The BBC have just published a very unsettling piece on our reliance on imported water, based on work done by an Engineers Alliance called Engineering the Future. It’s alliance includes the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE), the Royal Academy of Engineering (RAE) and the Chartered Institute of Water and Environmental Management (CIWEM). The article points out how we import two thirds of our water, embodied inside the products we buy. The most intensive water using products include our beloved Jeans (as astonishing 10,850 litres per pair of jeans) and coffee (a thoroughly depressing 21, 000 litres per kilo). The implications are stark, especially for water scarce areas of the world, for those impacted by climate change and those with polluted water. The impacts are global, depriving local people of scarce water resources, and of course introducing huge risk into our own supply chain and lifestyles by being overly dependent on an unsustainable resource. Where are the risks to you, your business, and to your community from relying on water from water scarce areas, and how are your decisions impacting on the water consumption of people who need it to survive? Only a whole systems approach like The Natural Step can help each organisation understand their impact and to make plans and strategies that will remove these risks over time. Call us to set up a meeting. ICE are making the report available on their website.
Another Big Sustainability Issue – Virtual Water
Another Big Sustainability Issue – Virtual Water
Monday, April 19th, 2010 | Poster under Discussion, News
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Realeyes is part of a global network of sustainability experts and business leaders through our affiliation with The Natural Step International which operates in 12 countries.
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