SDG 6 - The path of virtual water

Water drop (By Robert Anderson on Unsplash)

97.5% of the water on the planet is salty. The remaining 2.5% is fresh water, of which 69.5% is trapped in glaciers, snow and permafrost. 30% is located deep in the groundwater and the remaining 0.4% is present as surface and atmospheric water. Less than 1% of the total is therefore directly usable by man.

The water footprint is an indicator of the total volume of water resources used by a country to produce the goods and services consumed by its inhabitants.

The aim of the activity proposed here is to make students aware of the specific water requirements of different consumer goods, especially for goods that are highly water-intensive, such as food and beverages (for example, when we wear a T-shirt that weighs about 250 gr, we are actually also wearing 2,700 litres of water).

The purpose of this activity is to make students aware that when we talk about water consumption we do not only refer to domestic consumption but that there is a concept of water waste that is not seen, so-called virtual water.

We assume habits like taking shorter showers, not leaving the faucet open while we brush our teeth etc. are important, but it is also essential to convey the message that the choice of food and the choice of everyday products that we buy are also responsible for the consumption of water resources, even if it is not immediately perceptible.

Knowledge is in fact the most powerful weapon available to us as consumers to reduce the over-exploitation of water resources.

Action Areas

Learning Objectives

Cognitive learning objectives:

The learner understands that water is part of many different complex global interrelationships and systems.
The learner understands the concept of “virtual water".

Socio-emotional learning objectives:

The learner is able to participate in activities of improving water and sanitation management in local communities.
The learner is able to feel responsible for their water use.

Behavioural learning objectives:

The learner is able to cooperate with local authorities in the improvement of local capacity for self-sufficiency.
The learner is able to contribute to water resources management at the local level.
The learner is able to reduce their individual water footprint and to save water practicing their daily habits.

Competences

Normative competency
Strategic competency
Self-awareness competency

Instructions

The water footprint of a product is the volume of fresh water consumed and polluted, in relation to the place of production.

The water footprint, be it of an individual, a community or any business activity, is an indicator of the water consumption (direct and indirect); defined as the total volume of fresh water used to produce goods and services consumed by each individual, community, or business activity.

Step 1: Introduction (30 minutes)

Students will be shown a video on the water footprint: Where is Water?

Then the professors will make a brief theoretical introduction to the concept of water footprint to introduce the students to a general idea of the concept on which they will have to work (the professors can draw inspiration from Websites to explain water footprint):

Step 2: Production path of the products (about 180 minutes)

Students will be provided with data:

- 2,500 litres of water is needed to produce a 150-gram hamburger;

- 2,700 litres of water is needed to produce a t-shirt;

- 2,500 litres of water are needed to produce one kilogram of rice.

The students will be divided into 3 groups to analyze these data and understand the production path of those 3 products from the original resource to the consumer (about 60-90 minutes).

For the production path analysis:

1) Identify the production cycle of the product analysed.

2) For each phase identify if water is needed and if yes, how much?

3) At the end, sum all the quantities of water for each phase.

After having made their research, students can transfer the information found through posters, powerpoint, or creating short videos that explain the analyzed product’s production path (about 60-90 minutes).

Once the work is finished, the students will explain the results of their research to their pairs (30 minutes, 10 minutes for each group).

Step 3: Fill out a questionnaire and reflect on our habits (30 minutes)

Students will fill out an online questionnaire to calculate their water footprint.

After obtaining the results they will discuss it with the teacher, opening a debate inspired by questions such as:

What would it change if I bought a vegetable burger compared to a meat burger I bought at the supermarket?
What is the difference between a t-shirt bought in a chain (h&m, stradivarius, pimkie etc.) compared to one purchased from fair trade or second hand shops?
What new habits can I adopt to reduce my water footprint and contribute to the planet's safeguard? (Eating less meat or becoming a vegetarian is an example, but you can also drink tea instead of coffee or, better still, only plain water. You may also wear clothes made of synthetic fibres instead of cotton).

These questions can also be answered through a collective class research with the teacher.

