GEF

Unit 4  |  The Global Water Crisis 116 GROWYOUR KNOWLEDGE Research from the Water Footprint Network shows that the average water footprint of a person’s diet in the U.S. consumes nearly 53 percent of their total daily water use. That’s because direct water is only part of the equation. The rest is embodied, or virtual water. For example, there might be 8 ounces of direct water used to make one cup of coffee, but how much virtual water is used in growing, harvesting, and transporting the coffee beans? With your teacher’s permission, watch “Water Footprint” located at https://youtu.be/abIRlVPVo90 . In this activity, you will research the amount of virtual water you consume with your meals over the course of one day. You might want to set up the information in a worksheet application so you can use formulas to perform the calculations. 1. Pick your favorite items for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Include drinks. 2. Refer to the product gallery at the waternetwork.org website (waterfootprint.org/en//resources/interactive-tools/product-gallery/ ) to identify the amount of virtual water associated with your selected foods. You might also be able to find the information by searching for keywords such as “cheeseburger virtual water.” 3. Record the daily water consumption for each food, and then calculate the total for each meal. 4. List one or two snacks you might eat in a typical day, and calculate that amount as well. 5. Add it all up to find your daily virtual water use for food. Multiply the total by 365 to calculate your approximate annual water consumption from food and beverages. 6. Write a short response reflecting on this activity. Are you surprised by the amount of water that goes into a product’s lifecycle?What are some of the ways that virtual water might vary for a given product? For example, a locally sourced product has less embodied water from transportation fuel. What are some other ways that you can consume less water, while maintaining a healthy and realistic diet?