You've probably heard about carbon footprints, but have you ever thought about water footprints? Fresh water is used for many common activities like showering, watering lawns and brushing teeth. But did you know that gallons of "hidden" water also go into making many of the products we use every day? Water is used to needed to grow, manufacture and process many products:
- Over 1,300 gallons water are used to produce 500 sheets of paper;
- 13 gallons of water are used to produce one gallon of paint;
- More than 2,000 gallons of water go into the production of one tire.
Saving water can be as simple as recycling common household products. Turning raw materials into finished products often uses a lot of water. Recycling reduces the amount of raw materials needed to make a product, which also reduces the need for water for processing. For example, recycling one ton of paper saves about 7,000 gallons of water! Find a recycling center near you by entering your zip code or location into the search tool at
www.cleanup.org.
