Yesterday, we observed the International Day of Forests, and I posted some lovely photos of forests to show my appreciation of nature’s beauty.

Today is World Water Day. And while I am posting photos of beautiful water scenes, I want to acknowledge that today is not so much about appreciation as it is about preservation and protection and working to make clean water available for the survival of life on this planet.

This morning as my coffee was percolating – well, dripping – I was running the water in my kitchen sink, waiting for it to turn hot so I could fill my mug to warm it up before pouring my first cup of coffee for the day. I was thinking about what a waste of water this was and thinking about places in the world that are experiencing major droughts right now. But there was a disconnect between watching the clean water swoosh down my drain and finding any way to help those lacking such luxury.

This was before I read that it was World Water Day today. That was before I realized that issues surrounding clean and available water are so much more complex.

The theme for 2017’s World Water Day is “wastewater,” but I’m not going to post photos of that. I worked for a short while at a wastewater treatment plant, and believe me, it’s not pretty.

The World Water Day website states that:

“Globally, over 80% of the wastewater generated by society flows back into the ecosystem without being treated or reused.”

You can check out this fact sheet for additional deplorable statistics, and for the good news of how that can be turned around.

Food for thought today. Or water for thought, I guess.