Articles

Water issue
Tomorrow Knightshift - July 2002

I've just had a bath up to my chin (560 litres), turned on the dishwasher (500 liters) and flushed the lavatory (9 liters). The garden sprinklers will activate overnight (600 litres an hour) and tomorrow I will get my personal illegal immigrant to clean my car (500 litres) - one's personal transport can never be too shiny.

After consuming enough water to keep a village in the Sahara damp for a generation, I just want to say that while it might take an awful lot of dams to keep my personal aquatic demands satisfied, frankly I don't give a damn.
I don't care because I think it should be someone else's responsibility to save water. I am one of that growing band of environmentalists who firmly believe that industry and government should take full responsibility for my irresponsibility. Itís not my fault that industry makes dishwashers and washing machines that use so much water. What are all those clever Swedes doing at Electrolux? They should be concentrating on making waterless washing machines.

And if they want me to save water by leaving my limo dirty, why donít the chaps at Mercedes invent a self-cleaning car? OK, so I waste some water by leaving the tap running while I brush my teeth, but maybe the government can use asylum seekers to turn off my taps. Anyway, I love the nice gushing noise as five litres per minute of purified water gush out of the tap, directly down the drain.

You see, Iím one of those fine upstanding people who firmly support efforts by the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) to get industry to report on virtually everything they do. Disclosure creates change. The GRI has developed some significantly obtuse measures (I particularly like the bushmeat KPI) and I urge them to insist on another, such as how often the chief executive flosses and whether he uses a tumbler when brushing his teeth.

It is absolutely imperative that industry reforms itself and reduces its water consumption. This should start at the very top of the organisation, hence my suggestion that a key metric is the number of CEOs using tumblers. Once the use of CEO teeth brushing cups has been established, then through a process of continuous improvement, the metric should be extended to recording the size of the mug. Iím a firm believer too in setting stretching targets and in this case I would reduce the size incrementally, say by 10cl a year until the CEO is using a thimble. This will induce him to put more R&D effort into self-cleaning teeth and that would benefit us all, while reducing environmental impact.
The fact that I reserve the right to continue running the tap while brushing my teeth is neither here nor there, for it is industry that must change its wasteful ways. This position is, I have to admit, much easier for me to hold because I am protected by the politicians. They know that it is much easier to penalise and pressurise industry than it is to suggest that the electorate take a little more personal responsibility for their environmental impact.

That's why I can happily drive my big and very clean car while insisting that the oil companies take responsibility for the carbon dioxide I emit. I mean, it's their fault for producing gasoline, not mine for using it. It is the detergent makers fault for devising products that need water. Itís not my fault that washing machines need their own private lakes to be effective.

Water is going to be one of the big talking points at Rio + 10 and that's a very good thing. Maybe all those government representatives will come up with workable plans to ensure that industry reduces its water consumption. Somebody's going to have to take responsibility for the impending world water crisis and I can tell you, its certainly not going to be me.