At earth camp I learned to connect to nature and to enjoy it. But our nature is dying. In Arizona all the rivers are shrinking from their past mightiness. The huge aquifer once filled with pure water is being drained. This water has sustained life for long time. Without it Arizona is just a big hot rock. One of the things that uses up a lot of water are swimming pools. One simple yet effective device I will install is the pool cover. This mighty gadget stops evaporation cold. Only when I’m swimming will I uncover the pool. There are three main types of pool covers. I think I will go for the solar pool cover--so it can heat the pool as well (I freeze in the pool sometimes). In addition solar technology is cool. Typically a regular solar pool cover will cost $40-500. A great side effect of a pool cover is that it provides protection from thirsty rats and bugs. Solar covers aren’t very strong so a rat could easily fall through it and drown, so maybe I will reinforce it with cloth or a tarp.

Swimming pools do not need high quality water, just not horrible water. Since the plants in my yard do not need much water (except for the fruit trees which I will have to figure out a plan for) I can use rainwater to help fill up the pool, only after I’ve made sure it’s safe of course. Also instead of using chlorine to kill bacteria we could use salt instead, which has the same effect but it is a weaker chemical and has less side effects (Better for the environment).

One person doing this is great, but a lot of people doing it is better. To spread it to the neighbors I will teach them by example. When they see how wonderfully awesome my pool is they will try to copy me. And use less water themselves. For a more distant population I will try to post articles on popular websites and newspaper. This may sound like a little thing but many little differences piled up makes a big difference.

This picture is of the Santa Cruz River, which used to be full of water, but no longer flows because we have used so much water. 

My favorite part of camp was on the first day when we went saguaro harvesting. Up till then I had never tasted nature’s candies (Fruit). I didn’t really count store bought apples as nature. I went with two other people to harvest saguaro fruit. We used a big long stick to knock ripe saguaro fruits to the ground, then we gathered them.