By John Chappell •
July 4, 2009
Eco-conscious and green consumers around the globe are increasingly aware of the carbon footprint of their food choices, but what about the water footprint?
As water becomes an increasingly scarce global resource, the focus turns toward analyzing how much water it takes to grow particular foods. Increasing awareness of the amount of water various foods require can help consumers make educated choices for the most environmentally conscious products.
Not surprisingly many of the same attributes that make for smart environmentally friendly choices also make sense from a water consumption perspective. Not eating meat, choosing locally grown organic foods, and growing as much produce as possible in your own backyard are also the best choices for using the least amount of water.
By Derek Markham •
April 4, 2009
A study of about 3000 children in 32 schools in Germany found that installing water fountains, giving the children refillable water bottles, and using teaching lessons promoting the health benefits of water consumption reduced the risk of being overweight by 31%.
By Dave Harcourt •
January 14, 2009
SAB Ltd, is funding water saving projects to compensate for its potential water consumption of 14 billion litres a year in South Africa. WWF (World Wildlife Fund) is facilitating the “water neutrality” process with a South African Government Project to ensure that this is not just a multinational greenwashing.
SAB Ltd is the South African subsidiary of SABMiller which is the second largest brewery in the world .
Water Neutrality
In October 2008, Dr Deon Nel, Head of the WWF Sanlam Living Waters Partnership explained
“The concept of water neutrality, based on its carbon equivalent, has been used loosely over the past years; however, until now no-one has been able to quantitatively justify these claims. We believe that our scheme is the first in the world that allows participants to truly claim to be water neutral.”
Participants will replenish water supplies, by investing in projects that quantitatively supplement water supplies equal to their water usage.
Note: Water neutrality has taken on a form in certain areas that is significantly different to the process introduced here by WWF.
By Amiel Blajchman •
September 22, 2008
With the recent election of Tzipi Livni to the leadership of Israel’s Kadima Party (the leading party in Israel’s ruling coalition), she has the opportunity to become Israel’s first female Prime Minister since Golda Meir and its second ever.
By Gavin Hudson •
September 17, 2008
Last week, EcoWorldly looked at water from different angles and from different countries.
1. Govind Singh of Delhi, India sees water as a reminder of his city’s past glory and its present predicament. To support Delhi’s many kingdoms of yore, the city built sophisticated water storage systems, called baolis. Today, with its population of 16 million straining the city’s water capacity, Delhi may revisit its abandoned baolis. Singh describes the ancient baolis: “A baoli, or step-well, consists a vertical shaft from which water can be draw. The surrounding inclined passageways and steps which provide access to the well. These were built to provide a constant supply of water to the residents of Delhi and now lie in ruins – wasted and disused.”
Do you wish to understand the wisdom of effective water- and energy-conservation for hotel laundries, oh little four-star getaway? The secret, according to a study published in October’s Journal of Consumer Research, is to let guests know their fellow hotel-goers are doing their part to conserve. More guests saved their towels for a second or third use when the signs in their [...]
In an effort to curb water consumption, the city of Austin is offering free, low-flow toilets to residents whose commodes are more than 12 years old and have tanks larger than 1.6 gallons.
Photo courtesy of Jarhelm via Wikimedia Commons
By Keith Rockmael •
February 8, 2008
With little fanfare, Kimball Office opened their new San Francisco FiDi showroom with a quiet, green splash. Although they haven’t achieved LEED-CI status yet, they hope to gain gold certification soon. The architectural and design team over at Huntsman Architectural Group created a green space that we noticed as we stepped in. The design team reused stair posts to create the dramatic floor and 100% of the architectural wood elements are [...]
