Water. The most important ingredient for survival. Have you ever thought of what you would do if you didn't have water ?
This important question was asked of us last summer as we endured one of the hardest droughts ever to hit the south east United States. My little town of Maryville,Tennessee actually ran out of water and the city had to run emergency pipes from Loudon lake to our little hamlet. We couldn't water our gardens, we couldn't take daily showers, we had to consider electricity usages. As the water crisis continued throughout the fall, even the state of Georgia wanted to change the boundaries of the state line just to get water from a Tennessee river, it became apparent that we needed a different water strategy.
What does all of this have to do with Sweden? Sweden, as always is trailblazing a global road with it's World Water Week. The winner of this year's Stockholm Water Prize Laureate is Professor John Anthony Allen from King's College London. He is the creator of virtual water.
People do not only consume water when they drink it or take a shower. There is a water footprint which measures not only how much water we use but how much water it takes to make the products we buy and use.
"Behind that morning cup of coffee are 140 litres of water used to grow, produce, package and ship the beans." said Tony Allen. That is the average amount used by one person in England on a daily basis. A hamburger needs 2,400 litres of water. Professor Allen is suggesting that having more vegetarian habits has less impact than being a meat eater. One ton of beef takes a lot more water than a ton of wheat. Professor Allen does know that it is a difficult thing to change ones eating habits but is putting this one out there to think about.
So the next time you grab for the simplest item think about how much virtual water was used to produce it. Maybe one way to lessen our impact on water is to buy things locally and closer to home.Do I dare say,"Well that's food for thought".
Until next time. Vi hörs!