- CALL TO ACTION 1

The project aims to raise awareness of water consumption and the concept of water footprint in restaurants and bars.

Initially, the teachers together with the students, will research local bars and restaurants willing to take part in this case study; the research will take place through social networks, phone calls and email.

In this activity the students will be asked to draw up some questionnaires (for some suggestions look at the Note for educators) that will be given to the managers of the restaurants, bars, etc. with the purpose of analyzing the water consumption-related habits .

Based on the results obtained in the questionnaires, students will draw up a kind of “handbook of good practice” that the restaurants have to follow in order to check if some behavioral changes will have taken place at the end of the project. The manual written by the students will be uploaded online and open to consultation by the locals, in order for them to follow it for a 3 months period.

Some of the suggestions to reduce the water footprint could be:

introduce vegetarian/vegan options into the menu (meat and dairy require an enormous amount of water to produce);
say no to processed foods (packaged foods like chips, frozen meals, sweets and soda require a lot of water to produce because they are heavily processed);
watch the faucet (install a low-flow faucet on your sink; conventional faucets flow at around 5 gallons per minute, while low-flow faucets flow at 1.5 gallons per minute);
pay attention to materials that surround you: are the bags and packaging you give to customers for "take away" biodegradable? Can the napkins you give to customers be washed and reused? But not only that: pay particular attention to soaps without harmful chemical elements and begin to consider replacing the drain of the bathroom with a double button;
use class A energy appliances that help in energy saving;
recycle and dispose of waste in the correct way, especially plastic, which is the main cause of pollution in river, lake and sea waters;
reduce food waste by using Doggie bags or reducing food portions (if it is often thrown away);
use tap water.

At the end of these three months, the bars and restaurants’ managers will answer again to the questionnaire drawn up by the students who will make a comparison between the old and the new habits assumed by the locals.

- CALL TO ACTION 2

Students, together with teachers and the principal, can propose a "Water Week" at school. This week will be dedicated to the topic of water, its use and consumption through different initiatives that students can propose.

Some examples:

- create a film-documentary cycle on the subject of water with final comments.

- publicise the results of the WaterFootprint survey in the media and invite the public to comment on these initiatives.

- establish a cycle of conferences with experts from the sector.

Requirements

Resources

Click each section below to see all resources available.

Links

Websites to explain water footprint - Personal Water Footprint
https://waterfootprint.org/en/water-footprint/personal-water-footprint/

Websites to explain water footprint - Wath is a water footprint?
https://www.watercalculator.org/footprint/what-is-a-water-footprint/

Personal water footprint calculator
https://waterfootprint.org/en/resources/interactive-tools/personal-water-footprint-calculator/

Videos

Where is Water? - The Water Rooms #2

Notes for Educators

Estimated Total Duration: 4 hours + Call to Action

How to create a suvey:

Here some website to create a online survey:

Some suggestions:

1. Make every question count

You are building your survey questionnaire to obtain important insights, so every question should play a direct role in hitting that target. Make sure each question adds value and drives survey responses that relate directly to your research goals.

2. Keep it short and simples

Respondents are less likely to complete long surveys, or surveys that bounce around haphazardly from topic to topic. Make sure your survey follows a logical order and takes a reasonable amount of time to complete.

3. Ask direct questions

Vaguely worded survey questions confuse respondents and make your resulting data less useful. Be as specific as possible, and strive for clear and precise language that will make your questions easy to answer.

4. Ask one question at a time

Although it is important to keep your survey as short and simple as possible, that doesn’t mean you should avoid doubling up on questions. Trying to pack too much into a single question can lead to confusion and inaccuracies in the responses.

5. Avoid misleading and biased questions

Keep your question wording focused on the respondent and their opinions, rather than introducing anything that could be construed as a point of view of your own.

6. Speak your respondent's language

Use language and terminology that your respondents will understand, keeping language as plain as possible, avoiding technical jargon and keeping sentences short.

7. Use response scales whenever possible

Response scales capture the direction and intensity of attitudes, providing rich data. In contrast, categorical or binary response options, such as true/false or yes/no response options, generally produce less informative data.

8. Start with the straightforward stuff