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September 2013

• RiverBlue: The story of fashion destroying the rivers of the world.

  Sunday, September 29th, 2013

  RiverBlue: How Dirty Are Your Jeans?

  

  Photo credit: Mark Angelo, David McIlvride, Roger Williams and the ‘RiverBlue’ Team

  Mark Angelo, a passionate storyteller and river advocate, has possibly paddled more rivers in his lifetime than anyone else on this planet. Having paddled globally for over 40 years, he has sadly watched the decline of the rivers he loves. Journeying through some of the most pristine to most devastated rivers, Mark discovers and unveils the source of much destruction of these waters, Jeans manufacturing.

  Clean water is both essential to the planet’s ecosystems and fundamental to people’s well being. It is a basic human right. As well as providing a range of critical habitats for wildlife, waterways such as rivers and lakes supply communities with vital resources –including drinking water, water for crop irrigation and foods such as fish and shellfish. These waterways also serve as a support system for industrial activity, providing water for many manufacturing and cooling processes. However, such industrial activities can affect water quality and thereby jeopardize the other resources that the rivers and lakes provide. A recent survey of 15,000 people in 15 countries, across both northern and southern hemispheres, found that water scarcity and water pollution are the two top environmental concerns of the world’s population.

   Watch Trailer Now

  Through harsh chemical manufacturing processes and the irresponsible disposal of toxic chemical waste, one of our favorite iconic products has destroyed the rivers and changed the lives of people who count on these waterways for their survival. This single industry will serve as the worst case scenario, revealing how mankind has, at times, shown little regard for what nature has given us.  RiverBlue will not only bring awareness to the destruction of some of the world’s vital rivers through the manufacturing of Jeans, but also act as a rally cry to demand significant change in the textile industry from the top fashion brands that can make a difference.

  Posted in News & Initiatives, The Future of Water

• Ninth Annual World Rivers Day – September 29

  Thursday, September 26th, 2013

  World Rivers Day Increases Awareness, Promotes Stewardship, and Encourages River Conservation Around the Globe – Massive Worldwide Event Has Its Roots in British Columbia, Canada

  Millions of people around the world will participate in the ninth annual World Rivers Day on Sunday, September 29. With many of the world’s rivers facing severe and increasing threats associated with climate change, pollution, and industrial development, close to 70 countries are participating in this year’s festivities. Many events around the world will focus on educational and public awareness activities while others will include river and stream cleanups, habitat enhancement and restoration projects, and community riverside celebrations. World Rivers Day has its roots in the great success of BC Rivers Day, which has been celebrated for the past 33 years in Canada’s western-most province.

  World Rivers Day strives to increase public awareness of the importance of our waterways as well as the many threats confronting them.

  “Rivers are integral to all life and yet many waterways continue to be impacted by inappropriate practices and inadequate protection,” says Mark Angelo, Rivers Day Chair and Founder and Chair Emeritus of the Rivers Institute at the British Columbia Institute of Technology (BCIT).

  Endorsed in its inaugural year by the United Nations University and the International Network of Water, Environment, and Health, and with HSBC Bank Canada as its lead sponsor, World Rivers Day events will include activities in countries ranging from Canada to England, Nigeria to the United States, Australia to South Africa, Iraq to Bangladesh, and across most of the major rivers of Europe.

  “Millions of people, dozens of countries, and numerous international organizations will be contributing to World Rivers Day,” says Angelo. “It provides a great opportunity for people to get out and enjoy our waterways. At the same time, the event strives to create a greater awareness of the urgent need to better care for our rivers and streams.”

  Robert Sandford, Chair of the Canadian Partnership Initiative in support of the United Nation’s “Water for Life Decade” and an internationally recognized expert on scarcity and conservation issues, says, “World Rivers Day should be hailed for its global effort to increase awareness around the vital importance of our water resources and the need to properly protect and steward them in the face of mounting pressures.”

  The event compliments the UN’s broader Water for Life Decade initiative and they are a valued supporter of World Rivers Day.

  Local BC Rivers Day Events:

  Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada – World Rivers Day Gala Event at Burnaby Village Museum and Surrounding Site
  Burnaby will celebrate World Rivers Day in a major way with a gala event at the Burnaby Village Museum, which is bisected by the beautiful Deer Lake Brook. There will be a large array of attractions for young and old – and, along with the many attractions and interpretive displays already on site, there will be live birds of prey, a children’s fishing pond, face painting, music, entertainment of various sorts, a special “living with coyotes” presentation, children’s activities, streamside habitat restoration demonstrations amongst many other fun things to do. Come enjoy a stroll through Burnaby’s marvellous past, a community that has long focused on the many waterways within its midst; its lakes, streams and the great Fraser River that it borders. Open from 11 to 4:30. Contact – Lynda Maeve at lyndamaeve.orr@burnaby.ca

  North Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada – Celebrate River’s Day at the Seymour River Hatchery Open House on Sunday September 29th from 10am to 3pm.  Take a tour of the hatchery, play fun games for all ages, and enjoy a salmon barbecue. The Seymour River Hatchery is located in the Lower Seymour Conservation Reserve in North Vancouver, BC, Canada. For more details, visit www.seymoursalmon.com

  Posted in News & Initiatives, The Future of Water

• The Fourth Phase of Water

  Tuesday, September 10th, 2013

  Is water simply H₂O? Apparently not, according to Professor Gerald Pollack who is casting new light on age-old assumptions about the nature of water.

  Pollack is raising awareness about an important ‘fourth phase’ of water which exists in addition to the three solid-liquid-vapour phases we have been taught to observe from childhood.

  This fourth phase occurs between the solid and liquid phases. Pollack calls this charged phase the ‘exclusion zone’ (EZ for short). It has a more ordered and gel-like consistency and explains some of water’s most puzzling properties such as…

  • Why do you sink into dry sand but hardly at all into wet sand?
  • Why doesn’t Jello (99.95% water) dribble water?
  • How do 100-metre-tall trees maintain an unbroken water supply to their uppermost branches?
  • Why does falling rain bead up on and even bounce off lake water before becoming part of the lake?
  • Why does ice float?

  Free energy from water

  Pollack explains  how water (combined with light) is a natural battery and source of free energy. Water’s exclusion zone creates charge separation and, consequently, lots of harvest-able electrical potential. This natural battery is recharged by light, including infrared light which is present even in the ‘dark’.

  Water interacts with photons which supply energy just as plants absorb and convert light for metabolic processes. After all, plants are mostly water. Light interacts with water to create and store harvest-able energy, which is the ability to do work. The fourth phase of water, a missing link in our understanding of water, makes this possible.

  Natural desalination & Filterless water filtration

  Pollack maintains an active laboratory at the University of Washington in Seattle. Research into the properties of this fourth phase of water may enable energy-efficient and environmentally-friendly developments such as the natural filtering of water (without filters) and natural desalination of sea water using radiant energy from the sun.

   

  Gerald Pollack is an award-winning University of Washington faculty member and the founding editor-in-chief of the scientific journal, WATER.

  The Fourth Phase of Water: Beyond Solid, Liquid and Vapor is the title of his newly published book (2013).

  Posted in News & Initiatives, The Future of Water

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