Water Heroes: Dr. Bindeshwar Pathak – The Million Toilet Man

HydrateLife September 19, 2014March 3, 2017 Health, Sanitation, WASH, Water Heroes 2 Comments

Open defecation is a huge problem throughout the world.  Although the numbers have improved over the past 20 years, over one billion people still practice open defecation.  Nowadays, there are a lot of organizations working to eliminate the practice, but few have been working towards this goal as long as Dr. Bindeshwar Pathak.  His work started in 1970, when Dr. Pathak invented a pour-flush, compost latrine, and he hasn’t stopped since.  His latrine has been used in China, Bangladesh, Pakistan,continue reading

Water Heroes – Dr. Peter Morgan: 2013 Stockholm Water Prize Winner

HydrateLife October 31, 2013March 24, 2017 Environment, Health, Sanitation, Sustainable Practices, WASH, Water Heroes, Water Technology 4 Comments

There are a lot of good people in the world that are making great efforts to bring clean water and improved sanitation facilities to those who need it throughout the world, and their efforts are paying off.  Between 1990 and 2010 two billion people gained access to clean water and 1.8 billion people gained access to improved sanitation facilities according to the World Health Organization.  Even with these encouraging figures, there are still a lot of people in the worldcontinue reading

Water Heroes : Anjali Sarker and Toilet+

HydrateLife February 21, 2013March 29, 2017 Health, Sanitation, Water Heroes 6 Comments

Is there a monster under my bed?  Or maybe something lurking in my closet?  Probably not, but for a child growing up in a developed country these are the kinds of fears that can rule their bedtime.  Silly? Yes, and as a child grows up they will realize that it was all in their mind.  Anjali Sarker had a different fear growing up, and one that was actually based in reality.  While growing up in a rural Bangladeshi village Anjali’scontinue reading

Water Heroes: Ma Tsepo Khumbane – Harvesting Rainwater to Grow Crops

HydrateLife August 2, 2012 Agriculture, Sustainable Practices, Water Heroes 2 Comments

This week’s water hero, Ma Tsepo Khumbane, is a retired social worker and development activist who has spent the last 40 years fighting poverty and malnutrition by teaching South Africa’s poor how to harvest rainwater to be used to grow their own crops, as well as speaking out for better sanitation and hygiene practices.  Due to her extraordinary efforts she has received the Katlego Award of Spirit of Hope and South Africa’s Women in Water Award, but maybe even morecontinue reading

Water Heroes: Chewang Norphel – The “Ice Man”

HydrateLife July 17, 2012 Sustainable Practices, Water Heroes 6 Comments

The “Ice Man”.  Sounds like a pretty cool super hero, and he kind of is.  But you won’t find this super hero up on the big screen; you’ll find him in the Himalayas.  The Ice Man is actually 76 year old Chewang Norphel, a retired engineer in India that came up with an ingenious way to provide water to rural villages: artificial glaciers. Chewang grew up in Ladakh, a remote part of India high in the mountains near the Himalayas. continue reading

Water Heroes: Juan Pablo Orrego – Protecting Patagonia

HydrateLife June 8, 2012 Dams, Environment, Water Heroes No Comments

Seeing as I’ve been writing and posting articles (on facebook) about dams quite a bit lately I figured I’ll talk about someone fighting against dams in this edition of Water Heroes, and that person is Juan Pablo Orrego.  Juan has been fighting for over 20 years to protect Chile’s magnificent Patagonia from the destruction of dam projects, and has had a very positive impact.   In 1997 he won the prestigious Goldman Environmental Prize and in 1998 he won the Rightcontinue reading

Water Heroes: Lynn Henning – Battling Livestock Pollution

HydrateLife May 11, 2012 Environment, Health, Water Heroes, Water Pollution No Comments

Welcome to this week’s edition of Water Heroes.  This week we’re talking about Lynn Henning who has gained notoriety due to her persistence in fighting for clean water in Michigan.  Since 2000 she has been working to stop water pollution coming from large livestock farms around her home, throughout Michigan, and now in other states in the country.  Her advocacy and hard work has earned her the prestigious Goldman Prize in 2010 and the 2012 Planet Defender Award, and shecontinue reading

Water Heroes: Rajendra Singh – The “Waterman of India”

HydrateLife May 4, 2012 Dams, Sustainable Practices, Water Heroes, Water Technology 7 Comments

Welcome to this week’s edition of Water Heroes where we’ll be meeting Rajendra Singh, also known as the “waterman of India”, “bearded man of check dams”, or “elder brother” depending on who you ask.  As a big proponent of traditional water harvesting methods and appropriate technology I was amazed at all that Rajendra has done over the years to help people in India to revive their watershed, and in turn return to their traditional ways of life.  Also impressive iscontinue reading

Water Heroes: Ma Jun – 2012 Goldman Environmental Prize Winner

HydrateLife April 27, 2012 Environment, Health, Water Heroes, Water Pollution No Comments

Welcome back for another edition of Water Heroes.  This week I’ll be talking about Ma Jun who has just received the Goldman Environmental Prize for “bringing unprecedented environmental transparency and empowering Chinese citizens to demand justice”.  Ma is no stranger to the environment.  He has been an environmentalist in China for years, and is also a writer, environmental consultant, journalist, and is director of the Institute for Public and Environmental Affairs, or the IPE.  Let’s take a look at somecontinue reading

Water Heroes: Kellogg Schwab

HydrateLife April 20, 2012 Health, Sustainable Practices, Water Heroes No Comments

Welcome to another edition of Water Heroes.  Today I’m writing about Kellogg Schwab who is a Professor in the Department of Environmental Health Sciences at the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health and Director the JHU Center for Water and Health.  He also went on to start the JHU Global Water Program which combines several disciplines from the school to address issues with water.  Their goal is to find sustainable and accessible solutions to water needs throughout thecontinue reading

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