Tag Archives: California drought

Sustainability

How Much Water Does it Take to Produce our Food?

1 Comment

avocado-713094_640Have you ever thought about how much water it takes to produce the foods we eat, that are grown in the United States?  Many of these come from drought-ridden California, where water is a vital component to support its agricultural industry.

The New York Times published a list, which calculates the average amount of water that is needed to produce an average serving of some of our favorite and necessary (who can live without avocado?) foods.

cappuccino-593256_640According to the article, these foods are among the highest amount of water needed:

  • Beef
  • Milk
  • Eggs
  • Rice
  • Almonds

What are the choices? Do we eat less of these foods? Should we seek to eat foods imported from other countries, or should we substitute foods that use less water to produce?

The story also lists foods that require less water to produce, like:

  • Apples
  • Cabbage
  • Raspberries
  • Spinach
  • Sweet potatoes

Click here to see the rest of the artistically, but simply laid out story.

In the end, we have choices. The question is, which are best for a sustainable future?

Infrastructure

What is Your Water Consumption Footprint?

tap-357252_1280

The average American has a water consumption footprint of 2,220 gallons per day. What’s yours?

By now, most of us are aware that California is in the midst of a marathon drought. While you may live in an area with an abundant amount of water, we must realize that it is a valuable resource, one that we cannot live without and, evidenced by the drought in California, it is a limited resource.

A recent article in Grist compares the lack of water use consumption reduction in California to the stages of grief. While Californians have been directed by the Governor to reduce water use by 25%, the real numbers only add up to an 8.6 reduction statewide, potentially triggering Stage 2 – Anger.

The point this writer found interesting was that there is a difference between telling folks to conserve and reduce water consumption, than SHOWING them how.

A good place to begin learning how to conserve water is to know how much water you and your family or business consumes daily, weekly, monthly and annually. It’s not a matter of knowing how much water flows from your faucets or goes down the drain when you do laundry. It’s about the food you eat (do you eat meat, or are you vegetarian or vegan?), the appliances you use (low flow faucets and toilets) and whether you take baths or showers.

CityLab offers a calculator which “reminds us that every bite of food, every mile we drive, and every light switch we flip relies on the wet stuff.”

Many of us underestimate how much water we actually use day-to-day, and year-to-year. A good deal of this underestimation stems from our neglect to account for water used to process our food and send electricity to our homes. Take a few minutes to see what your water footprint looks like and learn ways you can help conserve this vital, limited resource. You can choose to share your results with friends on Facebook, Twitter or by email.

We encourage you to answer the survey questions and share your results with us in the comments section below. Also share with your friends; it might encourage them to take the survey, too.

Infrastructure, Rainwater Catchment

The Cost of Seattle Water

water-lily-353346_1280

The Cost of Seattle Water

The Seattle water system is a good one, provided by Seattle Public Utilities. But, as the demand grows with urban development and population, the cost of Seattle water will need to rise to support expansion.

A recent article by Gene Balk in the Seattle Times makes some interesting points.  Balk mentions “…bafflingly — drought-stricken Fresno, Calif., has some of the cheapest water in the nation. At a 50-gallon-per-person usage, a family of four would pay just $41.63 — less than one-quarter of the cost in soggy Seattle.”

Balk goes on to write: “Seattle has such high rates because we’ve invested more than most places in our water infrastructure in recent years. We relocated our reservoirs underground, in compliance with federal mandates, to keep our drinking water safe from contaminants. “

We can clearly see that it’s not the amount of Seattle water that is the generator of costs, it is the infrastructure required to convey and treat the water to potable standards.

Approximately 70 % of household water demand is for non potable usage. Irrigation, water closets, laundry, and wash down account for this non potable use. Rainwater collection can mitigate non potable use of city water and have a positive effect on our centralized water system and environment.

The commercial building owner and the home owner can enjoy healthy savings on future Seattle water bills by utilizing rainwater collection. Stormwater reduction could be significantly recognized through on site filtration if buildings and homes in the urban environment adopted rainwater collection .

Seattle is a progressive city in many ways and rainwater collection is part of that progression.