Just five percent of the 3,500 litres of water consumed by the average Briton each day is used within the home, the rest is ’hidden’ in the production of our food, goods and services. On Wednesday 14 October the Royal Geographical Society (with IBG) will ask if it’s time to start thinking about the real price of our ’virtual’ water footprint.
Chaired by BBC News presenter George Alagiah, with expert speakers Andy Wales, Head of Sustainability at SABMiller, and Robin Farrington of the WWF; ’Importing goods, exporting drought’ is the latest discussion in the Society’s flagship ’21st Century Challenges’ public engagement series.
Defined as the total volume of water needed to produce and process a commodity or service, ’virtual water’ includes that which is used in the production, packaging and transportation of everything from coffee to clothes, computers to chocolate.
With the UK now relying on imports for over 60% of its ’virtual water’ requirements; sourcing water-intensive goods such as meat, soya, oil seed, cotton and cocoa from other, often drier regions; the panel will examine how the concealed price of our thirsty lifestyle makes us the sixth largest net importer of water on the planet.
From the food we eat to the cars we drive, on average, each person in the UK uses 2,500 more litres of water a day than someone in the developing world, where water resources are struggling to meet demand.
’Importing goods, exporting drought’ begins at 7.30pm (doors open at 6.30pm) on Wednesday 14 October at the Royal Geographical Society (with IBG), 1 Kensington Gore, London SW7 2AR. Tickets are £7 for RGS-IBG members, £10 for non-members. The nearest tube station is South Kensington.
’21st Century Challenges’ is a series of thought-provoking discussions aimed to improve public understanding of, and engagement with, some of the key issues likely to affect our lives and society in the future. The audience will have the opportunity to put their questions to the panel.
www.21stcenturychallenges.org
