About "Innovate Blue" Initiative
Our fresh water supply is at risk. In many parts of the world we are using it faster than nature can renew it, and we need to reduce our wasteful water habits.
To make environmentalism truly mainstream, we need to shift our focus toward everyday consumer choices. The "Innovate Blue" initiative can have a massive impact on people's attitudes toward our planet. Awareness of the problems we face has skyrocketed. But despite all of this attention, most people today are NOT engaged. The time has come to step up and seek something broader than a green or environmentalist platform. We need solutions as big as the problems we face.
We believe that changing the way people look at the world is more important, in the long run, than focusing on the marginal ecological impacts of the individual actions they take. Without a serious commitment to the mainstream, the fight for the future of our world is all but lost. The good news is that people want to be part of something larger than themselves. We can achieve the scale of change required only by unleashing the creativity and imagination of the global public. It is this realisation that led the "Innovate Blue" initiative to merge.
The "InnovateBlue" is a platform for sustainability that goes beyond environmentalism. "Blue" places people at the center, while "Green" puts the planet at the center of the discussion. To many people, green means choosing the environment, nature and the atmosphere over everything else. Blue means you don't have to choose. It recognises that people believe climate change is happening, but it knows that we also want to feel good about the way we look in the mirror and the way our kids look at us. Blue understands that people want quality of life and joy, not guilt.
Our Mission
Our mission is
to build a billion-person movement, representing over $1 trillion
in consumer buying power. Shopping is a regular activity for most
people on the planet, and if trends continue, it will be for virtually
everyone.
There are three desired outcomes for the "Innovate Blue" initiative.
First, to measurably improve the quality of life of the people, and those in need
for safe and clean drinking water. Second, to engage as many people as
possible in the effort. And third, to increase the effectiveness of
their blue innovation.
"Innovate Blue" is
an initiative led by people and to empower the shopper, retailers, and
manufacturers.
For example, private consumption expenditures in the United States
represent about 70% of the GDP. Engaging people as consumers, as people
who shop, is the only way to make change at a mega scale. The only
possibility of building a billion-person movement is to engage
individuals person-by-person, step-by-step, and to teach our children
how to make a difference through the things we buy.
Goals
The "Innovate Blue" focus on three key areas that people can use to reinvent their shopping habits: price, purpose and process.
Price: We need to innovate "blue" products that are competitively priced
an make them available to everyone. You shouldn't have to be rich to
contribute to a sustainable society.
Purpose: What's the purpose of what you're buying? Do you need it? Does it fit into the healthy practices in your life?
Process: What was the process used to make the product? Was the
manufacturing process water and energy efficient? What is the water
footprint? Were the workers aware and trained to
save freshwater? How will the products be disposed?
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About our Community
We believe that we must engage one billion people in the challenge to
the sustainability of our planet. We need to speak in words, provide solutions and
encourage practices that deal with the everyday reality that people
face. We need to work with multinational corporations. That's
where the people are, and because that's where the money is.
No one owns "Innovate Blue" initiative, and everyone is welcome to shape
it and move it forward. Our goal is to improve life at a personal, community
and planetary level. If each time we plugged something in, it drew power only when it was
needed, we in the US alone would save $5.8bn annually on power bills
and prevent the greenhouse gas equivalent of taking seven million cars
off the road for a year. If every time we turned on a light it was a compact fluorescent, the
savings would be equivalent to taking 50 million cars off the road for
a year. If every time we washed laundry it was in cold water, we would save 75 billion kilowatt hours of energy.
The world is not going to end. This is how the world is going to begin again. When you look at planet earth from space, you don't see social
problems, you don't see economic problems. What you do see is "blue". It
is the color and the future of our planet. "Blue" will generate more new jobs, more companies and billions in revenues - and save lives. This
is the kind of economy and world we want to leave for the next generation.
We are a global network of people who believe we
must act now to address the World Water Crisis:
- We design, we manufacture, we promote, and we buy
water-efficient consumer products and services
- We create new companies, more
jobs and generate revenue through 'Blue' innovation
- We buy products and services from manufacturers and companies committed to
water sustainability in their supply chain
- We tell our friends and
co-workers to join our initiative
- We inform our elected officials, policy makers and
local media about our initiative
- We believe that no individual will stop World Water
Crisis, but by working together, we can make it a priority for our communities
we live and play in.
About our Water Footprint:
People use lots of water for drinking, cooking and washing. Manufacturers use even more for producing consumer products.
The water footprint is an indicator of water use that looks at both direct and indirect water use of a consumer or producer.
The water footprint of an individual, community or business is defined as the total volume of freshwater that is used to produce the goods and services consumed by the individual or community or produced by the business.
Human impacts on freshwater supply can be linked to human consumption. Issues like water shortages and pollution can be better understood and addressed by considering production and supply chains as a whole. Freshwater problems are closely tied to the structure of the global economy. Wise water conservation is lacking. Not only governments, but also consumers, businesses and civil society communities can play a role in achieving a better management of water resources.
That's the simple idea behind our global community.
We invite you to join us and take action
today. It's FREE. More involvement is needed to help us attain our
ambitious goals. If you
wish to establish or join an H2oAlliance chapter, please contact us for more information and guidelines. We appreciate your interest and efforts in the development and administration of the InnovateBlue initiative in your country, community, organization and company.
InnovateBlue.org
FreshWaterAlert.org
GSC Programs
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