Holy cow! That burger just cost 660 gallons of water to make.

Every person has a “water footprint,” which is the amount of fresh water that we use daily, plus the water required to produce any goods and services that we also consume. The former gets more attention than the latter, since household water use is easier to track, thanks to the monthly water bill.

It’s common to think about water consumption in terms of how long you’re in the shower, how often you run the dishwasher, whether you left the sprinkler on, or someone forgot to turn off the tap.
But it’s important not to forget the water footprint of external goods and services, such as foods, because it’s probably larger than you suspect.

To read a disturbing list of how many gallons of water are needed to produce various products (via National Geographic, “The Hidden Water We Use”), click here.

- submitted by Gareth