Making Waves: How Water Sustainability Became My Problem & What You Can Do To Help Solve It
The Universal Soliveant
Solving Our Water Challenges
My family is from "Punjab" which is derived from two Persian words: "panj" meaning "five" and "ab" meaning "water." The "land of five rivers." the breadbasket of India. My family has been farmers, military and entrepreneurs with a strong spiritual connection to water and nature. So it's not that far-fetched to be interested...
The invite that inspired my water conservation journey
In my mid-twenties, I was approached and invited by an organization doing leadership and facilitation training to spark and mentor innovators and aspiring entrepreneurs in the water and climate change space. I had my entrepreneurial ventures going, working in community economic development space, and sat on sustainability boards and committees for the city and Olympics. They wanted to bring young unique thinkers and engage them through community place-based workshops and activities that evolved our collective relationship, and understanding toward developing innovative responses toward solving complex water challenges. That retreat I was invited to was hosted by Waterlution and it changed my views and relationship with water. Since then, I've become an advocate for water solutions.
What you can do?
My objective with this post is to bring awareness and develop a bigger why and understanding within you. I work with entrepreneurs on vision, mission and purpose so they can create a life and business with greater meaning. So it's only fitting to share this little tidbit right now from my wealth course, after studying 2000 years of wealth here are the 3 commonalities of the individuals who amassed a great financial fortune:
- They believed by divine providence that they were meant to be wealthy
- They appreciated art, architecture, food and nature
- They had a bigger reason beyond themselves
Mother nature is a great legacy to help nurture and leave behind. The bigger the problem you can solve the greater the reward after implementing a solution. So understand what the biggest problems are and you'll wire your brain to be a problem solver, aka entrepreneur/social entrepreneur.
Simple things you can do... First is just education. I'll post additional videos to realize a problem is a great thing to waste and this can propel another layer of innovations and job growth when we put our minds to it.
We don't have water issues,
we have water management issues.
Droughts and flooding
Water Conservation Tips & Tactics
- Permeable stone (Let the water absorb back into the ground)
- Planting grass (Soil absorption of water)
- Addressing monoculture subsidies & policies.
- Rehydrating Aquifers
- Grey water & black water systems
Case Studies
What did this entrepreneur do after he made his exit after helping build Churches Chicken? He wanted to restore the impossible and spent 50 years doing it.
Summary
A simple choice to have permeable pavers, and planting trees can go a long way. When a solution strikes a balance between the head and heart you know you're on track.
Since I started my journey, I've become an open water swimmer and look to add simple conservation techniques to real estate and business ventures. Even though it cost me extra when I launched a certain business I ensure the policy was changed to have backflow preventers for the entire city. If as leaders we can't address our own conflict of interest we won't be able to find solutions.