We know that you can conserve water around the home and at work directly, but what about through our food choices? This video goes into a few simple ways that you can conserve water in your day to day by making less water-intensive food choices:
http://www.youtube.com/v/fB9MrW9DYPg?version=3&hl=en_US
Who knew that something as simple as choosing tea over coffee could have such a big impact on our water usage? The video’s main takeaway seems to be that animal products are very water-intensive, which makes sense. Rather than watering crops to feed to people, producing meat requires that you water crops to feed to animals who also need water. In fact, 68% of the grains we produce don’t feed people directly.
As the video mentions, there is a looming worldwide water crisis, and we need to start finding ways to use less water now. Sure, that means using efficient fixtures, reclaiming greywater, and ditching water-intensive lawns, but that might not be enough. We use more water for agriculture than anything else, and changing our diets can make a big impact on our water footprints.
Right now, 85% of our world’s water consumption is related to agriculture. I know that a vegan diet isn’t for everyone, but that doesn’t mean that omnivores can’t reduce your water footprints. Imagine the impact it would have if everyone ate just one or two more meatless meals each week! If you want to try eating vegan, even once a week, there are some great resources over at our sister site, Eat Drink Better, to help get you started. Here are a few:
Image Credit: Creative Commons photo by Lars P.