Here are some virtual water footprint facts and figures taken from the eye-opening Thomas M. Kostigen article in the June 2008 issue of Discover magazine. His article is entitled, “Virtual water — a smarter way to think about how much H2O you use.”
- - The virtual water footprint of the average human alive today is 328,410 gallons a year.
- - The virtual water footprint of the average person living in China is 185,412 gallons per year.
- - The virtual water footprint of the average person living in the United States, where water usage is highest on earth, is 656,012 gallons per year.
- - Lack of water is the cause of 5 million deaths each year.
- - One-third of all people who die from lack of water are less than five years old.
- - The virtual water footprint for a sheet of paper is 3 gallons.
- - Leather shoes leave a virtual water footprint of 4,400 gallons.
- - If all goods, commodities, and food products shipped internationally were combined, the virtual water footprint it took to ready those exports for shipping consumed 15% of the entire global consumption of water.
- - The global water supply needs to see an increase of 14% to 17% in water used for irrigation alone by 2030 to do nothing more than meet the planet’s estimated dietary needs at that time.
- - There is no fresh water in Kuwait. Desalinated seawater is used instead.
- - Jordan spares its country’s domestic water supply by as much as 60% to 90% by importing water-intensive agricultural foods and food products instead of growing them themselves.
- - 30% to 50% of all the food grown in the world is never eaten.
- - The virtual water footprint of a banana - 27 gallons.
- - An apple - 19 gallons.
- - A slice of bread - 10 gallons.
- - A cup of coffee - 37 gallons.
- - A pound of wheat - 155 gallons.
- - A pound of meat - 1,550 gallons.
- - If the average American ate as many vegetables as he or she does meat and reduced meat intake to the amount of vegetables currently being eaten, essentially swapping out meat for vegetables, as many as 750 gallons of water per day could be saved.
- - One-third all the water in the US is exported in the form of virtual water.
- - The US is the world leader in exporting its virtual water. Canada, Australia, Argentina, and Thailand come next.
- - Countries importing all that exported virtual water start with Japan, followed by Sri Lanka, Italy, South Korea, and The Netherlands.
- - The earth’s annual supply of available fresh water would cover about 10,460 cubic miles.
- - South America holds 30% of the world’s supply of available fresh water, followed by the Asia Pacific (17%), North American (15%), and Middle Eastern (11%) regions.