Did you Know that Wars are Breaking Out over Clean Water?

Let me tell you, as someone who drinks more than 128 ounces of water a day, I know a thing or two about the importance of clean water.

As a company, we at Merlot Marketing have taken small, yet significant, steps to become more socially responsible, by offering our employees, clients and guests filtered tap water instead of bottled water. We feel it is our responsibility to provide the highest quality of service, right down to the H2O we provide our clients.

We must say, we are a bit biased when it comes to the water filtration we use.  Our client, Everpure, has led the water filtration industry as the number one provider of commercial grade water filtration throughout the world for more than 75 years.  So, naturally, we serve Everpure filtered water to all of our guests from national, regional and local media representatives to industry influencers and beyond.

On a much more serious note, we shouldn’t take having access to the best-tasting water possible for granted.  Did you know that wars have broken out for years around the world due to a lack of access to clean water? According to a report dating back to 1999 and sponsored by the UN Development Program, fighting over the scarcity of water, over the next 25 years, will possibly be the leading reason for major conflicts in Africa, not oil.  This is why we are getting involved in today’s Blog Action Day 2010.

During today’s celebration of Blog Action Day 2010, we ask you to take a moment and consider the amount of water you and your family consume each day.  While we of course don’t recommend cutting down on (Everpure filtered) drinking water (yes, that’s a not-so-subtle hint), we do ask that you think about how much water you’re consuming other than drinking water.  To get your juices flowing on how you can help reduce water waste, I’ve included a list below, provided by Treehugger.com, on the many products we each buy and how much water it takes to produce them.  I realize that water is a necessity for the things we eat, drink and use everyday, so I’m by no means saying we shouldn’t manufacturer or consume these products, but the statistics below should at least get you thinking about just how water is consumed and how we might be able to help conserve it.
Car
It takes an estimated 39,090 gallons of water to make a car. It’s unclear if that includes the more 2,000 gallons used to make its tires–each tire takes 518 gallons.

Pair of Jeans
It takes around 1,800 gallons of water to grow enough cotton to produce just one pair of regular ol’ blue jeans.

Cotton T-Shirt
Not as bad as jeans, it still takes a whopping 400 gallons of water to grow the cotton required for an ordinary cotton shirt.

Single Board of Lumber
5.4 gallons of water are used to grow enough wood for one lumber board.

Barrel of Beer
In order to process a single barrel of beer (32 gallons of booze), 1,500 gallons of water are sucked down.

To-Go Latte
It takes 53 gallons to make every latte.

So, what do you think? Can we make changes in our lifestyle so that there is enough water for others in the world?  I’m not saying to reduce your lattes, after all, your latte-drinking provides jobs; however, I am saying to think about your overall consumption and where we all might cut back, i.e. watering the lawn, letting your water run while doing the dishes and brushing your teeth. If we all make small changes, we all can make a big impact.