Unlike other food calculators currently available, Sustain’s calculator allows the input of weight of the food item as well as specifying the country of origin as UK or global, giving the most accurate measure ever of the water footprint of a full meal.
Craig Jones, Sustain’s principal associate, who led the development of the calculator explained that if the importance of water footprinting as a world issue was to increase, then consumers needed to know much more than the footprint of a single food item.
“We realised that although there are a variety of water footprint food calculators available, not one calculates the footprint of an entire meal recipe,” he said.
“The term carbon footprint is now commonly used and widely understood, but a water footprint has, to a large extent, played something of a forgotten role as an input to the commodities we consume.” A water footprint is the total volume of water that is used to produce the items used or consumed by nations.
“Our calculator allows consumers to determine the water footprint of a Sunday roast dinner, or a portion of meat lasagne, and takes into account the ingredients’ country of origin.
“By doing so, the calculator will help people see where they can make changes to their diet – and weekly shop – to decrease their water footprint easily and effectively,” he added.
Source: Sustain
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