VIRTUAL WATER WEEK

We’re coming up to World Water Day again on 22nd March. Water use is definitely flowing up the political agenda. So I thought I should focus on virtual water this week. If you add all the water needed to grow crops and feed animals for ingredients and materials, that’s the virtual water needed for a product. The figures are quite startling.

	Product		Portion	US gallons
	Tea		One cup	9
	Beer		One glass	20
	Wine		One glass	32
	Coffee		One cup	37	(one bath tub)
	Milk		One glass	53
	Potatoes		One pound	31
	Oranges		One pound	55
	Grapes		One pound	78
	Apples		One pound	84
	Bananas		One pound	103
	Yogurt		One pound	138
	Cheese - fresh		One pound	371
	Eggs		One pound	400
	Cheese - processed		One pound	589
	Chicken		One pound	469
	Hamburger		One	634
	Pork		One pound	756
	Sausage		One pound	1382
	Beef		One pound	1857
	Cotton T shirt		One	766
	Cotton sheet		One	2800
	Blue jeans		Pair	2900

I’ve reported on virtual water comparisons before, but this is the most comprehensive I’ve seen so far. It was published in a poster insert with National Geographic magazine in April 2010.