Clean water is harder to find than ever before. While the amount of water on our planet has not changed over time, the human population has, making it increasingly difficult to ensure everyone has enough water.
Of the 6.8 billion people on Earth, almost 900 million have no access to clean water. Projections are even more dire, showing that by 2025, around 1.8 billion people will live in areas where clean water is scarce.
So why is this still an issue and what can be done?
Water, Water, Everywhere
It is amazing to think that the water we have now is the same water than has been here for hundreds of millions of years. Fresh water is constantly being recycled through Earth’s natural processes of evaporation and rain.
However, freshwater actually constitutes a very small percentage of our planet’s water resources. Although 70 percent of our planet is covered by water, only 2.5 percent of that water is fresh while the rest is unusable saltwater. What’s more, less than half of that 2.5 percent freshwater is even accessible for humans. The majority of it exists in glaciers and arctic locations. This brings estimates to .007 percent of the Earth’s water being accessible and drinkable.
Water is a necessity for sustaining life, but that is not the cause behind the biggest drain in supplies. Humans also need water to perform countless other tasks, including cooking, manufacturing, production, and filtering our waste away from residential areas.
The United Nations estimates that water use has increased more than twice the rate of our population increase, meaning the issues with water shortage have less to do with how many people and more to do with how much water we are using as a whole. The World Health Organization (WHO) reports that by 2025, half of the entire populations will be living in what are known as ‘water-stressed’ regions.
The Issue of Industrialization
Progress comes at a huge cost when it is not done responsibly. Unfortunately, the rise of major industry has had a direct and very detrimental impact on the availability of water.
Industry worldwide is expected to use 4 percent more water every single year moving forward. That will bring industry’s share of water consumption from 21 percent to a round 38 percent by 2040. There are some sectors that are specifically known for being ‘water intensive’ as they require a substantially larger amount of water to function. Agriculture is at the top of this list, requiring around 800 liters of water for every $1 made. The energy sector comes in second at 300 liters per $1, which includes everything from nuclear power to coal mining.
Not surprisingly, regions that are heavy in water-intensive industries tend to have the biggest problems with water scarcity. That doesn’t mean that this is not a global problem.
Increased water consumption is not the only major problem caused by industry. The environmental impact that industry has on the planet also contributes directly to contaminating the resources that we do have. The impact of industry on water availability is a multi-faceted issue, and one that few companies have stepped up to confront.
Companies around the world need to exercise more responsibility in their policies and procedures to mitigate their impact on the environment and the water supply. Now more than ever, there are many avenues these corporations can take that will edge them closer to sustainable practices.
Independent consulting firms like Ecometrica and CarboNeutral have arisen based on the need to more closely regulate the impact of these companies on our environment. These two names have become established as leaders in the new industry of holding corporations to their environmental values. They will work alongside companies to streamline every element of their functioning to ensure they have the most minimal impact as possible.
The very first beverage company to receive the coveted CarboNeutral certification is a water company named Waiakea.
Water by Waiakea
Founded on a passion for the pristine waters of a remote Hawaiian aquifer, Waiakea was built on the very sense of corporate responsibility that needs to be nurtured throughout industries.
The Kea’au aquifer at the base of the Moana Loa volcanic catches and naturally filters over 200 inches of rain and snow every year, which amounts to almost 400 million gallons per day of some of the freshest water on Earth. Waiakea bottles less than .0001 of 1 percent of this water for their production.
In all of their operations, they use 33 percent renewable energy with 25 percent being geothermal. Even their packaging is environmentally friendly. Waiakea uses high-grade, 100 percent recycled polyethylene terephthalate (RPET) bottles, which use 85 percent less energy to make, 90 percent less water, and reduce overall carbon emissions by 90 percent.
Waiakea worked very closely with both Ecometrica and CarboNeutral to achieve its goal of almost eliminating its carbon footprint, earning it the coveted CarboNeutral certification long before any other company in the beverage industry.
Additionally, Waiakea is making amazing strides in both environmental conservation and improving water availability for millions through their many charitable pursuits. They are a cornerstone of reforestation and conservation efforts on the island of Hawaii, and have partnered with Pump Aid, one of the most successful organizations in creating long term water solutions for those communities that need it most.
Their company ethos and driving mission is ‘better to light a candle than curse the darkness’; in other words, give consumers a better, more sustainable, and healthy option when having to buy a bottled beverage.
Conclusion
Even in today’s modernized, highly connected world, there are still so many impending environmental and humanitarian issues that are not being addressed. We are facing a dangerous shortage of drinkable water that will directly impact half of the world’s population and indirectly affect all of us, whether it be through soaring prices for food and goods or potential limits on water consumption.
As one of the primary drivers for this water crisis, it is vital that those in industry take steps towards offering solutions to a problem they created. Companies like Waiakea are setting an outstanding example of what it means to be proactive as well as responsible, protecting and preserving the resources we have while helping those in need find a brighter future.
