When addressing sustainability in global supply chains, the challenge is to manage and minimise the negative impacts There are flowers to fit every occasion. But if you are celebrating World Water Week (26-31 August), you might want to think twice. A single rose – grown in Kenya, as many of the world’s cut flowers are […]
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Water Footprints: How Much Water in Your Food?
Often, when you think about food production, it is only the carbon emissions in terms of fertilizer use, transportation etc that is accounted for. However, food production also has a steep water footprint. The water footprint is yet another environmental yardstick that measures how much water goes into the making of something. In 2009, the […]
How much water does it take to make 1 litre of beer?
How much water is contained in one beer? According to a new a report, quite a lot actually. Every litre of beer enjoyed by thirsty South Africans takes about 155l to make, according to a report published by SABMiller in association with The World Wildlife Fund (WWF). More than 98% of the water used is […]
The Water in Our Food
By Arjen Y. Hoekstra, University of Twente, the Netherlands One single component in the total water footprint of humanity stands out: the water footprint related to food. About 85% of humanity’s water footprint is related to the consumption of agricultural products; 10% relates to industrial products and only 5% to domestic water consumption. Within the […]
Our Food Costs Water!
Did You Know??… On average, it takes about 3 000 litres of water per person to produce our daily food… TOP 5 FOODS THAT USE THE MOST WATER… 1. BEEF (15,000 litres per kilo) 2. PORK (6,000 litres per kilo) 3. CHEESE (5,300 litres per kilo) 4. EGGS (4,700 litres per kilo) 5. POULTRY (2,800 […]
Top 5 Eco Video Games
Video games have come a long way from the days of idly twiddling a joystick in an attempt to sneak some white pixels past a slowly moving line. These days, video games allow players to build economies and cities, pit one civilization against another, and manage intense simulations that rivel the best scientific models in […]
South African professor slams climate change as ‘world’s biggest distraction’
Climate change is probably the world’s biggest distraction and not its biggest and most immediate challenge, which belongs to clean water, says Professor Grant Cawthorn. Cawthorn, Wits University’s School of Geosciences Platinum Industry Igneous Petrology professor, contends that the lack of fresh water will have a much greater global impact than a “one or two […]
Eco-Friendly Bathroom Practices
An eco-friendly bathroom should not only save on water, but should avoid all harsh chemicals which are deadly to wildlife and eco-systems and aim to save energy. A geyser is often heated to far higher than necessary, wasting electricity used to heat the water inside. Reducing the temperature setting on a geyser saves electricity, as […]
Hidden Water Consumption- Surprising Facts
We’ve all probably been made aware of some startling water-use statistics that are more ‘apparent’, but have we ever considered the water use/waste that is involved in less ‘obvious’ human activities?? One may be surprised to learn of some of the facts below… Diet The water it takes to produce the average American diet alone—approximately […]
