Almost 3 billion people around the world live with with scarcity and many more live under water-stressed conditions. Water footprints can help us better understand where we’re using our water and can help us make better decisions about our purchases.
As global economies improve, lifestyles and eating habits require more water consumption per person. As the population increases, this will put even more pressure on already water-stressed and water-scarce regions.
An individual product’s water footprint tells consumers how much pressure that product put on freshwater reserves at its place of origin, so consumers can understand how a specific product contributes to water scarcity and degraded water quality.
Labeling products with their water footprints would quantify water inputs, and potentially impact purchasing habits by encouraging consumers to resist highly water consuming products. Labels would also incentivize product manufacturers to scale back unnecessary waste.
You can read more about the Water Footprint Network’s take on water footprint labels on their site.