There are many people in the world today, and as that number grows, less safe water is available to each one of us - so it is important to limit water use for the benefit of everyone. Here is a short explanation of two types of water footprint, or the amount of water that can be attributed to the things you do!

Direct Water Footprint
Your direct water footprint is the water you use in your daily life - drinking water, washing the dishes, showering, flushing the toilet... these activities are only a few of the many ways we use water every day. Conserving water in these daily activities can be easy - limit your shower time, or get a parent's help to pop a brick into the cistern of your toilet to restrict the flush. Try researching similar ways to save water!

Indirect Water Footprint
Your indirect water footprint refers to all the water that is used up to make the products you buy - food, clothes, and pretty much everything you own! For example, did you know that 8000 litres of water is used to make the cotton for one pair of trousers? That's as much as around 120 showers. Animal products have an even larger impact - a single average sized beef burger takes 1541 litres of water to produce, while a bean based burger of the same size takes only 406 litres to create - quite a big difference for what may seem like it is just a simple choice between proteins.

You might like to try help combat water wastage by adding a meatless day every week, or you can check out organisations like the Water Footprint Network - they have some great tools to help you calculate your own personal footprint!

How do you save water?

Statistics credit: Water Footprint Network