3 Ways you’re a water waster and you don’t even know it!
How dare I suggest that you of all people are wasting water when you have taken such care to deliberately save water. Well, there are lots of unconventional ways that you can wastewater every day without even knowing that you are.
Most of us are aware of the traditional water-saving techniques like showering instead of bathing and using a dishwasher rather than washing the dishes. However, these are not what we are talking about in this article.
Here are 3 interesting ways that you could be wasting water without you even being aware that you are as well as how you can change your habits and actions to help save even more of this precious resource.
- Having a beer with your friends
For all you who love a cold one with friends, I’ve got some bad news for you. The process of making beer is water-intensive and we are not even factoring in the water consumption used in the agricultural process to grow the ingredients required. The manufacturing of beer uses between 4 and 20 litres per litre of beer produced. The actual figure per brewery greatly depends on the water practices of the producer.
Most of the water that is used in the beer manufacturing process is used for cleaning. Additional water is also utilized for cooling and packaging. Much of the water wastage in breweries is lost due to evaporation and a large amount is simply washed down the drain.
It's not just beer that consumes a lot of water in its manufacturing process, but nearly all of your other favourite beverages as well. Wine consumes between 5 and 10 litres of water per litre produced, and hard liquor uses even more water 35 to 50 litres in the production of 1 litre.
2. Scrolling on Instagram
Scrolling on Instagram for some of us is a lovely way to get inspired by others, catch up with our friends' recent activities, pass some time, or just post our own content for others to enjoy. However as you pass the time scrolling and interacting with others, you are consuming water every minute you hang out online. No, you don't actually physically consume water every minute you are online but the large infrastructure that stores and provides the content to you does.
The typical data centre uses about 13 million litres of water every day. Water is used for cooling to keep the infrastructure housed in these data centres operating at optimal temperatures. Although these data centres have become more energy and water-efficient over the years, their level of water consumption can still create competition for water resources, particularly in areas where water is scarce.
Google found itself in one such case in 2017 when residents and conservation groups objected to its plans to increase its water consumption by drawing 6.8million litres of groundwater every day at its South Carolina data centre in Goose Creek. The centre already consumed 18 million litres of water a day. According to NBC News, Google eventually reached an agreement that they would only use groundwater under limited circumstances and procure additional water from the Charleston Water System.
3. That's a nice new pair of Jeans you have!
It's stylish and looks great on you, but did you really need it or did you just want it? The fashion industry utilizes huge amounts of water every year in order to produce its garments for retail around the world. It is estimated by the UN that 93 billion cubic metres of water are consumed by the fashion industry each year. That's enough water to provide 5 million people with drinking water for a year.
85 percent of the water consumed by the fashion industry is used to dye the fabrics you are wearing. The process of dyeing fabrics has a knock on the environment with the wastewater more often than not entering the water cycle and polluting water sources nearby.
For example, that new pair of jeans you just bought took 7500 litres of water to produce. That's the estimated consumption from growing the cotton, dyeing the fabric to making it store ready for you to purchase. With 85% of all textiles ending up in landfills despite the fact that they could be recycled, or reused, ask yourself whether you really need that latest fashion item or whether it will gather dust and clog up the landfill.
You can help save at least 60000 litres of water per year
While there is no way we can completely stop using the internet, buying new clothes and having a drink or two with friends, however, we can reduce our consumption to help reduce our impact on the water used to create those items of pleasure we enjoy.
If you buy 5 fewer pairs of jeans per year, have 2 fewer beers a week and spend just one hour less online per day per year you can help save at least 60000 litres of water a year. All these micro-decisions will help to save water and reduce your impact on secondary consumption.
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This article is brought to you by H2O Securities. H2O securities are committed to solving the global water crisis and taking an active role in the future of water infrastructure finance. To find out more about H20 securities go to https://h2o-securities.com/
