27 Dec 2014

Rainwater or the Aquifer – Quite the Conundrum

Posted By : Larry Curran Categorized : Categorized: BLOG

Rainwater or the Aquifer Quite the Conundrum

I have always appreciated fables, parables and Chinese Proverbs. They all tell a story to bring home a moral principle.

The fable about The Three Pigs begins with three young pigs being sent out into the world by their mother, to “seek their fortune.” The first little pig builds a house of straw. It was easy and gave him more time to play. A wolf shows up says. “Little pig, little pig, let me come in.” “No, no, not by the hair on my chinny chin chin.” “Then I’ll huff, and I’ll puff, and I’ll blow your house in.” The wolf blows it down and eats him. The second pig builds a house of sticks. It was sounder than the straw house but still easy to build providing him with more leisure time. The wolf also blows the stick house down before eating the second pig. The third pig builds a house of bricks. It is solid, took a lot of time to build and he didn’t have time for fool doggery. The wolf fails to blow down the brick house. So the wolf decides to come down the chimney, whereupon, the pig catches the wolf in a pot of boiling water, cooks and eats him. The hard work ethics, delayed gratification and other morals represented in The Three Pigs, have become embedded in our culture, yet many traditionally ignore them when it is easier to do so.

The fable of the Chicken and the Pig asks a question. Question: In a bacon-and-egg breakfast, what’s the difference between the Chicken and the Pig? Answer: The Chicken is involved, but the Pig is committed!

Jesus often used parables to convey his message. The parable of the two houses built on rock and sand in Matthew 7:24-27. The house on the rock resists the storm and stands firm. The house on sand collapses in the storm. The houses represent people’s lives and decisions they make over time

But, I really like this old Chinese Proverb, “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.”

Which came first the Chicken or Egg? There is no “first” in a cyclical view of time but I can use this to illustrate my point. Which do you eat?

If you have the view of the Chicken and Pig fable above, obviously the chicken can continue to provide eggs so “Commitment” is better than “All in.” The same holds true with the Chinese Proverb about teaching a man to fish. Followers of the Three Pigs would heartily agree that eating the chicken would be quite short sighted. Delaying gratification for a few months by eating some of the eggs will provide chicken and eggs for a life time. I think Jesus’ message can also relate to responsibility and the sustainability of our actions and desires.

An Original Fable about Rainwater -Are we a pig, a duck or a fish? In a downpour, the pig will wallow in the standing rainwater creating mud and quite a mess. But, he doesn’t care because he is happy and doesn’t really need the rain. The duck appreciates the rainfall because he likes swimming in the pond when he wants a swim moving to and from land when the mood strikes him. The fish, on the other hand, cannot go a minute without this life sustaining natural resource. What are we? What should we be?

UNFORTUNATELY, WE ARE PIGS AND DUCKS WHEN WE SHOULD BE FISH! Rainwater sustains our life on earth. Without it, we would quickly perish. If rain is an ever-flowing faucet, the aquifer must then be our temporary bowl. We in the USA have become pigs. We are short-sighted, constantly abusing and using our aquifers to sustain our growing population supporting instant gratification, waste and irreverence. Like the pig, we wallow in our self-indulgence while polluting the groundwater and sucking the aquifer dry. Many are like ducks using the aquifer when it suits us because it is readily available, showing indifference when challenged to conserve. Our actions will ultimately kill the fish which needs fresh water to survive. The fish is all-in but dependent on the Pig and the Duck.
Now, let’s view the fish in the above fable as our children and grandchildren. Being the pigs and ducks we are, we have created a consumptive and wasteful society who already face serious water shortages. Politicians, businesses and individuals turn their eyes away from the problems caused by our own gluttony and continue, like ducks, to blindly enjoy the water. What we are doing is simply not sustainable. It is a house built on quicksand that will eventually suck our children under. If we use the Chicken and Egg analogy, let’s eat the eggs and save the chicken. Let’s use rainwater as it is plentiful and save our precious aquifers even though they are easier to use. Only 20% of rainwater actually replenishes the aquifer, the rest, 80%, flows to the sea and mixes with saltwater. If we work harder to capture and use the 80%, we don’t need to worry that our aquifers cannot sustain the growing population.

Embrace rainwater and our fish will live!

“He who has his head in the sand will likely drown in the rain.” An Old Rainman’s Proverb.

By: Larry R. Curran, Founder and CEO of Choose Rain Inc., OTC-PK symbol “CHOS” Choose Rain will capture

Rainwater, process it with ozone, UV light and magnetics, not chlorine, and bottle it in a biodegradable bottle that goes away in a landfill in 3 to 5 years. We believe we are headed down the wrong path and need to change. We believe that irresponsible harvesting of our aquifers will result in water shortages and saltwater intrusion. We believe that plastic bottles are more of a curse than our salvation and, while chlorine is effective at killing pathogens, it is a poison we should avoid. The use of Hydroponic systems and Rainwater -based organic nutrients complete the opportunity to make a difference. Our company’s mission is to make changes, baby steps, through education to make life better for our children. The “HELP, BUT DON’T PANIC” theme will help us spread our message. Respect Mother Nature – Choose Rain!

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Larry Curran

CEO at Choose Rain

I have a passion for rainwater. In 2004, I built a home in Florida that uses rainwater as the only source of water. After retirement and 40 years as a CPA/ CFO, I formed Choose Rain, Inc., a small cap public company trading as “CHOS” OTCPK, to serve a sustainable need for bottled water with a low impact on the environment.