Water footprint is the total amount of water used to produce something or support an activity (Hogeboom, 2020). It includes all the water consumed during each step of the process.
Many people assume that personal water use comes from things like showering, washing dishes, or watering the lawn. But in reality, only about 4% of humanity’s water footprint comes from household use (Hoekstra, 2012). Instead, diet is the largest contributor (Water Footprint Calculator, 2022). This means that perhaps we should look to our diet far more for water conservation rather than how long we spend in the shower.
Animal products have a particularly large water footprint, with more than one-quarter of humanity’s water footprint linked to the consumption of animal products (Hoekstra, 2012). The main contributor to this is the water needed to produce feed for the animals. Animals eat large quantities of crops and each of those crops already has its own water footprint (Mekonnen & Hoestra, 2012). For example, producing one kilogram of chicken requires about 2.5 kg of feed, while cattle may require about 10 kg of feed per kg of meat. In other words, we are not just consuming the meat,we are effectively consuming all the water used to grow the crops that fed the animal.
As a result, diets high in animal products tend to have much larger water footprints than plant-based diets. Transitioning to a vegan diet can reduce water consumption by up to 50% (Clean Water, 2020), highlighting diet as one of the most powerful ways individuals can reduce their water use.
