Water Footprint: How You Can Calculate And Reduce Yours
Water Footprint: How You Can Calculate And Reduce Yours
Let's start with the term itself, what is water footprint? Established in 2002, the concept is defined as an indicator of the total volume of water consumed directly and indirectly by an individual and companies, considering the goods and services we use, from the production of their raw materials to the final products.
Types of water footprint:
- Green: rainwater that is incorporated into a product or evaporates during production. Particularly necessary in agriculture, horticulture, and forestry.
- Blue: measures the volume of surface and groundwater used for our daily consumption or in industries through irrigation, refrigeration, washing, and other various processes;
- Gray: measures the necessary volume of water to dilute a given pollutant until the water affected returns to acceptable conditions, according to established quality standards.
WHY CONSIDER OUR WATER FOOTPRINTS
Water footprint works as a tool to bring awareness to the amount of water our daily activities require or waste. We consume huge volumes of water regularly without knowing it. Calculating our footprint can be a determining factor to provide us the dimension of our environmental impact and prompt critical changes.
DID YOU KNOW?
- A pair of jeans requires 10,000 liters of water to be produced;
- To make a single t-shirt, 2,700 liters of water are used. This amount would be enough for a person to ingest drinking water for three years;
- 1kg (2.2 lbs.) of beef consumes 15,400 liters of water. And the same quantity of chocolate, over 17,000 liters of water.
- The average American family can waste 180 gallons per week from household leaks. The annual amount could wash more than 300 loads of laundry.
- Nationwide, these same household leaks can add up to nearly 900 billion gallons of water annually. The equivalent of the annual household water use of nearly 11 million homes.
IMAGE COURTESY OF WATER FOOTPRINT NETWORK
With the growing population and, consequently, increased demand for the planet’s resources, we must make efforts to manage and use this valuable asset more consciously.
TO CALCULATE YOUR WATER FOOTPRINT, CLICK HERE.
WHAT CAN I DO TO REDUCE MY WATER FOOTPRINT?
Image Courtesy of Wirestock on Freepik
As we’ve seen above, our water consumption isn’t limited to our drinking and domestic use. Of course, you won’t refrain from eating, doing your personal hygiene, or buying clothes. However, knowing how much water these activities demand is the first step to engage in a more conscious consumption.
HERE ARE SOME TIPS:
BONUS TIP: REDUCE YOUR WATER FOOTPRINT WITH OUR SOLID LINE!
Did you know that we have a line of waterless shampoos and conditioners? They save up to 80% water in their composition compared to their conventional counterparts. Packaged in paper, they also generate no plastic waste. They are 100% natural and biodegradable, transforming your shower into a more sustainable experience.