Rethinking H2O

#JANDYSTRONG is a story of strength, perseverance and hope.  For those of you that do not know Jake Anderson, please enlighten yourself with this podcast to gain some perspective on life and inspiration for the future. In this episode you will learn about Jake's story, his road to recovery and upcoming events.  In particular, September 29, 2019 will be the fifth and final year at the Chicago half marathon event, and we encourage YOU to come out and support.  For those of you who are new to the JandyStrong movement, we are doing this fundraiser to raise money for paralysis research and recovery, and to support friend Jake Anderson, as he continues to embark on his long journey of extensive medical care and physical therapy.  Last year at the Chicago 1/2 marathon, Jake used a customized tandem trike – engineered by himself and three other UW-Madison students – to complete the 13.1 mile race along Lake Michigan.  It was another significant milestone in Jake’s recovery and an inspiration to us all.  Jake plans to participate again this year, with sights set on beating last year’s finishing time of 1:57:47. If you enjoy this podcast and want to support Jake, please consider donating to the GoFundMe link found here: https://www.gofundme.com/f/jandystrong-5th-annual-halfmarathon-fundraiser --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/rethinking-h2o/support

What is the water energy nexus and why is it important to you? Well, it’s complicated. But we’re here to break it down. The Alberta Energy - Water Nexus Project provides context into the intricate relationship between water and energy consumption as it pertains to agriculture, industry and induvial consumption. As there is no silver bullet to our energy - water problem, we must work amongst multiple stakeholders and energy resources to solve this challenge. Executive Director of Alberta Water Portal Society, Kim Sturgess, leads the charge around this Energy Water Nexus discussion. She teaches us how this portal can be an educational resource for everyone and provides context for individuals on how they can reduce their overall footprint. We hope you enjoy this thoughtful discussion and if you want to learn more, please visit https://albertawater.com/ --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/rethinking-h2o/support

What if we could make our existing infrastructure talk to each other to make our communities more resilient? Faced with a water challenges, a few PHD students from the University of Michigan set out to harness data to solve some of the Great Lakes water challenges.  In this podcast, you will hear from Sara Troutman and Gregory Ewing to learn more about how this project came to life.  In 2018 the Water Environment Foundation opened up the LIFT intelligent water systems challenge to rethink the water problem in the Great Lakes region. Due to many stressors in the Great Lakes region, such as aging infrastructure, changing populations, and rapid development, the sewer and storm water conveyance system is strained well beyond its design. As a result, the combined sewer system experiences untreated combined sewer overflows. To combat these persistent untreated outflows, the University of Michigan team engineered a plan to use real-time sensor feeds to control valves, pumps and gates in the existing system, which dynamically reconfigure themselves to changing inputs. Their winning LIFT Challenge submission lays out an algorithm that can be applied to Great Lake Water Authority system and that is accompanied by a real-time dashboard and decision support tool for operators. The web-based decision-support dashboard is a key innovation, giving real-time readouts of measurements from across the storm water system and also providing control recommendations to the user as determined by the market-based control algorithm. Through data and testing, they were able to show that there is a significant opportunity for GLWA to use its current system (sensors, storage basins, pumps, etc.) to maximize storage and reduce combined sewer overflows. To follow the ongoing program, please visit http://open-storm.org/ --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/rethinking-h2o/support

Come explore Nature is Medicine in Alaska with Scott Ramsey. Scott leads the Alaska Outdoor Science School which brings kids into the wild and allows people to experience nature in real life.  Located at the end of North America’s longest glacial fjord lies Haines, the Alaska Outdoor Science School (AOSS) enables tangible experiences for children around the world. Surrounded by the Pacific Ocean, majestic mountains, dynamic glaciers, and wild rivers, Alaska creates the ideal environment to experience one of the last “wild” worlds. AOSS takes a different approach to education. In the traditional classroom setting, students do their best to retain bits of data for a test or paper that they have been given from a textbook and lectures. However, research indicates that this type of learning is generally superficial and less meaningful. Instead, AOSS has lasting learning from experience for students. The AOSS approach combines lectures with experiential opportunities to ground learning and help root understanding. Using nature as a living textbook makes learning more meaningful. To learn more visit https://www.aoss.education/ --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/rethinking-h2o/support

In this episode of the ReThinking H2O Podcast, we are honored to discuss “Water is Medicine” in action with Travis Bays! Travis started the Bodhi Surf + Yoga camps which are week-long experiential learning vacations in Costa Rica. This includes surfing, yoga, and community and nature immersion to facilitate memorable learning experiences for guests. The most important takeaways of the week are that knowledge and skills are acquired, connections are made, and you leave fulfilled! Once a peace corps member, Travis focuses on listening to others and making sure his business impacts the local community. Travis will elaborate how they encourage sustainable lifestyles with pre, during and post trip education around environmental consumer decisions. If you want to watch a video about what is Bodhi, please watch this video or visit their website: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NjzSvYqZEdU, https://www.bodhisurfyoga.com/ --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/rethinking-h2o/support

