My view of water has not changed dramatically since taking this course, however, that is because I have always respected water in many aspects. I never thought water was limitless, and for as long as I can remember, I have tried to tell those around me to respect water more. That said, some aspects of this course made me think more about my actions and the global effects of the water crisis. There are actually no unlimited resources on earth, and more and more people need to be educated about it. I learned a lot more about the effects of agriculture and unsustainable design. Water is critical to almost everything in life, and while it's great that Ithaca College took this into account when designing their newest buildings, many organizations don't take it into account. It's impressive that Ithaca's newest buildings are sustainable, as we learned from Mark Darling, it would be best if Ithaca also made a commitment to adapting older buildings as well. Because of our discussions about the effects of unsustainable practices, I would always choose to support, in one way or another, an organization that spends extra money on sustainable practices. I think of water as a necessity, not necessarily as something beautiful or as some kind of art. That's not to say that water can't be beautiful, but I think more people need to start thinking of it as gasoline. In addition to not destroying the environment, water is analogous to gasoline. Both are non-renewable substances that are consumed daily in large quantities by the general public. Gasoline is necessary for driving, as water is necessary for life. But while most people realize that the global supply of gasoline is scarce… half paper… A good example of this is that 20% of the US water footprint is external, which means that one-fifth of the United States' water footprint is external. the water used by Americans is represented by Chinese production (waterfootprint.org). These figures matter and the more they are spread the more people will pay attention. The United States uses 30% of the world's freshwater and has only 5% of global freshwater. This statistic is not widespread but it is alarming and should be reported more than it is. There are many ways we should address this problem, but one is through ecological design which is an emerging field that focuses on how we can use new technology to reduce the amount of water we use (Lohan). The United States already invests billions in this sector and we should continue this trend because it is a sign that people are okay with their tax dollars being spent on investing in the future.