No Flush of Success Yet

CBC Radio's Spark, one of my favourite programs, carried an interesting segment the other day on water-efficient toilets. Out here in the Kootenays, where we "appear" to have lots of water, we're still fighting the all-too-prevalent-attitude that "the Lake has lots of water in it", that we don't need to meter water use, that water meters only penalize poor people (apparently because only rich people will have the money to waste metered water, I think....) and so on. These conversations and comments remind me of similar assertions tossed my way years ago when I was teaching school students about acid rain, pollution, over-population, recycling, and climate change. We all need to be reminded that many people will resist ANY change in their lifestyle, even if, it appears, it will save them money or conserve natural resources. The concept of trying to find more efficient ways of using these resources is still being portrayed as undemocratic and foolish in some wierd way. Hard to believe in this day and age.