By Craig and Marc Kielburger
Tyler and Alex Mifflin spent summers in the water. Childhood memories of canoe trips and pristine waves contrast heavily with something they heard from adults time and again: “Don’t swim in the Great Lakes. They’re too polluted.”
That warning was the first drop in the bucket that’s become a shared life goal.
Two decades later—after four seasons as hosts, directors and videographers of the award-winning eco-adventure series The Water Brothers—they’ve dipped their toes in bodies of water in over 35 countries, interviewed hundreds of leading scientists, and shot thousands of hours of footage. They traveled down the Mekong and Ganges rivers, went scuba diving with hammerhead sharks and sailed into the middle of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.
Every episode is paired with interactive educational content that make water issues more accessible to remind people that water is more than a resource—it’s a life source.
March 22 is World Water Day and we need the conversation to extend beyond the environment. So we spoke with the Mifflin brothers about the importance of water and how ordinary people can take action every day in unexpected ways.
“Water is connected to poverty, economic development, health,” says Alex, the passion clear in his voice. “You can’t have a functioning society or a functioning economy if you don’t have clean water.”
That applies to Sub-Saharan Africa as much as to water parched communities across America.
We’ve seen climate-linked heat waves and food shortages impact millions around the globe. Droughts from Kenya to California and record-setting wildfires across Russia’s bread basket have strained economies and aid systems. Research suggests that water shortages helped spark the Syrian Civil War when a 2006 draught forced farmers to migrate to urban centers as the economy crashed, creating a tinder box of unemployed, angry men.
Most of the political and social issues of our day come back to water—and protecting it requires a major change in lifestyle.
Speaking at schools, Tyler and Alex tell students that half measures are no longer enough. Shorter showers alone won’t save us.
Our well-known water conservation tactics need a boost from less obvious—and often more difficult—actions, like eating foods that require less water, Tyler says. One pound of beef takes just under 2,000 gallons of water to produce while the same amount of chicken needs only 500 gallons.
Beyond food, there is a hidden water price tag to almost everything we manufacture. Each plastic water bottle requires twice as much water to produce as the amount it holds. It takes 1,300 gallons of water to make 500 sheets of paper and another 713 gallons for one t-shirt.
Encouragingly, Tyler and Alex have seen students petition their schools for bottle refill stations and begin litterless lunch movements to reduce the amount of plastic they use.
As people begin to understand the hidden impact of water, they’ll see conservation as a way to help not just the environment but also the economy.
“Every day has to be World Water Day,” says Tyler.
After tragedy struck, Miguel Vargas became a champion for clean water and healthcare in his community of Mondana in the Amazon rain forest. In this video, Miguel explains why these causes are so close to his heart.
Craig and Marc Kielburger are the co-founders of the WE movement, which includes WE Charity, ME to WE Social Enterprise and WE Day.