Blue Community Update

How are the waters around you doing these days? Frozen? Flakey? Flowing?

Welcome to 2021 and another update from our CSJ Blue Community project. Below are some news and event items that align with our pledge to protect water as a human right, shared commons, and sacred gift.

EVENTS

January 22 - 29

The ReFrame Film Festival, online across Ontario

We are sponsoring the Water Stories – Shorts program – 7 films, full list here. https://watch.eventive.org/reframe2021/play/5ff7dc33cbd0000e5cf9e539

See the full lineup here – very affordable rates for viewing all these docs:

https://my.reframefilmfestival.ca/films

February 24 & 25

Sustainable Development goals in Peterborough

There is an online Community Forum on Feb 24 and 25. For those in the Peterborough area rsvp here:

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/leaving-no-one-behind-advancing-the-sdgs-in-nogojiwanongpeterborough-registration-135378646175

ACTION

One Planet, One Right

Sign the petition to make it a UN-recognised human right to live on a healthy planet. It may seem overwhelming, but it’s true: to emerge from these crises, to ensure our future and that of the planet, we need to entirely transform humanity’s relationship with nature. This human right helps make that happen.

https://1planet1right.org/

READING

Water is Alive: A Conversation - On January 13, there was a conversation between several Indigenous water leaders and their reflections on ways to recognize water as a spirited being with agency. Highlights here: https://www.bluecommunitycsj.org/post/water-is-alive-a-conversation

First Nations communities pursue clean drinking water through the courts.

Court documents state that the lake has been contaminated by feces and toxic blue-green algae blooms have become common. Fishermen regularly catch fish “covered with grotesque lesions” and the community erected signs to deter swimming there. Following a flood in the spring of 2017, residents began falling sick with stomach and skin ailments after consuming the local water, prompting a boil-water advisory that remains in effect.

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-first-nations-communities-pursue-clean-drinking-water-through-the/

Government of Canada launches consultations on new Canada Water Agency.

Water challenges such as droughts, floods, and deteriorating water quality are intensifying, due in large part to climate change. Canadians are seeing these costly impacts first-hand in their communities, across the country. That's why the Government of Canada is establishing the Canada Water Agency to find the best ways to keep our water safe, clean, and well managed. The Canada Water Agency will be established in close collaboration with provinces, territories, Indigenous Peoples, and other partners.

https://www.newswire.ca/news-releases/government-of-canada-launches-consultations-on-new-canada-water-agency-873493081.html

You can always check our Blue Community website for more information: https://www.bluecommunitycsj.org/ 

CSJ Blue Community News

UPDATE

Our Blue Community Coordinator Paul Baines collects and shares a list of current news and invites that inform and animate our Blue Community pledge to protect water as a human right, shared commons, and sacred gift.

In this update, you can learn more about the Waterdocs Film Festival, a new effort to transfer Nestlés’ water operations to Indigenous and settler communities, new rules and old myths about plastics and recycling, and COVID and the human right to water.

WATERDOCS FILM FESTIVAL

From November 4 – 8, this annual water documentary festival is now available to everyone. Normally it is an in-person event only in Toronto, but because of COVID anyone can access these great documentaries. The CSJ Blue Community project is a sponsor and has VIP access. You can see the full program here and it’s also added to this email as an attachment for easy viewing and printing (if needed).

ASK NESTLÉ TO DIVEST ITS ASSETS

The collective efforts to phase out the bottled water industry in Ontario is getting bolder. We successfully won yet another 6-month extension to the 4-year ban on new bottled water permits. We helped influence a new permit policy framework that is still in development but it already signals that communities will be able to veto new bottled water wells.

Now there is a North American campaign asking Nestlé to give back some of its assets to the local communities who are struggling with current and future water security. A few months ago Nestlé was trying to sell its Canadian water operations to Ice River Springs. That sale was denied by the regulators and now water justice activists are asking “if you want to divest from Canada, give communities back their water commons”.  

You can read about and sign onto the North American campaign here and the Wellington Water Watchers have already signaled that the Aberfoyle Nestlé bottling plant and well should be given to Six Nations of the Grand River with the Hillsborough well going to Centre Wellington County and the Middlebrook well going to Elora. Much more work is being done on this campaign since these are BIG shifts in the struggle for water justice. As the campaign develops your CSJ Blue Community project will keep you up to date.

THE MYTH, THE BAN, AND THE NEW RULES: PLASTICS

Plastics are again in the news with the Federal government announcing its plans to ban various kinds of ‘single-use’ plastic. The initial promises seem very progressive.

 Announcing plans to reach zero plastic waste by 2030, the federal government's website noted that "every year, Canadians throw away 3 million tonnes of plastic waste, only 9% of which is recycled, meaning the vast majority of plastics end up in landfills." (from the CBC)

Items included in the ban (source):

• Checkout bags

• Stir sticks

• Beverage six-pack rings

• Cutlery

• Straws

• Food packaging made from plastics that are difficult to recycle

 Items not included in the ban:

• Garbage bags

• Milk bags

• Snack food wrappers

• Disposable personal care items and their packaging

• Beverage containers and lids

• Contact lenses and packaging

• Cigarette filters

• Items used in medical facilities

• Personal protective equipment

Canadians spend 2.5 billion dollars every year on bottled water. Almost all of this comes in single-use plastic bottles. That’s a lot of bottles with only about 20% of these bottles downcycled.

There is no such thing as plastic recycling. This myth was created by the plastics and fossil fuel industries 30 years ago because society was starting to question the rise of plastics and their negative impacts. Downcycling is the process of recycling a material 1, 2, or 3 times with each phase degrading the material so that it can only be landfilled.

