World Water Day 2020: things you can do

Well, there's a few things going on in the world at the moment, causing us all stress and anxiety (at the very least), but I wanted to try and carry on with my normal posts anyway.

Having said that, UN World Water Day was actually at the weekend (22nd) - but owing to computer issues, that has been delayed until today....

The theme for the day this year has been 'water and climate change', and with that in mind, here are some great tips to save water at home - most of which will save you money on your bills too (especially if you are metered for water use).

• Brushing teeth: leaving the tap running whilst brushing your teeth can waste between 6-9 litres per minute. 
• Therefore, a family of four, brushing twice a day, for two minutes - could save a whopping 210,240 litres a year (based on a 6L/minute tap)!
• Power down your shower time: modern power showers can use anywhere from 6 - 17 litres of water a minute - so keep your shower short and sweet. 
• Knocking a minute or two off of your shower time will save water and reduce your energy bill too (less hot water).
• Consider getting an aerated shower head - this will reduce flow rate without impacting on performance.
• Make it a full load: when doing laundry, a full load uses less water and energy than running two half-full loads.
• Similarly, modern dishwashers use around 10-15 litres per load and are best run full.
• Reduce meat and dairy: this is like a red rag to a bull for many people. But perhaps consider eating one or two less portions a week - these both tend to be very water intensive industries. 
• Go for local and seasonal produce wherever possible.
• Steaming veg: steaming uses less water than boiling and retains more nutrients.
• But if you do boil the veg - use the leftover water to make a stock, or at least water the plants.
• Reduce your food waste: it takes a lot of water to produce most food stuffs. It turns out that half the stuff going in food waste bins could have been eaten! 
• Not wasting all this food could save the average family around £500 each year (WRAP)
• Gardening at night: well not quite, but watering in the early morning or evening reduces the amount of water lost through evaporation. Aim for the roots.
• Also, use a watering can instead of a hose if you can - a hose can use between 500-1,000 litres an hour when left running.
• Consider providing a water source for visiting animals; a bowl of water for birds and something shallow like a saucer with some stones in it for smaller creatures that need a drink.

Water Grabbing:
Researching water saving also alerted me to the issue of land and water grabbing - it was a bit of an eye opener for sure. 

Investors from just seven countries (US, UAE, India, UK, Egypt, China, Israel) account for 60% of water acquired through so-called water grabbing deals. This largely relates to the purchase of farmland with freshwater perks in often poverty stricken areas of the world.

Most of this is from investors in agriculture, biofuel and timber; between 2000 - 2013 there were 1,217 such deals, accounting for some 205m acres of land, 62% of this being in Africa. Paolo D'Odorico, a professor at the University of Virginia, says that this is bad for countries reliant on farming and already with high poverty rates. 66% of these deals are in countries with high hunger rates, he says, "In many of these countries, the sum of the water being grabbed would be enough to eliminate malnourishment."

Land grabbing is defined as 500 acres or more of land that converts an environmentally important area currently used by locals - into commercial production. There was a surge in such grabs between 2005-09 due to the food price crisis, and land deals went from 9m acres a year up to 138m acres purchased in 2009.

Biofuels have a big impact; e.g. corn and sugarcane for ethanol and palm oil for biodiesel. Droughts in key grain countries like USA, Argentina and Australia also have an impact - rich countries buy foreign land to secure their food supply.

All this means that small local farmers get pushed out. For example, grabs in Sudan along the Blue Nile did boost overall farming capacity for the region, but pushed out all small-scale farmers. In Sudan 'the local population is becoming increasingly dependent on food aid and international food subsidies' because of this practice.

So why do countries allow this to happen? Well it is attractive to many as it provides them with a new source of income as other areas of funding have eased - for example, 30% of World Bank loans went to African countries in the 1980s, but this had dropped to just 12% by 2010.


Research:
https://www.edenproject.com/learn/for-everyone/water-saving-tips 
https://www.ofwat.gov.uk/households/conservingwater/watersavingtips/
https://friendsoftheearth.uk/natural-resources/13-best-ways-save-water-stop-climate-breakdown
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/corporations-grabbing-land-and-water-overseas/