So you've cut back on your flights, you've changed all your lightbulbs, you've taken to walking in the wind and the rain to the bus stop to get to work instead of driving, you've mandated that the family must endure a 'No Electricity' evening twice a week and so you are pretty well sure that you've successfully reduced your carbon footprint. Great. Well done.
But what about your Water Footprint?
Are you working hard enough to become Water-Neutral?
What do you mean you don't know what the fuck that is? Hang your head in shame, useless eater.
Oh yes, you thought they were done with you since you've reduced your carbon emissions, but you were wrong. They've only just begun :
The concept of water footprints – or "virtual water" – will tell consumers the amount of precious H2O that has been used in the manufacture of products they buy. As with carbon footprints, a "virtual water" figure will indicate the extent to which a particular product has cost the earth. And, as with carbon footprints, the message is clear: less is better.
An apple weighing 100g has a water footprint of 70 litres, while a 125ml cup of coffee has a water footprint twice that size, 140 litres. But the water used in producing wheat or meat is much greater. A single kilogram of barley has a water footprint of 1,300 litres, while the industrial production of a kilogram of beef amasses a water footprint of 15,500 litres.
Poultry, meanwhile, has a smaller water footprint than red meat: producing a kilogram of chicken meat leaves a comparably much smaller water footprint of 3,900 litres.
Though it covers more than two-thirds of the earth's surface, water has never been more precious. An influential UN report published in 2003 predicted severe water shortages would affect 4 billion people by 2050, adding that 40 per cent of the world's population did not have access to adequate sanitation facilities.
According to the stats in the story, a pint of beer has one-tenth the water footprint of milk and ranks far below a lot of other foods.
Harassing people to reduce their water footprint will only work with the right of marketing :"Reduce Your Water Footprint, Live On Beer"