Read and listen to this CBC interview with an investigative journalist about the industrial myth of plastic recycling and how we are still struggling with this pervasive and persuasive substance.

ACTION: add your name and voice to this petition to include single-use plastic water bottles in the Canada plastics ban.

COVID AND THE HUMAN RIGHT TO WATER

The World Council of Churches’ Ecumenical Water Network moderated a conversation on the human right to water in times of COVID-19 with Bishop Arnold Temple (chairperson of the WCC-EWN) and Dr. Maude Barlow (co-founder of the Blue Planet Project). You can listen to the 27 minute recording here.

On a related note, our Blue Community project has started collaborating with WaterAid Canada about the human right to water and sanitation.  You can read one of their bulletins here. From that same source they write:

As COVID-19 has devastating impacts on people’s health, education and livelihoods across the globe, hand washing has been recognized as a first line of defense in public health. At WaterAid, our experience of promoting hand washing with soap and water as part of our WASH (water, sanitation and hygiene) and behavior change programs has enabled us to respond quickly to COVID-19, scaling up our existing hygiene work through government-led mechanisms, focusing mainly on hygiene behavior change.

Some statistics:

• 40% of people worldwide don’t have access to soap and water to wash their hands.

• Three billion people worldwide have nowhere to wash their hands with soap and clean water at home.

• 1 in 4 health centers lack these basic hand washing facilities on site.

• 2 in 5 schools globally do not have soap and water available to students – that’s 800 million children who lack soap and water at their school.


STAY CONNECTED

You can always see the latest updates on our website: www.bluecommunityCSJ.org

CSJ Blue Community Update - Summer 2020

This summer, our CSJ Blue Community project has been active in supporting the People's Water Campaign - an effort to connect and strengthen various water justice causes in Ontario.

There have been several online conversations already on some of the key issues: plastics, privatization, and the pending sale of Nestlé operations in Canada to Ice River Springs. These events help us all understand the related impacts of water politics and guide our plans for a more just and beautiful future. 

New Posts Available

Our Project Coordinator Paul Baines has prepared 3 new blog posts on the Blue Community website for you to read and share. Each post includes a video recording of the webinar and follow up actions.

Part 1: Plastics and Pollution

Part 2: All Eyes on Nestlé

Part 3: Water Privatization

There will be more events coming for the People's Water Campaign this September, including one by Paul Baines about the purpose and power of various water justice declarations and commitments. 

Some Good (Blue Community) News!

CELEBRATING 10 YEARS OF THE HUMAN RIGHT TO WATER -- by Vi Bui

July 28, 2020 marks a significant milestone in the fight to protect water. Ten years ago, the United Nations General Assembly recognized water and sanitation as fundamental human rights. Canada joined this international consensus in 2012, however, successive federal governments have failed to provide a framework or legislation to implement or enforce these rights. COVID-19 has made it even clearer that universal access to safe, clean water and adequate sanitation must be a reality to all. Click here to read the full story. 

We’re on Facebook!

Did you know that our Blue Community project now has a Facebook page? On it, you will find related news items and recent project updates. You can join and invite others to join here:

https://www.facebook.com/bluecommunitycsj/

Upcoming Events & Gatherings

In-person events will likely not happen this fall so the CSJ Blue Community Steering Committee is helping Paul plan at least one online gathering. Here, you will be able to ask questions, connect to the growing water justice movement, and dedicate the upcoming Season of Creation to the life of water. 

Stay tuned…

You can always connect with Paul Baines directly:

info@BlueCommunityCSJ.org

www.BlueCommunityCSJ.org

One River, Two Futures - Reflections on Water

Meet some of our Blue Community Steering Committee and join the conversation about water.

Blue Community Updates

Looking forward is difficult in these extraordinary times with COVID-19. Everyday brings new changes to what has long been considered ‘normal’ and no one really knows what things will look like two years from now or even two weeks from now. There is a new blog post on the project website called: Public Health and the Right to Clean Water that connects the human right to water principle with the current pandemic. Here is a quick look back, and ahead for the CSJ Blue Community project.

We want to wish all our collaborators and partners well, especially the event organizers. In the past weeks and in the months to come, our Blue Community project was getting ready to address audiences in:

• Toronto at the WaterDocs film festival

• Hay River at the Catholic Women’s League Diocesan Convention

• London at the Go Wild Grow Wild Expo

• Rochester at the Sisters of St. Joseph Lakes Region planning meeting

• France and Switzerland as part of an international Say No To Nestlé delegation

Bless all the organizers who have spent months developing and coordinating these gatherings and who continue to monitor the public health situation and adjust for the future. Alternatives are being planned so that we can continue raising awareness and widening the circle of engagement.

One of the many priorities we heard from you in the Blue Community survey last year, was to create an educational poster for shared spaces like dining halls, schools, hospitals, parishes, etc. After many months of drafts and feedback from our Committee, the final product is almost ready. It features a full-colour hand-drawn image of a river impacted by two very different types of relationships. The title on the poster is: One River, Two Futures: reflections on water. Included here is just one small section of the poster.

On one side of the river we can see health, connectedness and sharing, while on the other side we see pollution, exclusion and extraction. Measuring 27 by 36 inches, this poster will catch people’s attention, give them some visual and factual information and lead audiences to our project’s website. The divided river image has text on each side to give more context and a few facts about the scarcity of freshwater and the struggle to share it. Can you think of somewhere to hang this poster and spark a reflection about water?

If so, please contact Paul Baines at info@BlueCommunityCSJ.org or 647.831.4525. Special thanks to Jenna Kessler who illustrated the poster.

EVENTS & INFO:

Toronto

Waterdocs trailer

Lake Erie

Sudbury and TO

Canada

The Bruce