From my Hide: It’s a dry, dry world…

NATIONAL and even world days or weeks to note particular facets of our lives are good, particularly so if they spotlight something as important as water. Apart from the earth’s breathable atmosphere, the other thing that none of us can do without for very long is water.

This week is World Water Week and National Water Week in South Africa, so let’s talk water.

South Africa is officially recognised as a semi-arid region and is therefore water stressed. I think we all already know that the authorities are struggling to supply sufficient water for the needs of all those who use it, and that’s all of us.

From the national government and the giants of industry, right down to us private consumers, we are all queuing up at the same tap, as it were.

For many the tap is already running dry. For example, demand for water in Gauteng could outstrip supply by the end of this year and for South Africa as a whole that situation could arise within the next 10 years.

What can be done to save water? Well, that has to be a national effort, but there is actually quite a lot we can do at home.

Check for dripping taps. A slowly dripping tap can leak 20 litres of water a day. To put that into perspective, a 20-litre container of water is what millions of South African women carry on their heads from the nearest standpipe, or the river, every day for their households.

Check for underground or hidden leaks by reading the water meter. Don’t use any water for two hours, and then check the meter again.

Shower, don’t bath; you would be surprised at how little water is used by a quick shower.

Convert your garden to indigenous plants, they quite naturally need far less water than exotics.

Use a bucket to wash your car, avoid the hosepipe. Never, ever remove the leaves from your drive with a hosepipe, use a broom.

Think about applying a dual flush system to your toilet cistern – just remember that you are actually using drinkable water to flush your loo (and water your garden and wash your car).

And now some special news. The Chinese government has announced a major policy shift as far as ivory is concerned.

It has, with immediate effect, banned the importation of ivory and elephant tusks for 12 months.** There was no fanfare (the statement was published in a minor government journal), but analysts are saying that it is a major step forward in China’s attitude to the whole issue of ivory poaching and the rapid demise of both Africa’s and Asia’s elephants.

It is not known what will happen next, but one must wonder if the decision had anything to do with the recent open letter to China’s President Xi Jinping by Sir David Attenborough and other prominent conservationists and the simultaneous visit to China by Britain’s Prince William. One can but hope. Cheers.

*The Week: the Best of the British and Foreign Media.

**savetheelephants.org News Service.