My view of water has not drastically changed since taking this course, however, that is because I have always respected water in many ways. I never thought water was limitless, and for as long as I can remember, I tried to tell those around me to respect water more. That being said, there were aspects of this course that made me think more about my actions and the overall effects of the water crisis. There aren't really unlimited resources on earth, and more people need to be educated about this. I learned a lot more about the effects of agriculture and unsustainable design. Water is at the heart of almost everything in life, and while it's great that Ithaca College took it into account when designing new buildings, many organizations don't take it into account. It's impressive that Ithaca's newest buildings are sustainable, as Mark Darling taught us. It would be better if Ithaca also made efforts to adapt older buildings. Because of our discussions about the effects of unsustainable practices, I would always choose to support, in some way, an organization that spends extra money on sustainable practices. I view water as a necessity, not necessarily something beautiful. or as a kind of art. That's not to say water can't be beautiful, but I think more people should start thinking of it like gasoline. In addition to not destroying the environment, water is analogous to gasoline. These are two non-renewable substances that are consumed daily in massive quantities by the general public. Gasoline is necessary for driving, just as water is necessary for life. But while most people realize that the world's gasoline supply is reduced...... middle of paper ......A good example of this is that 20% of states' water footprint -United States is external, meaning that one-fifth of the water Americans use comes from Chinese manufacturing (waterfootprint.org). These numbers are important, and the more they circulate, the more people will pay attention to them. The United States uses 30% of the world's fresh water and has only 5% of the world's fresh water. This statistic is not widely reported but it is alarming and should be reported more than it is. There are many ways to approach this problem, but one way is through ecological design, an emerging field that focuses on how we can use new technologies to reduce the amount of water we let's use (Lohan). The United States is already investing billions in this industry, and we should continue this trend because it's a sign that people are willing to spend their tax dollars investing in the future...