When the tap is broken …

Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) in the Bathroom

The tap is broken - water is constantly running into the bath...
... our first impulse is to get cloths to prevent the water from running into other rooms. Of course, you could also come up with the idea of laying a pipe through the floor into the ground so that the water can't cause any damage in the living room. But isn’t it the more obvious solution to call in a plumber to repair the tap?

Translated to our overburdened earth (the bathtub here stands for the atmosphere, which can no longer absorb CO2), the lobes signify possible measures to increase resilience to the effects of climate change: the construction of dykes, the creation of polders. The running tap stands for the permanent influx of CO2 or methane into the atmosphere. ‘Broken’ is our courage to reduce CO2 emissions.

Building dykes and creating flood retention areas are important measures. But would we really (to stay with the image) solve the situation by channelling overflowing water from the bathroom into the ground (carbon capture and storage)?

Certainly not before we have done everything we can, to stop the inflow of water.

My fondest wish for the new year 2025 is that all those with open hearts act "with the vision, wisdom and ability that match its status as a responsible” players in Sustainable Waste Management. WtERT will continue to emphasize the importance of honest information on sustainable waste management. In 2025, we will still discover many ways in which it is possible to fix all these ‘broken taps’.

We will probably (have to) come back to this in the new year many times and ask reliable partners for their best practices and recommendations (like the Best Practice from Hamburg about how to realize "Reuse” in a very economical way)

Yours,
Werner Bauer
Vice President Global WtERT Council

P.S.: Please imagine: you live in a high-rise building and the broken tap is one floor above you - wouldn't you ring the bell and help?

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