Powerful Video Illustrates Importance of Water

In a remarkable short video produced by Circle of Blue for last year’s World Economic Forum we see that water is intrinsic to virtually every aspect of our lives, from the clothes we wear to the food we eat and the power that is used to heat our homes and run our economy.

Employing a sense of irony, stunning visual effects and an emotive score, filmmaker Eric Daigh has created one of the most powerful short films I’ve seen about water and its importance in our lives. See the video below:

One of my favorite things about this video, titled “no reason,” is its ability to effectively connect the viewer to complex water issues, including virtual water, the water-energy nexus and climate change.

As Circle of Blue points out from a press release by WEF, “Water security links together food, energy, climate, economic growth and human security challenges, which the world economy will face over the next two decades…. The world is now on the verge of water bankruptcy in many places with no way of paying the debt back.” The images and simple messages in the video convey these complicated concepts in a visceral way, which makes the video perfect for teaching school kids or the general public about our water woes.

Perhaps many of you have seen this video before – after all, it was released nearly a year ago. For those of us who did not see this video until now (myself included), it begs the question: why not? This video is entertaining and educational. It’s concise, interesting, apt and timeless. It’s amazing how certain “viral videos” amass millions of viewers within days, yet a video like this has under 2000 views on Youtube nearly a year after it was released. Hopefully people will keep watching it and spreading it around.