Trend: Water Worries

Raised awareness of the need to conserve water leads to new business opportunities.

Trend Description

As consumers learn that many of their activities have a carbon impact and ways in which they can reduce this, the awareness of additional impacts is increasing. The water footprint is the next frontier for the environmental consumer: learning that it takes 2500 gallons of water to produce one pound of beef, and that organic cotton may be better for the planet in some ways, but not necessarily in terms of water.

Cases

The Mindful Tap

Julia Treutiger’s ‘Mindful Tap’ provides a gentle visual reminder of the water it’s dispensing. When the segmented parts realign, the water flow is cut off.

Go Blue’s Water Calculator

Now we understand the need to ‘go green’, this Canadian organisation are pushing our thinking one step further by encouraging us to ‘Go Blue’. With the help of Zerofootprint, it’s developed the One Minute Water Calculator to help people gain a better understanding of their water use.

The ‘Luxury Redefined’ t-shirt

Designed to be the most sustainable t-shirt in the world at the time of its launch, Luxury Redefined’s high-end shirt is also intended to educate consumers about new environmental issues. The shirt is made from rain-fed organic Peruvian cotton, providing a superior alternative to irrigated organic cotton, which can use around 20,000 litres of groundwater per kilo of harvested fibre.

Trend Impact

Soon it will no longer be enough to be a low-carbon company: low-water will also be a requirement. However, this offers new ways to attract and profit from customers. Some groups are proposing that the water footprint of products should be included on labelling, and the market for water-saving products is growing. Companies can also impress customers and employees by refitting facilities with low-water toilets, or by referring to low-water innovations in their product stories.

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