American Commons pioneer and journalist Jonathan Rowe captures the essence
of the concept: “The commons is the vast realm that lies outside of both the
economic market and the institutional state, and that all of us typically use
without toll or price. The atmosphere and oceans, languages and culture, the
stores of human knowledge and wisdom, the informal support systems of
community, the peace and quiet we crave, the generic building blocks of life –
these are all aspects of the commons.” Noted Canadian environmentalist
Richard Bocking says that the Commons are those things to which we have rights
just by being a member of the human family: “The air we breathe, the
freshwater we drink, the seas, forests, and mountains, the genetic heritage
through which all life is transmitted, the diversity of life itself.” Commons is
synonymous with community cooperation and respect for the rights and
preferences of others, he adds. Some Commons, such as the atmosphere, outer
space and the oceans, may be thought of as global, while others, such as public
spaces, common land, forests, the gene pool, and local medicines, are
community Commons. “The commons have the quality of always having been
there. One generation after another, available to all,” says Rowe.
Water is a commons for all: A new report from Maude Barlow and “On
TheCommons”
http://onthecommons.org/work/water-commons-all
Every day, or so it seems, whether on TV, through the internet or other media, we
are reminded of how fragile our world's ecology truly is becoming. From the arid
regions of African drought to the mid North American plains flooded by surging
rivers, to nations devastated by earthquakes and tsunami, the evidence is
increasingly reported to us by our media in real time: we to whom this world was
gifted for our care at the time of Creation.
We, here in Eastern Ontario, are seemingly blessed. We have not been called upon
to combat wide devastations due to "global warming" or other stresses place upon
our beautiful blue planet: at least not yet. We are stewards of all the world's
resources including that most precious of resources, our water.
We, who have stable governments and a wide range of programs and services, tend
to focus our lives on increasing or at least maintaining our socio-economic status.
We pay our taxes, which are then used to provide the programs and services that act
as surrogate stewards of all those resources, which with few restrictions, are ours to
use as we deem best. Sadly, only a privileged minority of our global humanity
actually benefit from this system.
The world’s water
crisis due to
pollution, climate
change and a
surging population
growth is of such
magnitude that
close to two billion
people now live in
water-stressed
regions of the
planet. By the year
2025, two-thirds of
the world’s
population will face
water scarcity. The
global population
tripled in the
twentieth century,
but water
consumption went
up sevenfold. By
2050, after we add
another three
billion to the
population, humans
will need an 80
percent increase in
water supplies just
to feed
ourselves. No one
knows where this
water is going to
come from.
- Blue Covenant:
The Global Water
Crisis and the
Coming Battle for
the Right to
Water, 2007
The Pope, in his letter Caritas in Veritate tells us that this has to urgently change if there is to be
integral human development in love and truth. How we care for our water affects the whole globe and
each of us living on it. This applies, of course, not just to water but to our air, our soils, our forests, our
seas and human life generally. But we are not called upon to try and tackle all the problems that afflict
our world. What follows are a few ideas on how you, your family, your faith community and
community at large can actively participate in bettering the quality and supply of fresh water locally
and even globally.
What you can do to protect and maintain the world's fresh water ?
Pray, Explore, Educate, Rally:
form or join a PEER Movement
1. PRAY: offer prayers of thanks to God for the gift of your clean water.
2. PRAY that others in the world will also have clean and safe water.
3. EXPLORE: a little more about the importance of water for humanity and our
Earth by visiting the library or web sites, such as those below.
4. EXPLORE: there are volunteer opportunities that you can participate in, e.g.
checking water quality in Ontario lakes and streams.
5. EDUCATE: show and tell others around you of worthwhile opportunities or
projects that your searches have identified which affect them as well.
6. RALLY: become a member of an organization with which you sense
solidarity.
As you explore the meaning of The Commons and its relevance to the Pope's call in
his letter, inform others of your interests and willingness to help develop a local
response to help the world's ecology.
You are encouraged to visit http://onthecommons.org/ where local, national and international experts and
organizations assemble to examine the various ecological stresses on our planet. The site is fertile with a
wide array of ideas on how to affect positive changes.
Visit the United Nations web site on the water for life decade 2005-20015.
http://www.un.org/waterforlifedecade/
Kingston Utilities have their web with a variety of useful information, as would most municipalities you
can surf towards. http://www.utilitieskingston.com/Water/
Ontario's web site is highly informative and offers opportunities for some volunteering
http://www.ene.gov.on.ca/environment/en/category/water/index.htm
Environment Canada has a web site that is worth exploring at http://www.ec.gc.ca/