Water for Earth: implementing circular living to value water

Waste is a man-made concept. It reflects our current inability to value resources or to creatively re-purpose them. In nature, everything that is not used by something or someone becomes a resource for something else.

In contrast, our high-tech and hyper-globalized society still needs to improve this aspect, which is at the foundation of the way we conceive our economy and live our daily routines.

Water is not exempted from these premises, as a confirmation of the current paradoxes affecting this precious and fragile resource. In a previous article here, I have already stressed some of the main challenges related to water scarcity affecting both states and communities all over the world, including the EU and the Mediterranean Basin. Yet, there remain so many cases of water wastage.

The multifaceted sides of wasting water

• Water inefficiencies and infrastructure

The impact of water dispersion due to distribution infrastructure represents a widespread plague in the international scenario, as data released by Interreg Eu reveals that between “25–50% of all distributed water globally is lost or never invoiced.” Informal water connections, inability for water pipelines to cover homogeneously extended areas, inefficient infrastructure management and leakage control, incorrect water pressure management are just some of the causes of water loss and leakage that also heavily affect our country. According to national data, Italian water network leaks amount to 44 cubic meters per day per km of network, meaning that 37.3% of water does not reach end-users due to the obsolescence of Italian water infrastructure. The rate of inefficiencies of Italian water infrastructure would require a solid renewal and large investments that, to date, are less than 0.5%.

• Domestic water overuse

Even though this epoch is characterized by unprecedented depletion of natural resources, global water usage has increased sixfold in the last 100 years, with a steady pace of 1% per year, as the 2020 United Nations World Water Development Report revealed. And it is within our houses where water demand expanded the most: +600% increase from 1960–2014 compared to any other sector. With specific reference to Italian behaviors that place Italy at +66% of domestic water consumption compared to the world average, one ordinary activity, such as pre-washing dishes intended to be placed in the dishwasher, is responsible for consuming up to 38 liters of water every time.

• Food waste

Globally, the large majority of freshwater (70%) is used for irrigation and food production. To the well-known detrimental effects caused by unsustainable farming practices in terms of soil degradation, GHG emissions, fertilizer contamination, and biodiversity loss, we also need to add the type of water sources generally used for irrigation purposes. To date, almost half of the water used for irrigation comes from groundwater, which is an extremely delicate ecosystem still too little understood and overexploited. It goes without saying that if one-third of global food production is wasted or lost in the fields, this represents an unnecessary cost for our already scarce water resources.

1.3 billion tons of food wasted globally every year costs 45 trillion gallons of water (about 170 trillion liters), reports the World Economic Forum.

Embracing circular living

The bright side of living in an epoch of unprecedented crisis and detriment is the possibility, for the different stakeholders in our society, to perceive the pivotal importance of the essentials we have taken for granted for too long. Whether it is the ability to fully understand the beauty from subtraction, only once we lose something, or the instant reaction to real and possible risks, the global community has finally realized the urgency of shifting our current patterns and embracing circular solutions.

Adopting a circular approach means that resource lifecycles are extended to their maximum potential, by avoiding waste in the first place, maintaining a resource’s life by sharing, reusing, redistributing, repairing, and, only as a final stage, recycling. And “drops” of change in this direction are gradually emerging in the international scenario.

In terms of water reuse, important achievements arrive directly from the European Commission that adopted the New Regulations on minimum requirements for water reuse in May 2020. This is a specific activity part of the New Circular Economy Action Plan, the main building block of the European Green Deal, aimed at alleviating water scarcity across the EU while encouraging circular approaches through water reuse in agriculture and industrial processes. Other interesting cases of circularity come from sanitization and use of water from unusual sources, like contaminated sources, rainwater, or even “collecting humidity.” These are all solutions or prototypes that are already emerging or existing on the international stage.

Circularity as a collaborative effort

No circular economy approach can be followed and effectively implemented without the active participation of all the actors of society. Each individual, from policymakers to consumers, needs to play their part. As an example, there are many creative ways to cook or reuse food to avoid waste (food and water waste): by turning the leftovers of a fresh salad into ingredients for a sauce, by rethinking parts that are usually thrown away, like food skins. About this, you could be inspired by creative and tasty recipes shared by the Food Alchemist Lab of the Future Food Institute through these videos on avoiding food waste.

But schools also play a crucial role in this direction, as starting points to articulate values and prepare children for the future. Why aren’t students asked for solutions to current challenges as an alternative and collaborative learning experience? Why do we usually offer learners answers rather than open questions? This idea is precisely at the basis of the challenge launched by Cosmopolites, in collaboration with the Foundation Amore per il Sapere and Future Food Institute: organizing the first water challenge Hackathon in Italian schools. How could we engage and lead our classmates in helping to reduce our household water impact by adopting virtuous behaviors? is the issue they will need to hack.

Sometimes it is just a matter of creativity. Other times, it simply depends on believing that more sustainable alternatives to our usual way of living exist. It is finally the time to unveil the dormant resources, the resources like knowledge, products, materials, and traditions that are visible but still not seen, as Professor Gianni Lorenzoni, Honorary Professor at the City University of London, often reminds us.

The Future Food Institute is an international social enterprise and the cornerstone of the Future Food Ecosystem, a collection of research labs, partnerships, initiatives, platforms, networks, entrepreneurial projects and academic programs, aiming to build a more equitable world through enlightening a world-class breed of innovators, boosting entrepreneurial potential, and improving agri-food expertise and tradition.

Future food advocates for positive change through initiatives in Waste & Circular Systems, Water Safety & Security, Climate, Earth Regeneration, Mediterranean Foodscape, Nutrition for All, Humana Communitas, and Cities of the Future as we catalyze progress towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

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