So what if the headlines of expert studies, newspapers and websites shout out, “We are running out of water”? So what if rainfall has decreased by half? The increase in consumption – and especially in the overburdened summer months when tourism is at its peak – continues to drain our reservoirs. The problem is not restricted to Greece either. Europe as a whole is experiencing the worst drought it has seen in the past five centuries, and 17% of the European Union is already in a state of emergency.
The United Nations, for its part, estimates that by 2025, 1.8 billion people will live in areas with water scarcity. But let’s not stray too far away; let’s look around us, at our own homes and neighborhoods – at the spacious central Athens balcony where a lady waters her plants and the floor with abandon, leaving the water on even when she’s not using it; the gardener on the island who knows nothing about shortages, whose only concern is the price of the still-cheap cubic meter; and the car owner copiously spraying the dust off his vehicle; at the streams of water bubbling from our sidewalks and flooding streets because of faults in antiquated pipes.
.. The water company has said that it is planning a campaign to encourage households to use water more wisely.
As it should. But the real question is: As citizens, how prepared are we, really, to do what’s asked of us? To change our daily habits, how we wash our hands, ourselves and our dishes, how we clean our houses?.
