Mina in Australia
The recent Australian floods are one part of the water crisis
Choose Australian cotton products to help reduce water impacts
Demand governments and companies take action to solve the water crisis
Thirst Foundation founder and CEO, Mina Guli has completed the RUN BLUE Australian leg by running 27 marathons over seven weeks through the Northern Territory, South Australia, New South Wales and Victoria.
On World Water Day (22 March 2022) Guli launched RUN BLUE, an audacious global campaign to complete 200 marathons in one year to draw attention to the global water crisis in the lead up to the UN Water Conference.
“Australia has some of the driest places on the planet. However, while I completed these marathons, Australians confronted another harsh reality of the water crisis as they dealt with the deluge of heavy periods of rain and flooding throughout News South Wales and Queensland,” said Guli.
“RUN BLUE highlights how the water crisis is currently impacting Australians. The flooding in Australia is incredibly devastating and the frequency of these events is increasing. The climate crisis is a water crisis. Water is how most of us will experience the climate crisis,” explained Guli.
“Governments and companies need to urgently address the water crisis. Decisions discussed in board rooms are too far divorced from lived experiences. As one of Indigenous Elder told me ‘things would be better if leaders could understand that things are different on the land,’” said Guli.
During the RUN BLUE Australian leg, Guli ran through agricultural areas including the cotton country in New South Wales and rural farmlands in South Australia. The Australian cotton industry is one of the most water efficient cotton industries in the world thanks to biotechnology and the advances in precision irrigation to manage effective water sustainability.
Guli explained that everyone needs to take action on water now, “I was so impressed with Scott Palmer, the organic date farmer, who I met in Coward Springs in South Australia. He switched to drip irrigation to minimise water consumption and uses water from the salty Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre.
Most people are unaware that everyday products and services rely heavily on water. For example, around 3,500 litres of water is used to manufacture a smartphone. A pair of jeans uses 10,000 litres. A single hamburger takes 2,500 litres of water to make from paddock to plate.
“So much water usage is invisible and therefore undervalued. If we place more value on water – we would use it so much more wisely,” Guli highlighted. “Companies across the globe currently use nearly 90% of the world’s fresh water. We must demand action from companies to be accountable – they hold the power to solve the world’s water crisis through sustainable water practice,” said Guli.
During RUN BLUE, Thirst Foundation is asking 200 global companies to commit to take critical action on water before World Water Day 2023 by using a framework called Six for 6 that provides best practice pathways to manage and track water commitments – this approach will help close the gap on targets set in the UN Sustainable Development Goal 6 (SDG6).
The remaining 173 RUN BLUE marathons are scheduled across Central Asia, Africa, the Middle East, Europe, India, Latin America, South East Asia, Mexico and America.
Later in the year during her running, Guli will participate in two large climate events and present a keynote presentation at Dushanbe in Tajikistan (June) and COP27 in Egypt (November). The final marathon will take place on World Water Day 2023 in New York City ahead of the 2023 UN Water Conference (their first UN conference on water in almost 50 years).
Put water front-of-mind in all your daily choices and join the RUN BLUE movement by visiting runblue.org
RUN BLUE Australian leg – 27 marathons
Run 1 of 200: Uluru, NT
Run 2 of 200: Kata Tjuta, NT
Run 3 of 200: Oodnadatta Track, SA
Run 4 of 200: Oodnadatta Track, SA
Run 5 of 200: Oodnadatta Track, SA
Run 6 of 200: Oodnadatta Track, SA
Run 7 of 200: Oodnadatta Track, SA
Run 8 of 200: Farina to Marree, SA
Run 9 of 200: Birdsville Track, SA
Run 10 of 200: Mungerannie, SA
Run 11 of 200: Birdsville Track, SA
Run 12 of 200: Simpson Desert, SA
Run 13 of 200: Innamincka, SA
Run 14 of 200: Cameron Corner, NSW
Run 15 of 200: Tibooburra, NSW
Run 16 of 200: Tibooburra, NSW
Run 17 of 200: Bourke Darling River, NSW
Run 18 of 200: Narromine, NSW
Run 19 of 200: Warrumbungles, NSW
Run 20 of 200: Warrumbungles, NSW
Run 21 of 200: Narrabri, NSW
Run 22 of 200: Narrabri, NSW
Run 23 of 200: Narrabri, NSW
Run 24 of 200: Gunnedah, NSW
Run 25 of 200: Greater Western Sydney, NSW
Run 26 of 200: Sydney, NSW
Run 27 of 200: Melbourne, VIC
Other RUN BLUE legs – remaining 173 marathons
Central Asia: Uzbekistan and Tajikistan
Africa: Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Zambia, Malawi, Zimbabwe, Botswana and South Africa
Middle East: Iran, Iraq, Turkey, Jordan and Egypt
Europe: Bulgaria, Greece, Albania, Montenegro, Croatia, Austria, Germany, Netherlands, Belgium, France, Italy and Spain
Latin America: Peru, Brazil, Bolivia and Argentina
Asia: Singapore, Philippines, Vietnam, Bangladesh, India
Mexico and USA: finishing in New York City
Join RUN BLUE
Sam Lawson and Megan Oehley
joinrunblue@thirstfoundation.org
RUN BLUE
March 2022 – March 2023
Driving action on the global water crisis
200 marathons | 1 year | 1 reason
#RunBlue
runblue.org
Instagram @minaguli
Facebook @MinaGuliWater
Twitter @minaguli
LinkedIn @thirstfoundation
