647: Seth Siegel on Water Scarcity in Agricultural Areas.
Exploring Solutions to Current Water Challenges for Farming.
In This Podcast:
Seth Siegel is passionate about tackling the world’s water problems before they get to crisis level. He explains the practical steps necessary to put into practice the solutions he has gathered from around the world. Agriculture is one of the largest consumers of water, but most crops are watered using wasteful methods that are centuries old. Seth presents a new technological solution that is both effective and cost effective, making it more appealing to commercial farms. Don’t Miss an Episode!! Click HERE to visit the Urban Farm Podcast library
Our Guest:
Seth is a serial entrepreneur, water activist, New York Times bestselling author, and the Chief Sustainability Officer for N-Drip. His critically acclaimed award-winning book Let There Be Water: Israel’s Solution for a Water-Starved World has been published in 20 languages and is on sale in more than 50 countries. His other books are Troubled Water: What’s Wrong with What We Drink, and Other People’s Words all produced by St Martin’s Press. In addition to his books, his commentary on a range of topics has appeared in many leading publications, including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and The Washington Post. Seth has spoken on water issues at more than 325 venues in 68 cities, 26 states, and on four continents–and during the Coronavirus lockdown, to dozens of others via video. For his work in communicating water needs, he was named one of the 100 Global Water Heroes.
Listen in and learn about:
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- Serial entrepreneurship
- Water problems are different from earthquakes and tornadoes.
- What it means when there is a water problem
- Evolutionary changes are better than radical changes.
- How Seth’s book “Let There Be Water” came about
- The surprising place Seth found water solutions
- Thinking of water as a vast but finite resource
- A decision is the first step.
- We do not pay the true cost of water in the United States.
- Model solutions for the whole world
- Manufactured water
- It’s possible to delay a water crisis for a long time.
- Sewage cycles in Israel
- Growing things around the world: 3.5 billion acres of farmland, 700 million of those acres need to be irrigated, and 85% of those use ancient technology that is about 4000 years old!
- Seth’s unusual path to Chief Sustainability Officer
- N-Drip saves between 325,000and 550,000 gallons of water per season per acre over flood irrigation.
- What homeowners can do – educate yourself, demand changes from elected officials
- “I and It” relationships versus “I and Thou” relationships
As well as:
His failure – “I think I’ve learned more from my interpersonal failures than I have from my business failures.”
His success – 41+ years of marriage to an extraordinary woman he admires, respects and loves even more today than on their wedding day
His drive – A desire to never take things for granted, and never be sitting still for too long. The idea of self improvement
His advice – “Just keep moving.” “Surround yourself with people who challenge you, who encourage you, and inspire you.” “Push yourself to what’s next and don’t dwell on the small things that get under your skin in the moment.”
Books written by Seth:
Other People’s Words: Wisdom for an Inspired and Productive Life
Troubled Water: What’s Wrong with What We Drink
Let There Be Water: Israel’s Solution for a Water-Starved World
Seth’s Book recommendations:
I and Thou, by Martin Buber
How to reach Seth:
Website: www.sethmsiegel.com
Twitter: @sethmseigel
UrbanFarm.org/sethmsiegel
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