What's your water footprint?

Posted by: Johnny Tran

Awareness is beginning to develop as more individuals realize that our clean water use is outpacing our supply. Water footprints (how much water each one of us uses) is becoming more commonplace in our efforts to live a greener life. Calculating water footprints can be difficult since everything that is produced or eaten uses water in some form.

GOOD Magazine helps show just how big of a footprint we make from breakfast to dinner, and how a few simple changes can save over 2,000 gallons a month:

http://awesome.goodmagazine.com/transparency/web/trans0309walkthisway.html

Just to put some perspective on that transparency, ponder this for a moment:

• The average trash barrel is able to hold 32 gallons


• A mid-sized car can theoretically hold over 800 gallons if filled with water


• The difference in the amount of water it takes to produce a pound of chicken and a pound of beef is enough to fill almost two whole cars.