- Tap water comprises only 3% of the water Americans consume daily.
- A water footprint embodies the amount of fresh water—directly from the tap and indirectly via irrigation, preparation, and packaging—required to produce, transport, and use the goods and services a consumer buys.
- The average American’s water footprint is 2,200 gallons/day, two-thirds of which is precipitated by their diet.
- You can calculate your own water footprint at www.watercalculator.org.
- One of the best ways to rein in your water footprint is to curb your food waste because wasting food also wastes all the water used to produce it.
- Choosing grass-fed beef lowers a carnivore’s water footprint. Animals raised wholly on pasture are not fed corn. Feedlot cattle may graze early in life but are generally finished on corn at a rate that requires 2.5 pounds of corn to produce one pound of beef.
- Drink tea. A single cup of coffee requires 34 gallons of water to produce, from bean to reusable travel mug; a “cuppa,” as the Brits say, requires just seven.
- Steam vegetables instead of boiling them. Steam requires a fraction of the water, cooks quicker, and results in vegetables that have retained water-soluble nutrients like vitamin C, vitamin B1, and folate.
- Reuse pasta water to thicken sauces, to give soups a silky mouthfeel, to mix into pizza dough, or (when cooled) to water plants.
- Load the dishwasher. A water-efficient dishwasher uses as little as four gallons of water per load. Washing the same number of dishes by hand requires up to 20, and it’s a chore.
Are foodies with food allergies the new ideal guest?
Caili Elwell
