Water is used both domestically and for agriculture and industry in the production of everything from food to paper. In this book about industrial water footprints, the creator of the concept – Arjen Hoekstra – discusses how freshwater is used to produce the goods and services consumed by individuals, communities and businesses. [Amazon]
LA is the hub of denim research and manufacturing but that status is being threatened by labor-wage issues, immigration reform and drought (denim production has a high virtual water use). Find out more on this tour of the Citizens of Humanity denim factory. [Fashionista]
According to a new survey of more than 3,000 US adults, 35 percent of water drinkers say they drink only or mostly tap or filtered water, while 31 percent drink only or mostly bottled water. Sixty-three percent of Americans say bottled water is among their most preferred beverages, followed by coffee. [FoodBev Media]
Schools in San Francisco and elsewhere are lowering their carbon emissions and water footprints by reducing the amount of meat and dairy products they offer in school lunches. According to a new study by Friends of the Earth in collaboration with the Oakland Unified School District, by serving more plant-based nutritious meals and reducing meat […]
A new study in Nature Geoscience finds that global redistribution of the 14 crops that make up 72 percent of global harvests – peanuts, corn, millet, oil palm, rapeseed, rice, roots, sorghum, soybean, sugar beets, sugarcane, sunflowers, tubers and wheat – could significantly reduce water stress by making rain-fed production less susceptible to dry spells […]
According to a new EWG report, the drinking water supplies for millions of people living in farm country are compromised because of a pollutant associated with agriculture: nitrate. Excessive nitrates spawn harmful algal blooms that form “dead zones” and, in infants, can cause the potentially deadly “blue baby syndrome.” According to EWG, “Drinking water supplies for more than 200 million Americans […]
For those who think the concept of the “Three Rs” of recycling are difficult, get ready to meet the “Eight Rs.” For those of who recycle, you’re going to love the new Rs: remember the need; refuse and assess; reduce; reuse; refill; repair; regift; recycle; and repeat. [Holland Sentinel]
Using a new online tool, students can use real energy and water data sets to explore how surface and groundwater use are impacted by population changes, power generation and water-saving strategies. The interactions between food, energy and water supplies are critically important to sustainability. Energy and water are strongly interrelated because it takes water to […]
NASA and its partners ended the GRACE satellite mission this week after eight of 20 battery units in one of the paired satellites stopped working. The satellites – GRACE-1 and GRACE-2 – worked in tandem to measure fractional changes in Earth’s gravity due to, among other things, the amount of groundwater in prominent aquifers. Data […]
