You see me write about sustainability lately a lot. So by now, you should know that we need to do something, companies need to step up and take action, we as individuals need to do so too.
But there’s so much to do! So many issues to fix… The majority of organisations cannot tackle each and every one of them on their own. What we and they need is focus – start with one initiative, complete it successfully, tackle that one issue to make an impact and then move onto the next one.
You can’t run into every possible direction as you won’t go anywhere – it’s that simple. So today we are going to talk about one issue that needs to be solved – the growing global water footprint.
When it comes to water consumption, everyone has a responsibility to conserve more and use less. The average American lifestyle requires about 2,000 gallons per day – twice the global average – and shows no signs of stopping. CustomMade has created a really cool infographic, outlining our water usage (domestic, industrial and agricultural) and simple ways we can lessen our water consumption.
Water is a precious resource and is in many things we require to live our daily lives. Did you know that developed countries need six times as much H20 to live as developing nations? And it continues to increase!
One thing I didn’t know: About 95% of our water footprint is hidden in our food. For example, it takes 2,874 gallons to produce one pound of chocolate!
There's a lot that companies can do to minimise water usage in production (check out what Unilever is doing here and here). There are also many things we as individuals can do, and companies can help us point there – they can give us the information just as this infographic with these shocking numbers (which I didn’t know, did you?), then they can challenge us to take little actions such as taking shorter showers e.g. for 5 minutes, which would save about 1,000 gallons of water per month, or turning off the tab while brushing teeth or shaving. Or they can involve us to share our ideas how we can solve these challenges (here’s another example from Unilever).
Again, focus on one thing, make it a habit, then move onto the next one. If everyone does that, can you imagine how powerful our collective effort could be?
The infographic below can give you some more ideas. I’ve adopted five of them – a lot more to go, but I didn’t know the majority of them before seeing that infographic. Information is empowering.
What little things do you do?
