The world is facing an enormous water shortage, and it is predicted that by 2050 the majority of individuals across the globe will either be living in water-stressed or water scarce regions. Although there is the same amount of water on the planet as there was when it was created, water has been displaced due to over-use, abuse, and climate change.
The meat industry plays a critical role in water usage – it takes around 10,000 litres of water to produce around a half a kilogram of meat. While this may sound exorbitant and most people cannot get their heads around it, it is easy to understand when broken down:
-
It takes around 7 kilograms of grain as feed to produce 500 grams of edible meat, which also means more land is needed;
-
Water is needed to irrigate the grain to be used as feed;
-
Water is used for drinking by the livestock as well as to bathe them in;
-
Water is used to wash the blood, urine and faeces out of the flesh so that it is presentable to be sold in shops; and
-
Water is used in the form of ice to keep the meat cool and fresh
Think about it this way; every time your family has a burger night, you are consuming the equivalent of nearly 12 000 litres of water during just one meal. A typical that does not eating meat for just one day could mean around 40,000 litres of water and 28 kilograms of grain that are freed up to be used for other purposes – 500 grams of grain can be turned into 500 grams of bread, pasta, rice or corn, which can feed many more people.
Apart from the no-meat day concession we should all make sure that we do not waste water by taking long showers, leaving taps open while we rinse dishes or brush our teeth, not fixing leaky taps and pipes, and generally just wasting water in the garden, in our homes and at work.
We also need to hold Business accountable for the volume of waste cast into local rivers, lakes and groundwater and by not being wastrels in our consumerism. Every new product we buy; our leather car seats, purses and shoes as well as every gram of plastic packaging or plastic products that we use and which are produced in these factories has a direct impact on the levels of toxins in our water.
Get water coolers and water cooler accessories from Living-Water.
