Our Water is in Peril: The Dangers of Water Pollution

On today's program, we’ll delve into the current state of global water pollution. Shockingly, at least two billion people worldwide rely on water sources tainted with fecal contamination for their everyday activities, including drinking, cooking, and cleaning, thus endangering their health. We pollute our water in numerous ways. Currently, 42% of household wastewater, which includes human waste, household sewage, and sometimes even toxic or medical waste, is directly discharged into our planet’s ecosystems.

Elevated levels of nitrogen and phosphorus have been identified in rivers, streams, lakes, coastal areas, bays, and groundwater across all 50 states of the United States. A UK House of Commons Committee report has determined that no uncontaminated rivers are left in England. Between 2016 and 2019, Spain witnessed a staggering 51.5% increase in nitrate water pollution. The Ganges River in India is one of the most polluted rivers on Earth.

During an interview with The Irish Dog Journal, conducted by Louise Kings (vegetarian), a Shining World Compassion Award recipient, our Most Beloved Supreme Master Ching Hai (vegan) shared how the animal-people livestock industry is the world’s biggest water polluter and what the solution is. “Your country’s Environmental Protection Agency reported that one of the top contributors to water pollution is agricultural runoff, which is the discharge of nitrogen and phosphorus. A huge portion of nitrates, for example, comes from animal-people manure. […] The large scale of this health risk can be seen if we consider the fact that animal-people livestock produces 130 times more waste than humans. As the land cannot absorb it all, much of the excess runs into our rivers and soil. We are talking about a horrific amount of toxic material that poses an appalling set of problems, including poisonous gases like hydrogen sulfide and ammonia, residues of pesticides, hormones, antibiotics, and bacteria like E. coli that could, and do, cause food poisoning and also death. […] But all the while, livestock production is hazardously wasting and polluting any remaining water supply. If we really want to conserve our clean, safe water for ourselves and our children, we must stop animal-people livestock production and adopt the plant-based diet.”