What are water footprints, and how can we reduce ours?
Water is vital to our health. It plays a key role in many of the body's functions, including bringing nutrients to cells, getting rid of waste, protecting joints and organs and maintaining body temperature. It’s also the go-to beverage of many. But how do we calculate our water consumption?
A water footprint is an environmental indicator that measures the volume of freshwater needed to produce the goods and services demanded by society. It enables us to determine the magnitude of the impact generated by human activity and obtain objective data.
How is a water footprint calculated? A water footprint adds up to the total volume of water consumed by a particular entity within a given period. This can be calculated for a product, service, industry, organization, country or even a person. It also includes both direct and indirect water consumption. In the case of a kilogram of beef, for example, the water footprint would include:
Water used to grow the roughage, grains and grass they eat
Water used to clean the animals, the barn, and maintain the environment
Water they drink during their lifetime
Water needed to dilute pollutants arising from production
When you add all of this up, the footprint comes to a whopping 15,500 liters – that's a lot of water! An apple, on the other hand, only uses 800 liters of water. When you start to delve into the world of water footprints, it can be quite shocking to realize just how much water we use every day without even thinking about it. The United States has the highest per capita footprint of 6.8 tons per day. Many European countries such as Greece, Italy and Spain follow closely with a water footprint of roughly 6.5 tons of water per day per person.
To protect the environment, however, it is crucial to maintain a sustainable usage of water. As an individual global citizen, here are several habits you can implement into your daily life to contribute to water sustainability:
Shower rather than take a bath, and set a timer to keep your shower under 5 minute
Only run full loads of laundry and dishes
Fix leaky taps to reduce water loss
Use a watering can rather than hose to water your plants
Install a water butt to catch rainwater
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