It is easy to forget that the U.S. Intermountain West; the states containing 40 million people who use the Colorado River; and the Great Plains states (the land east of the Sierra Nevada and west of the 96th meridian) are essentially deserts.
And that matters because water is life.
By now most of us are familiar with the concept that every physical object and every intangible product has both a carbon footprint and a water footprint. Most people probably do not pay much attention to water footprint. Many of us in the U.S. intermountain west and Great Plains likely do pay attention, as befits people living in deserts.
Product | Unit | Water Footprint (approx.) |
Beef | 1 kg | 15,415 liters 415 |
Pork | 1 kg | 5,988 liters 1 |
Chicken | 1 kg | 4,325 liters 1 |
Cheese | 1 kg | 3,178 liters 1 |
Eggs | 1 egg | 52 gallons (197 liters) 6 |
Milk | 1 liter | 1,021 liters 1 |
Rice | 1 kg | 2,497 liters 1 |
Bread (wheat) | 1 kg | 1,608 liters 1 |
Tomatoes (fresh) | 1 kg | 214 liters 7,1 |
Apples | 1 kg | 822 liters 1 |
Almonds | 1 kg | 16,194 liters 1 |
Chocolate | 1 kg | 17,196 liters 1 |
Coffee | 1 cup | 34 gallons (129 liters) 6 |
Wine | 1 glass | 34 gallons (129 liters) 6 |
Jeans (cotton) | 1 pair | 2,108–2,866 gallons (8,000–10,850 liters) 8,6 |
T-shirt (cotton) | 1 shirt | 659 gallons (2,720 liters) 8,6 |
Smartphone | 1 device | 3,190 gallons (12,760 liters) 8,6 |
Car | 1 car | 13,737–21,926 gallons (52,000–83,000 liters) 8,6 |
Leather shoes | 1 pair | 2,113–3,626 gallons (8,000–13,730 liters) 8,6 |
Paper (A4 sheet) | 1 piece | 1.3 gallons (5.1 liters) 8 |
The point is that in many parts of the world, water footprint matters as much as carbon footprint.
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