Let’s work together to keep our rivers and oceans clean.  Here’s a recent post about our favorite biodegradable shower products.

Happy World Rivers Day!  Hopefully you’re in close proximity to one and can easily enjoy some cool river water today.  I’m still in Nepal, a country racked with rivers that are fed by beautiful snow capped mountains.  The raging rivers in Nepal power a whopping 80% of the country’s electricity.  Nepal’s three major rivers are the Kosi, Gandaki and Karnali.  Pokhara, where I’m currently living, is near to the Seti Gandaki or White River.  Below you’ll see photos of the white river during a yoga teacher training group outing.  

We ventured ninety minutes outside of Pokhara to hike and visit the hot spring on the White River.  This was actually last week during Clean Up The World Weekend.  My group helped pick up lots of litter at my request.  It was a great bonding experience because none of the Nepali people could fathom why we were picking up trash with our bare hands and insisting we put it in the van and take it back to the hotel.  You can see my Indian asana teacher (in all white) carrying a box we found on the side of the mountain, which we then used to pick up more trash along the White River.

While we did our best to collect trash there is obviously a lot left to be done in Nepal and all over the world.  The river I visited in Kathmandu was absolutely trashed.  It’s no wonder since it runs through a city that is home to over a million people.  It was quite a surprise to me though because my guesthouse receptionist describe it as an amazing natural area.  You could say I was a little disapointed when the local bus dropped me off here.

Then there is the Bagmati River, the one in which cremated remains of hindus are tossed into. While it’s easy to judge those who use rivers differently, it’s hard to tell if we would act the same if our country’s standards for water cleanliness were different or almost nonexistent like those in Nepal.  We learn from those around us and if your piers are washing their clothes in the water and throwing the detergent wrapper downstream you will almost certainly do the same thing.  One of my favorite books growing up was A River Ran Wild by Lynne Cherry. It’s the story of native americans and europeans working together to restore a river that had been heavily polluted. I honestly think that book was my first introduction to the concept of water pollution and realizing that whatever you do upstream will have a consequence downstream. It still baffles me that some people don’t realize storm drains lead to rivers and oceans.  It’s never too early to educate your children (or even your adult friends!) about the importance of fresh water and the way we interact with it.