LakeGeneve Posted May 23, 2009 Report Share Posted May 23, 2009 I was just reminded of a graph that I saw in the Economist in Feb. It clearly explains how we should all do our bit for the planet by drinking more beer and less coffee, juice and wine. I don't really like beer that much but I will now do my bit for the sake of the planet. Amazingly, people like Ciaran have been at the forefront of environmental protection by spending copious hours in bars for many years (from what I have heard). Well done mate! The water needed to produce everyday goods and beverages WATER is a precious commodity, as any farmer in drought-besieged parts of China, America or Kenya knows only too well. Consumers may already be aware of the environmental impact of producing goods in terms of energy or pollution, but they might be surprised to learn how much water is needed to create some daily goods. A cup of coffee, for example, needs a great deal more water than that poured into the pot. According to a new book on the subject, 1,120 litres of water go into producing a single litre of the beverage, once growing the beans, packaging and so on are measured. Only 120 litres go into making the same amount of tea. As many as four litres of water are used to make a litre of the bottled stuff. Household items are even thirstier. Thousands of litres are needed to make shoes, hamburgers and microchips. http://www.economist.com/daily/chartgallery/displaystory.cfm?story_id=13176056 Source: www.waterfootprint.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CiaranM Posted May 23, 2009 Report Share Posted May 23, 2009 I was just reminded of a graph that I saw in the Economist in Feb. It clearly explains how we should all do our bit for the planet by drinking more beer and less coffee, juice and wine.I don't really like beer that much but I will now do my bit for the sake of the planet. Amazingly, people like Ciaran have been at the forefront of environmental protection by spending copious hours in bars for many years (from what I have heard). Well done mate! i just like to do my bit to help out the planet !! every little bit helps !!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oo.Cloud.oO Posted May 23, 2009 Report Share Posted May 23, 2009 thats it im resorting to eating sheet paper Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neo Posted May 23, 2009 Report Share Posted May 23, 2009 That sounds fair.... if you usually drink a litre of coffee. :roll: or eat a kilogram of coffee beans. what bollocks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CherieAtwood Posted May 23, 2009 Report Share Posted May 23, 2009 I think I do need to avoid this bloody thread :evil: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geee Posted May 23, 2009 Report Share Posted May 23, 2009 I think yesterday I saved an whole universe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admin_2 Posted May 23, 2009 Report Share Posted May 23, 2009 I think yesterday I saved an whole universe Yes, you were definitely doing your part last night. Those jugs of beer didn't stand a chance! Even Ciaran was amazed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LakeGeneve Posted May 25, 2009 Author Report Share Posted May 25, 2009 That sounds fair.... if you usually drink a litre of coffee. :roll: or eat a kilogram of coffee beans. what bollocks. 1 kg of Bollocks?!? I don't know but usually Bollocks involves a lot of fluid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oo.Cloud.oO Posted May 25, 2009 Report Share Posted May 25, 2009 microchips and hamburgers YES we've found the connection! stand down men our job here is done *lights cigarette someone pass me that sheet paper im hungry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LakeGeneve Posted May 26, 2009 Author Report Share Posted May 26, 2009 I think I do need to avoid this bloody thread :evil: In the spirit of saving the planet I was going to start paying unemployed people to hand out flyers with this infor outside every Starbucks with a map directing them to the nearest bar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
methedevdas Posted July 3, 2009 Report Share Posted July 3, 2009 yap drink a lot beer then this world reamins good but we will not stay in this world any more.. come on.. :roll: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admin_2 Posted July 3, 2009 Report Share Posted July 3, 2009 It's not like the water is wasted to make these things...Water can and does get reused... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iBatch Posted July 3, 2009 Report Share Posted July 3, 2009 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geee Posted July 3, 2009 Report Share Posted July 3, 2009 Give me a tsunami of beer anytime! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iBatch Posted July 3, 2009 Report Share Posted July 3, 2009 We will save the planet... Yep! Now TO all the beer lovers... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LakeGeneve Posted July 4, 2009 Author Report Share Posted July 4, 2009 It's not like the water is wasted to make these things...Water can and does get reused... Water is wasted daily in the production of any goods as what production process is without waste? Yes, some can be reused but it makes sense to attempt to quantify the inputs in any production process as much as we already do, say for example in energy or financial terms. One may no agree with the methodology - which I am sure is not 100% accurate for each example- but is not the quantification an important process? Especially, in a world where the pool of fresh water supplies is decreasing in many places. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neo Posted July 4, 2009 Report Share Posted July 4, 2009 This might make some sense if it was measured by serving and not by volume. A quick mental conversion of the numbers shows it's completely wrong. :roll: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LakeGeneve Posted July 6, 2009 Author Report Share Posted July 6, 2009 This might make some sense if it was measured by serving and not by volume. A quick mental conversion of the numbers shows it's completely wrong. :roll: Sorry Neo but I don't understand, can you expand pls? