, I understand the importance of water. You cannot build unless you have a clean and reliable source of water. After a natural disaster or major storm, it’s one of the biggest challenges when it comes to rebuilding — restoring local water systems — and nothing moves forward without them.
It’s one of the reasons why it took so long to get things moving in Haiti after its big earthquake in 2010. Restoring any city’s water filtration systems is always a top priority after a major disaster, as well as properly managing any water issues, like flooding. Just look at New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. The reason why most of the homes had to be completely destroyed and rebuilt was because they literally sat in water for days.
Without clean water, we also have sanitation issues and serious health risks.
It’s an absolute necessity for everything we do, and World Water Day on March 22 helps remind us all why.
Building smart and making sure we do things that make sense for the environment and our health is important, because what we do as builders, contractors, renovators, as well as the decisions we make as homeowners, impacts peoples’ lives, sometimes with long- term effects.
That’s basically what it comes down to for me; I know that the decisions I make today as a contractor and a builder will affect a family for the next five years, 10 years, 20 years — maybe a lifetime.
That’s the responsibility, and the privilege, that comes with the job. But it’s also a responsibility that we all have as homeowners.
Most people treat drinking water like there’s an infinite supply of it. There isn’t. Only one per cent of the Earth’s water is drinkable, and Canada possesses only 6.5 per cent of the world’s renewable fresh water resources. Unfortunately, we’re also one of the biggest wasters of water, second only to the US. Thirsty for a change? Every single Canadian can make better decisions when it comes to our water. It can’t hurt, right?
There are a number of things that we can each do to live better with water: collecting rainwater to water our lawns, wash our cars, and flush our toilets; installing better, more efficient appliances and low- flow water fixtures to help conserve water; choosing better water filtration systems in our homes that can remove 99.99 per cent of bacteria and contaminants, so that we’re making sure our drinking water and the water we use to cook and wash our vegetables in is safe, and protects our family’s health.
Health has always been a big part of what I do. It’s also important to my family. My son, Mike Jr., has always cared about staying healthy, being active, doing good things and doing things right. He takes that idea of “make it right” but he sees the bigger picture. He doesn’t just look at the building side of things. He looks at everything,
and how one thing impacts another. Because that’s really what it’s all about — thinking about the environment, thinking about sustainability, thinking about your health, your family’s health and how what we do on the job site every day impacts people’s lives and the environment for years into the future.
For example, he’s always thinking about how homeowners are going to “live” in their new kitchen, their new bathroom, the new basement, whatever the project might be — and how simple things we do there can support a healthier lifestyle and help homeowners make better, greener, more healthier choices.
For Mike Jr., building right is
part of living right, and when it comes to living right our health is No. 1. I get that, and he’s right. It’s why we do what we do as builders and contractors. But like I said, it’s also about what we do as homeowners and parents, too — I don’t even give my dog Charlie unfiltered water!
World Water Day is about making better decisions when it comes to our water, from how we use it and protect it, to how we consume it and manage it.
There’s plenty of room for improvement and we can all do our part to help make it right.
Only one per cent of the Earth’s water is drinkable, and Canada possesses only 6.5 per cent of the world’s renewable fresh water resources.