Celebrate Water! (...by leaving it alone)Saturday, March 22nd was World Water Day, designated as such back in 1992 at a United Nations conference in Rio de Janeiro in an effort to raise awareness on this most vital natural resource.
Yet for some reason, World Water Day failed to capture our hearts like Earth Day did back in 1970, and on through the decades to the late 0ughts. Indeed, every April, Earth Day comes around and almost everyone becomes an eco-conscious hippie for the day -- tie-dyes come out of the closet, stock brokers don their college Birkenstocks, and talk of "carbon footprints" and the "greenhouse effect" buzz through the warm spring air.
Then it's back to business.
World Water Day, meanwhile, asks us to ponder something a little more direct: How much water we consume, and how much there is to go around. It asks us to bear in mind that water consumption in the United States far exceeds that of any other country -- whether first world or developing. It asks us to think about the many thousands of gallons that go into producing the food we eat, the clothes we wear, and the work we do. In short, it wants to confront us with the ugly reality that we simply use way too much of the stuff.
Are you brave enough to find out exactly how much you use? At H2O Conserve, a new Website designed to help you calculate your "water footprint", you can. Through a simple click-through series of questions, the site determines roughly how many gallons of water you consume per day. And for most in the US, the figure will be astounding.
I consider myself a pretty eco-conscious person: I don't drive, I take short showers, I don't use my dishwasher, and I recycle everything I can. Nevertheless, my daily water consumption, according to H20 Conserve, comes to 1,088 gallons per day. Meanwhile, the average person in most African nations survives on less than five. Seems impossible, but that's my point: How many of us really know how much water we use?
As with everything, knowledge is power. And if we Americans are willing to know our water consumption, maybe we can begin using a lot less. I know I'm going to try.
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Astounding! My daily water consumption was calculated to be 1,090 gallons. The indirect consumption is what I didn’t realize. Really makes me want to change certain habits; some of which are simple solutions. Great site, thanks for sharing!
1,147.83 was my total daily water consumption! Wow, I am definitely going to start applying some of these tips!
This seems relevant to this thread:
Scientist who invented "virtual water" wins prize
(http://www.reuters.com/article/inDepthNews/idUSL1850227220080319)
What is more astonishing about American's use of water is how much more we use than our earthly roommates. According to the article mentioned above on Professor John Anthony Allan published by Reuter's, an average American's use "was more than three times the average consumption of a Chinese person." But this should come as no suprise as we are leaders in consuming more energy (#4), more natural resources (#2), and create more carbon based emissions per capita (#10).
Now for the other 90%: (http://other90.cooperhewitt.org/Design/q-drum)
Designers are taking a different approach to the water shortage (rather than water usage) issue, which jeopardizes the lives of billions of people, especially women who are primary water providers for these areas.
The Q-Drum is a beautifully executed design solution to a health problem that affects many of Africa's 600,000,000 rural citizens--- for anyone who's counting, that's twice the population of the United States.
My water consumption is 1,169.20 gallons per day. It is hard to believe!
My water consumption is 1,169.20 gallons per day. It is hard to believe!