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LakeGeneve Posted July 17, 2009 Author Report Share Posted July 17, 2009 This might make some sense if it was measured by serving and not by volume. A quick mental conversion of the numbers shows it's completely wrong. :roll: Sorry Neo but I don't understand, can you expand pls? Neo, it was a genuine request, if & when you have the time pls. Cheers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neo Posted July 17, 2009 Report Share Posted July 17, 2009 This might make some sense if it was measured by serving and not by volume. A quick mental conversion of the numbers shows it's completely wrong. :roll: Sorry Neo but I don't understand, can you expand pls? Neo, it was a genuine request, if & when you have the time pls. Cheers. Oops sorry, didn't see your post. The graph shows how much water is used to produce 1 litre of each beverage. So that means drinking 1 litre of coffee would be 3 or 4 times as bad as drinking one litre of beer. But who the hell drinks a litre of coffee!!! That would probably kill most people. So it would make much more sense to compare servings, i.e. about 100ml of coffee to say 1136ml (2 pints) of beer. If you do that then the graph looks completely different, and coffee actually looks better than beer. In fact beer would be about the worst thing on the list. Same for the food examples. I never heard of anyone eating 1kg of coffee beans. Ok, so it might take a while to eat 1kg of hamburgers too, but I think you get the point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LakeGeneve Posted July 25, 2009 Author Report Share Posted July 25, 2009 This might make some sense if it was measured by serving and not by volume. A quick mental conversion of the numbers shows it's completely wrong. :roll: Sorry Neo but I don't understand, can you expand pls? Neo, it was a genuine request, if & when you have the time pls. Cheers. Oops sorry, didn't see your post. The graph shows how much water is used to produce 1 litre of each beverage. So that means drinking 1 litre of coffee would be 3 or 4 times as bad as drinking one litre of beer. But who the hell drinks a litre of coffee!!! That would probably kill most people. So it would make much more sense to compare servings, i.e. about 100ml of coffee to say 1136ml (2 pints) of beer. If you do that then the graph looks completely different, and coffee actually looks better than beer. In fact beer would be about the worst thing on the list. Same for the food examples. I never heard of anyone eating 1kg of coffee beans. Ok, so it might take a while to eat 1kg of hamburgers too, but I think you get the point. Ok thanks, I do believe I understand your assertion but I'm not sure I can agree. Plenty of people drink 1 litre of coffee in a day, or a few, which is why consumption rates have increased markedly in many countries in the last decade or so. I have worked in a fair few offices where some drink coffee like water. Go to Wankbucks and have one of their Venti sizes and your well on the way to 1 litre of coffee even though it tastes like diluted dishing washing water. It may be more common in some circles for people to have a few beers after work but equally it is just as common for some not to drink beer and consume huge amounts of coffee. And why compare 100mls with 1136ml???? Should it not be a standard, equal measurement unit for comparison purposes? If you were going to compare the energy it takes to produce say aluminium to tool steel you would say it takes X energy to produce 1 tonne of aluminium and X to produce 1 tonne of tool steel. Alternatively, 1 KW of power can produce X kgs of aluminium and X kgs of tool steel. So it seems to me that the comparison has merit. That being, to produce the end product of a 1 litre of coffee and 1 litre of beer takes X amount of water taking into account the whole production cycle from farm to consumer. Again, I would think that the results in this study may not be 100% accurate but the framework remains sound, it seems to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zeusbheld Posted July 26, 2009 Report Share Posted July 26, 2009 the road to hell is indeed paved with good intentions. some tree hugging do-gooder sees some stat like that and starts replacing his coffee intake with beer. what happens then? well, he saves water, sure... but he CONTRIBUTES TO ANTHROPOGENIC CLIMATE CHANGE AT AN ACCELERATED PACE. that's right folks. BEER FARTS. METHANE. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LakeGeneve Posted September 12, 2009 Author Report Share Posted September 12, 2009 the road to hell is indeed paved with good intentions. some tree hugging do-gooder sees some stat like that and starts replacing his coffee intake with beer. what happens then? well, he saves water, sure... but he CONTRIBUTES TO ANTHROPOGENIC CLIMATE CHANGE AT AN ACCELERATED PACE. that's right folks. BEER FARTS. METHANE. Worse than beer farts is BEER SEX! How many children have been procreated due to beer induced drunken sex? Reminds me of a friends younger sister who in her early 20s was trying to be envrionmentally responsible by refusing to use condoms with her long term bf. They were concerned that the condoms ended up in the sea killing dolphins and polluting the sea- they lived in a coastal setting. And of course the inevitable occured and she fell pregnant! They decided to have the child the planet ended up with yet another hungry western kiddie to feed. :roll: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neo Posted September 12, 2009 Report Share Posted September 12, 2009 the road to hell is indeed paved with good intentions. some tree hugging do-gooder sees some stat like that and starts replacing his coffee intake with beer. what happens then? well, he saves water, sure... but he CONTRIBUTES TO ANTHROPOGENIC CLIMATE CHANGE AT AN ACCELERATED PACE. that's right folks. BEER FARTS. METHANE. Worse than beer farts is BEER SEX! How many children have been procreated due to beer induced drunken sex? Reminds me of a friends younger sister who in her early 20s was trying to be envrionmentally responsible by refusing to use condoms with her long term bf. They were concerned that the condoms ended up in the sea killing dolphins and polluting the sea- they lived in a coastal setting. And of course the inevitable occured and she fell pregnant! They decided to have the child the planet ended up with yet another hungry western kiddie to feed. :roll: I hope she hand washes all the nappies in bio-friendly non-detergent based cleaning solutions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luckyphil247 Posted September 12, 2009 Report Share Posted September 12, 2009 I was just reminded of a graph that I saw in the Economist in Feb. It clearly explains how we should all do our bit for the planet by drinking more beer and less coffee, juice and wine.I don't really like beer that much but I will now do my bit for the sake of the planet. Amazingly, people like Ciaran have been at the forefront of environmental protection by spending copious hours in bars for many years (from what I have heard). Well done mate! i just like to do my bit to help out the planet !! every little bit helps !!! I think it's terrible how you're not even receiving any rebates or tax-offsets for your hard work Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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