As we prepare for yet another Johannesburg thunderstorm -- I love this time of year when the dark clouds provide drama to the purple jacaranda blossoms – it’s sometimes hard to remember that this country is an arid one. For a brief period in Johannesburg each summer we think of rain: downpours; chaos from traffic lights that don’t work; storm water drains over flowing and the inconvenience of a sports match postponed or a braai that moved under the patio. We forget how much more rain we really need, how much more clean drinkable water is needed by communities around the country, and by farmers who are growing next month’s food. But, around the country a shortage of clean, drinkable water affects millions of people on a regular basis and if we aren’t more thoughtful about water we will all be paying much more for it, when we can get it.
We need to use water more wisely, to reuse it when we can – we do that in some of the Standard Bank buildings already by using “grey” water (which has already been through the air conditioning systems once) for flushing the toilets or watering the gardens. In our new 30 Baker Street building we capture run off water and rain water for reuse as well.
It is something all South African’s should do at household level, instead of using drinking water for washing cars or hosing down the paving. So, our ice bucket challenge initiative, which is raising money for rainwater harvesting tanks for schools in rural areas is great, please remember to make a small contribution to add to the R150, 000 the CEOs provided. For the learners at those schools, extra water will make a big difference to their hygiene and perhaps even provide water for growing vegetables for the school feeding scheme. When it comes to water we need to think about “some for all forever…………”
