The Water Footprint

Water is increasingly becoming one of the most precious natural resources of the 21st century:

• only 3% of the water on this planet is freshwater, and only 2% of this water is available to us

• large industries all over the world are polluting major water reserves 

• water is unevenly distributed - not only geographically, but also within society

• due to a rising population, the demand for water is growing rapidly

Since water cannot be produced, and since there is only so much water on the planet available to us, it is very important to think about the water used by a consumer or producer - the so-called water footprint. The concept of a ‘water footprint’ is an indicator of water use that includes both direct and indirect (virtual) water use of a consumer or producer. The water footprint of an individual, community or business is defined as the total volume of fresh water that is used to produce the goods and services consumed by the individual or community or produced by the business. For example; to produce a poster between 300 and 350 liters of fresh water is needed.

virtual water

Water neutrality was first conceived by South African sustainability expert Pancho Ndebele at the 2002 Johannesburg World Summit for Sustainable Development (WSSD). This first act in the field of water compensation made people realize the importance of water footprint reduction, and laid the foundation for extensive research on the broad and complex concept.

 

This resulted in the development of the scientific backbone of the concept and a Water Neutrality calculator - specifically designed for individuals to offset their water footprint.

Still, up until this day, a water footprint offseting mechanism for companies does not exist. Unlike the Carbon footprint, a water footprint has a local impact and as such, should be reduced and compensated for in the same region. This makes it very challenging and complex to neutralize ones Water Footprint. A one-size-fits-all water compensation formula has yet to be developed.

But there are ways to address this challenge and contribute to the water ecosystem on this planet. GreenAdsBlue brings us one of these ways.