By now, many of us are familiar with the concept of a carbon footprint. Global warming, climate change, and sustainability are now mainstream buzzwords associated with the green movement. But there is one resource we Americans continuously take for granted, simply because for most of us, we don’t have to think about it - we just turn on the faucet. But the day is coming when it won’t be that simple (and it’s already here for some).
Arjen Hoekstra is the scientific director of a Netherlands-based organization, the Water Footprint Network, which is focusing on promoting this idea. Now that the philosophy behind the carbon footprint concept is familiar to most of us, being aware of our H2O habits will aid us in the task of preserving what is left of our natural resources. The notion of a water footprint “very much brings the water problem to the people” Hoekstra says. “And then it shows that maybe people can do something about it.”

Photo by Joe Shlabotnik on Flickr

So how exactly do you evaluate your water footprint? The first step is to put the whole watery shebang into perspective. The average citizen in the industrialized nation drinks about one gallon of water per day, but “eats” an additional 800 gallons. 18 gallons of water goes into producing one apple. A pint of beer requires 20 gallons. One pound of chicken uses 467 gallons of water, and the water expense for one pound of beef is a whopping 1,857 gallons. “The link between our food and water is strong. We each drink on average nearly [one gallon] of water per day in one form or another, while the water required to produce our daily food totals at least [528 gallons]—500 times as much,” writes author, environmentalist, and founder of the Worldwatch Institute, Lester R. Brown in his 2008 book, “Plan B 3.0: Mobilizing to Save Civilization.”
If being aware of the thousands of gallons of water in your daily diet isn’t enough food for thought, consider that your favorite pair of leather shoes required 2,113 gallons of H20 to come into existence. Obviously, consumption and consumerism are also key factors in evaluating the water situation. “Our household water use accounts for only 6 percent of the water that we consume. The other 94 percent comes from the products we buy, everything from almonds and tomatoes to blue jeans and microchips,” writes Josh Harkinson in his article, “What’s Your Water Footprint?” for the July + August 2009 issue of Mother Jones magazine. “And as Americans, our water consumption per capita is twice the world’s average. Each one of us uses enough water annually to fill an Olympic-size swimming pool—four times what someone in Yemen uses.”
So we are “eating” way more water than we could possibly drink, and the products we buy and consume come with a hefty liquid price tag. What—if anything—needs to be done to modify our attitudes towards water consumption?
In April 2009, the Finnish food corporation, Raisio, became the very first company to include a water footprint label on its packaging. Company spokeswoman Heidi Hirvonen says the new label is a response to “an increasing consumer demand” for this type of information.
Another idea to raise consumer awareness of water usage is for government to take a bigger role in regulating agricultural methods. “Water could be parceled out to the farmers who use it most efficiently and with the least environmental impact,” writes Harkinson. “Much as a cap-and-trade program would make manufacturers compete for the right to spew CO2, farms could compete through efficiency for the right to suck up water.” Jason Morrison, the program director for the Oakland-based Pacific Institute, believes such a system would provide an incentive for farmers to be more responsible about their irrigation methods. Morrison suggests farmers who show they are more efficient with their water supply be compensated in the form of state subsidies or interest-free loans. These ideas may eventually be the only options for U.S.A. areas that are often plagued with droughts, such as the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta in California.
Although the idea of a water footprint is brand new, the hope of eco-minded citizens and organizations is that the future includes commercializing blue footprint labels and incentives for water-conscience farmers. As the mounting evidence of climate change and global food shortages show, we cannot afford to view this issue as passing water-under-the-bridge (pun intended.) Knowing the implications of how we use our water supply is a critical step in managing our resources under these rapidly changing and potentially deadly conditions.

Resources:

Brown, Lester R. Plan B 3.0: Mobilizing to Save Civilization. 1st ed. New York: Earth Policy Institute, 2008. Print.

Harkinson, Josh. “What’s Your Water Footprint?” Mother Jones: Smart, Fearless Journalism July-Aug. 2009: 54-57. Print.

Phillips, Jen. “How Much H20 Goes Into Everyday Products.” Mother Jones: Smart, Fearless Journalism July-Aug. 2009: 56. Print.