"Don't forget that Sunday is Mother's Day!" scream the banners on shops and websites alike. "Show her she's special" they demand. How exactly do they recommend that you make your mum feel unique on the big day? How about buying her Take That's album for a tenner, they suggest? Why exactly she'd feel more special or unique when she owns an album that has already sold over two million copies isn't really explained.
Okay then, how about a nice bunch of flowers? Interflora are selling arrangements that start at £24.99 and head right the way up to £85. £85! For flowers! Despite these prices, its estimated seven million mothers will be receiving flowers on Sunday, racking up £225million for British flower merchants. It will be the merchants who hold on to most of that cash as well, with workers on flower farms earning around £1.40 a day. Those workers are more often than not somebody's mother too.
Surely there's a better option? Well, it just so happens that this year, Mother's Day coincides with World Water Day. Which seems appropriate, as water, just like mothers, gives life. Since the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, every March 22nd people from all over the world come together to raise awareness of the fact that 40% of the world have to make do without safe and clean toilet facilities, and almost a billion people can't get a clean glass of water. If it's bad now, things could be about to get even worse thanks to changes in the climate combining with population growth. The UN recently warned that disputes over water could lead to conflict and war in the not too distant future.
Which is why we need to take the opportunity to increase clean, reliable water sources before things escalate to that point - and it really isn't hard to replace that Mother's Day gift with a card showing your mum that you've given someone a gift that keeps on giving on her behalf. For example, over at Present Aid a watering can costs £10.00, the same as that Take That album. A watering can may sound like a small thing but in the Niger Delta in Mali, rain is rare and unreliable, so the chance to collect water from the well for their crops like onions, potatoes, cabbages and tomatoes can transform the lives of farmers, helping mothers like Hawa Diarra feed her own family and sell enough to buy clothes and medicines.
<a href="http://www.presentaid.org/invt/wateringcan">Click here for more info</a> on how to get a hold of a watering can through Present Aid.
Alternatively, instead of those flowers you could spend your money on a rainwater harvester, at £30.00, or a tap and stand pipe for a local community which costs £45.00. The rainwater harvester is used in countries like Bangladesh, where even though there's a lot of water around, most of it isn't drinkable. Climate change has meant rising sea levels, which has meant that traditional water sources have become polluted by undrinkable salt water - but they can still rely on the sky, which makes this system sustainable. The same goes for putting in more taps - the whole of society benefits. For every £1 spent on sanitation and water, an economy gains about £8 by reducing health costs, better education and increased productivity.
<a href="http://www.presentaid.org/invt/rainwaterharvester">Again click here</a> for more info on rainwater harvesters, or <a href="http://www.presentaid.org/invt/communitytap">click here</a> if you'd like more details on community taps that Present Aid offer.
So if you're still stuck for a Mother's Day gift, why not give her a gift which shows her that you're thinking a little bit differently to the standard gifts and flowers that get thrust at us all. What more could your mum want?