GEF

Unit 1  |  Why Water Matters 16 GROWYOUR KNOWLEDGE A personal water footprint is the total amount of water a person uses. Read the questions below. Then, with your teacher’s permission, access the watercalculator.org website. Use the tool to calculate your own water footprint as you answer the questions below. The information you need may display with the prompts, or in your water footprint report. While using the water footprint calculator, respond to the prompts as accurately as possible. 1. What is your water footprint? 2. Is your water footprint greater than or less than the U.S. average? 3. List at least four things that directly impact the amount of water you use every day. 4. What are the two largest contributors to your water footprint? 5. What is one thing you can do to reduce your water footprint? Essential Concept Water is central to sustainability. 1.1  Our Relationship withWater It is impossible to separate water sustainability from a healthy natural environment, a successful economy, or human equity and well-being. Successful water sustainability means that we must always consider the relationship of water to humans and to nature. It is relatively easy to see obvious uses of water such as drink- ing, bathing, and cleaning, but there are also many ways in which water use is hidden from view. Embodied water , which is also called virtual water , is the amount of fresh water used to produce a product or service. You might know how much water you drink each day, but do you know how much water is used to produce the food you eat? How about water to gener- ate electricity or to manufacture the clothes you wear? WATER SUSTAINABILITY Equitable use and manage- ment of water that does not impair its availability or quality for present and future generations or ecosystems. EMBODIED OR VIRTUAL WATER The amount of fresh water used to produce a product or service.