Let’s talk about the ocean and fisheries. On this episode of the ReThinking H2O Podcast, we discuss with the President of Lazuli advisors Matt Merighi, who is an interdisciplinary expert at the intersection of policy, business, and technology in the international water sector. Matt gives us context about the ocean and what role the ocean plays with tourism, law, economics and overall climate issues. In addition, Matt will lay the groundwork around aquaculture and how we can address food and nutritional security around the world. To learn more and get in touch with Matt please visit https://www.lazuliadvisors.com/ --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/rethinking-h2o/support

What is hydrology? In short, hydrology is the study of water.  Specifically, hydrology looks at how people impact water and how water impacts people. What is adventure? Adventure is an exciting experience that often invokes emotion. What does the intersection of Adventure and Hydrology look like? Meet Chris Wolff. Chris is the founder and director of Adventure Hydrology who is a hydrologist, adventurer, and filmmaker who uses visual imagery, video and storytelling to connect people to our ever-changing planet. Chris brings you along on his adventures to show you how truly amazing our planet is. By following his YouTube Channel, you can follow all the amazing efforts from the volunteers, scientists and conservationists around the world.  Instead of looking at water as what we use to flush our toilets, adventure hydrology explores the world through the lens of adventure. In this podcast, you will learn about: -The locality of water shed management  -How we as humans can pay it forward to make a positive impact on our watershed -Small acts of stewardship that can make a social impact -What does watershed management look like in New Mexico compared to California -Why are we growing almonds in the desert  To learn more, visit the Adventure Hydrology website http://adventurehydro.com/ or follow @AdventureHydrology --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/rethinking-h2o/support

Did you know that over $15 billion is spent on water infrastructure in the developing world each year and 40% of systems break after 2 years as there is no trackable revenue for maintenance? How do we fix this? eWaterPay strives to solve this problem by offering a pre-payment smart tap that ensures all revenue is tracked and accountable and transparently used by private organizations or governments to pay for maintenance of systems. CEO Alex Burton tells us about how the eWATERpay system is a cheap, simple technology that uses mobile money, near field communication and the Internet of Things cloud server monitoring. Users can purchase credit through several methods, including using the eWATERapp on smartphones, purchasing through mobile money. The credit loads onto their eWATERtag, and eWATERtaps installed at distribution points dispense water and take credit when the user presents the token. The eWATERpay system has helped to solve several challenges. First, water is now available 24/7, which has reduced queues at the tap, and means community members are now free to get water whenever they want. Research by eWATERpay in Gidewari village shows that the average time spent collecting water has reduced from three hours to just ten minutes. Additionally, every drop of water is paid and accounted for, as water is only dispensed once a user presents an eWATERtag at the tap. The money goes directly into an online bank account, and the ‘Essential management model’ means 80% of revenue from water user fees goes to use for operation and maintenance, ensuring the water points keep working. To learn more please watch this video : https://vimeo.com/289269195 Or visit their website : https://www.ewaterpay.com/ --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/rethinking-h2o/support

Let’s talk plastic pollution.  What if I told you that there will be more plastic in the ocean than fish by 2050? Unfortunately, due to wasteful human habits, the World Economic Forum predicts that we could overrun our planet with our reliance on plastic convenience. This is why we must urgently rethink our relationship with plastic. Instead of creating more plastic to use for our items, why not reuse all the plastic that already exists? Shore Buddies is an innovative company that is rethinking the way we look at plastic. CEO Malte Niebelschuetz gives us his story on how he moved from Germany to San Diego, and was surprised with the amount of plastic pollution on the ocean beaches. With some inspiration from Patagonia, Malte explains how he created Shore Buddies to rethink the plastic problem. Shore Buddies is a force for good that takes recycled plastic and turns it into stuffed animals which helps educates children about the issues of plastic pollution.  Shore Buddies also  helps facilitate beach clean ups and publishes books on these important plastic topics.  Check out this podcast to learn how Shore Buddies is more than just stuffed animals, but actually a force for good against plastic waste. https://shore-buddies.com/ --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/rethinking-h2o/support

The best solution for a community is the best solution that works for them. Isla Urbana has harnessed the power of rain water harvesting to bring tangible water solutions to the largest city in Mexico, Mexico City.  Jennifer White of Isla Urbana tells us about how they have designed an environmentally, socially, and economically sustainable rainwater harvesting system that collects and cleans rainwater for households, schools and health clinics. The system is inexpensive, easy to install and provides individual residences with about 40% of their water supply. Implemented on a large scale throughout Mexico City, this simple technology could provide 30% of the city’s water and could help give a sustainable source of water to the 12 million Mexicans with no access to clean water. The rainwater harvesting systems are promoting sustainable water management practices, mitigating the city’s flooding problems, relieving poverty, reducing carbon emissions, and providing a reliable source of water for the citizens of Mexico City and throughout the country. As half of the people on earth now live in cities, creating sustainable urban systems has the greatest impact on environmental and social issues. To ensure a future with access to clean water, the most vital resource on the planet, innovative water saving technologies need to be enacted on a large scale starting today. To learn more please visit : http://islaurbana.org/english/ --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/rethinking-h2o/support