![]() ![]() Brewing giant SABMiller, for example, has developed its own toolkit to increase awareness and reduce the negative impacts of water footprints across the industry.Īs little action has been taken to reduce Geneva’s coffee water footprint, Project Flowback aims to expand and build on existing initiatives in other industries to create a lasting impact on Swiss water consumption abroad. For example, a number of food and drinking businesses have strived to decrease their product’s water footprint by implementing sustainable practices. Other industries have already become more aware of these issues within the past few years. As one of the largest exporters of coffee in the world in terms of value, Switzerland has a crucial responsibility to ensure that businesses which profit from the industry create less impact in the countries providing the commodity. In 2018, coffee consumed in the country accounted for approximately 13 trillion litres of water, official figures show. Comparing this to the so-called virtual water footprint of the United States, which is only 20 per cent, Switzerland has a lot to catch up on. Cities with vivid coffee cultures, such as Geneva, in which people consume on average three coffees per day, actively depend on the water resources used abroad.ĭespite its large water resources, more than 80 per cent of Switzerland's water footprint is created abroad, according to a report by WWF. Access to safe drinking water, food insecurity and increasing distances to water resources are all daily difficulties that coffee producers face while harvesting the coffee beans that will later turn into our daily cup.Īlthough these issues are many and seem to be located out of our reach, they are embedded in our daily lives as Swiss consumers of coffee. Kahen is one among millions of small-scale coffee bean producers located miles away from Switzerland and suffering the effects of water scarcity. ![]() Unfortunately, it is broken now, meaning we need to buy water from the nearby town or walk for about an hour to fetch water from a river called Debohela,” she explains. “There is only one water source in our neighbourhood,” Agegnehush Kahen, a 70-year old Ethiopian farmer from a village called Mankusa, tells the UK-based non-profit organisation Project Waterfall. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |