by Kevin Coupe
Fast Company has a story about an online venue called The Drop Store, where “pizza comes in pill form for $163. A bag of rice contains just 5 grains but costs $89. And a 15-milliliter bottle of “pure” water (about 1 tablespoon) will run you $198. If that’s not enough to quench your thirst, there’s also a 20-ounce bottle of “regular” water—but it’s still $199. And it’s brown.”
The story emphasizes that “these products aren’t real. And yet they portray a future in which our water crisis worsens and water is a rare commodity. They also serve as a reminder that for billions of people around the world, water scarcity or access to clean water is already a pressing issue.”
The launching of the site – by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of the Netherlands – was prompted by the fact that the water crisis “manifests in a few ways: too much water, too little water, or water that’s too dirty. Both floods and droughts are worsening due to climate change. Flood-related disasters have skyrocketed 134% since 2000. As of 2022, more than 2.3 billion people are dealing with water stress; 2 billion people also don’t have access to safe drinking water, and 3.6 billion people – nearly half of the world’s population – lack safe sanitation.
“The global demand for water is expected to increase 55% by 2050, threatening not only drinking water access but also crops and livestock.”
That’s certainly relevant to the world’s food stores and the people they serve – if crops and livestock availability is affected by the global water crisis, it will give them less to sell. And the things they do sell could cost a lot more – hence the consciousness-raising campaign.
For example, pizza isn’t available in traditional forms at reasonable prices because the water crisis affected the grain and tomato harvest. “Instead of a nutritional label, the page includes scientifically accurate information about how much water it takes to make a traditional margarita pizza (1,259 liters for 725 grams).” And I certainly didn’t know that “it takes 382 gallons of water to make a pound of cheese,” and that a “pound of beef requires nearly 2,000 gallons of water to produce.”
All Eye-Openers.
The post <strong>Wednesday Eye-Opener: Water Works</strong> appeared first on MNB.
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