Here I am, working to reduce my Carbon Footprint, when along comes this article about your Water Footprint. I've excerpted some key portions.
Everything You Know About Water Conservation Is Wrong
Forget short showers. Worry about the 6,340 gallons of "virtual water" in your leather bag.
by Thomas M. Kostigen
I’ve been mindful of the amount of water I use when making a pot of coffee ever since learning that one-third of the tap water used for drinking in North America is actually used to brew our daily cups of joe—and that if each of us avoided wasting just one cupful of coffee a day, we could save enough water over the course of a year to provide two gallons to every one of the more than 1.1 billion people who don’t have access to freshwater at all.
That is a stark statistic, when as many as 5 million people die unnecessarily each year because of lack of water and water-related illnesses; one-third are under age 5.
So for me that excess cold coffee at the bottom of the pot became a bothersome reminder. But I had never thought beyond that—about how much water it takes to actually grow the coffee. That amount is called virtual water (pdf), and it’s the kind of thing you don’t really consider until someone brings it to your attention: “Do you know how much water it took to make this?” Virtual water is a calculation of the water needed for the production of any product from start to finish.
Here’s how it is figured: It takes about 155 gallons of water on average to grow a pound of wheat. So the virtual water of this pound of wheat is 155 gallons. For a pound of meat, the virtual water is 5 to 10 times higher. There’s a virtual water count for everything. The virtual water footprint of a cup of coffee is 37 gallons; an apple, 19 gallons; a banana, 27; a slice of bread, 10; a sheet of paper, 3; and a pair of leather shoes, 4,400.
We are in an encroaching global water crisis. The world needs to increase its water supply for irrigation by 14 to 17 percent by 2030 just to meet its dietary needs. Virtual water is where major savings can accrue.
Right now we lose 30 to 50 percent of the food we grow—and all the virtual water in it—by the time it is ready for consumption. These losses come in harvesting, production, processing, transportation, and storage. Tossing out leftovers wastes every drop of water it took to grow the food (and think of all the times you don’t ask for a doggie bag). Indeed, the third most common refuse found in landfills is food. Sure, a few liters of water are saved when you take a shorter shower, but hundreds of liters of water are lost when you throw away food.
We use freshwater mostly for agriculture, not for drinking or bathing. Today agriculture accounts for about 70 percent of all water use in the world and up to 95 percent in several developing countries. So it makes sense to first start looking at savings via food production. And when I say savings, I mean efficiencies and better water management, not necessarily avoiding particular food groups altogether—although that isn’t such a bad idea once in a while either. Meat requires 5 to 10 times more water to produce than vegetables do. Swap the two in your diet and you will save up to 750 gallons of water a day.
It’s time to ask how we can make better use of our water supplies so that virtual water doesn’t remain the ethereal concept its name suggests. It can be a far bigger source of real-world savings. For my part, I now note waste in different forms. I try to plan or order meals more accurately so I don’t have leftovers, and I try to eat lower down the food chain. In short, I try to do what my mother told me as a child—“Eat your vegetables”—because I now know what went into making them: a lot of water.
Our Very Wet Footprint
The average person on earth has a virtual water footprint of about 328,410 gallons each year; that includes everything used to make the food, clothing, and other water-driven products we consume. In China the average footprint is only 185,412 gallons, while in the United States it is 656,012—the largest on the planet. You can measure your water footprint using a questionnaire at Waterfootprint.org.
Everything You Know About Water Conservation Is Wrong
Forget short showers. Worry about the 6,340 gallons of "virtual water" in your leather bag.
by Thomas M. Kostigen
I’ve been mindful of the amount of water I use when making a pot of coffee ever since learning that one-third of the tap water used for drinking in North America is actually used to brew our daily cups of joe—and that if each of us avoided wasting just one cupful of coffee a day, we could save enough water over the course of a year to provide two gallons to every one of the more than 1.1 billion people who don’t have access to freshwater at all.
That is a stark statistic, when as many as 5 million people die unnecessarily each year because of lack of water and water-related illnesses; one-third are under age 5.
So for me that excess cold coffee at the bottom of the pot became a bothersome reminder. But I had never thought beyond that—about how much water it takes to actually grow the coffee. That amount is called virtual water (pdf), and it’s the kind of thing you don’t really consider until someone brings it to your attention: “Do you know how much water it took to make this?” Virtual water is a calculation of the water needed for the production of any product from start to finish.
Here’s how it is figured: It takes about 155 gallons of water on average to grow a pound of wheat. So the virtual water of this pound of wheat is 155 gallons. For a pound of meat, the virtual water is 5 to 10 times higher. There’s a virtual water count for everything. The virtual water footprint of a cup of coffee is 37 gallons; an apple, 19 gallons; a banana, 27; a slice of bread, 10; a sheet of paper, 3; and a pair of leather shoes, 4,400.
We are in an encroaching global water crisis. The world needs to increase its water supply for irrigation by 14 to 17 percent by 2030 just to meet its dietary needs. Virtual water is where major savings can accrue.
Right now we lose 30 to 50 percent of the food we grow—and all the virtual water in it—by the time it is ready for consumption. These losses come in harvesting, production, processing, transportation, and storage. Tossing out leftovers wastes every drop of water it took to grow the food (and think of all the times you don’t ask for a doggie bag). Indeed, the third most common refuse found in landfills is food. Sure, a few liters of water are saved when you take a shorter shower, but hundreds of liters of water are lost when you throw away food.
We use freshwater mostly for agriculture, not for drinking or bathing. Today agriculture accounts for about 70 percent of all water use in the world and up to 95 percent in several developing countries. So it makes sense to first start looking at savings via food production. And when I say savings, I mean efficiencies and better water management, not necessarily avoiding particular food groups altogether—although that isn’t such a bad idea once in a while either. Meat requires 5 to 10 times more water to produce than vegetables do. Swap the two in your diet and you will save up to 750 gallons of water a day.
It’s time to ask how we can make better use of our water supplies so that virtual water doesn’t remain the ethereal concept its name suggests. It can be a far bigger source of real-world savings. For my part, I now note waste in different forms. I try to plan or order meals more accurately so I don’t have leftovers, and I try to eat lower down the food chain. In short, I try to do what my mother told me as a child—“Eat your vegetables”—because I now know what went into making them: a lot of water.
Our Very Wet FootprintThe average person on earth has a virtual water footprint of about 328,410 gallons each year; that includes everything used to make the food, clothing, and other water-driven products we consume. In China the average footprint is only 185,412 gallons, while in the United States it is 656,012—the largest on the planet. You can measure your water footprint using a questionnaire at Waterfootprint.org.
There are 10,460 cubic miles of freshwater available on the planet as a resource each year, and the breakdown of worldwide access to it just isn’t equal. But understanding who has the good stuff and who is in need can allow us to maximize commerce in virtual water, helping balance things out. 
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