Xixi No Banho

Water has been very much on my mind lately with the recent dry spell. My water bill was up $100 after a month of gardening. I'd been standing outside with the hose and waving it around, so now I'm taking a more targeted approach with the watering can.

I've come across a few interesting tidbits lately about reducing water use. PETA is travelling around with a campaign of nude beauties showering in public to call attention to their claim that the amount of water that goes into producing one pound of beef is the same amount that is used for six months of showers.

The multinational snack food conglomerate Kraft announced this week that they've implemented water saving measures over the past few years that have enabled them to save 3 billion gallons of water. That's 21 percent of their water use, which means they still used 15 billion gallons, but that's another story.

I was particularly taken by a Brazilian campaign to encourage folks to pee in the shower. It's sanitary, and it saves water! Check out this educational clip. Spread the word!

The Return of Tap Water

1. There was some good news this week about our collective national thirst for bottled water. According to an industry report, bottled water sales in the US are slowing down considerably, and forecasters predict a growth rate of less than 1% per year for the next 5 years.

Market analysts are blaming the slowdown on the weak economy, and the fact that tap water is cheaper than bottled water. I like to think that awareness campaigns had something to do with it as well, and folks are drinking less bottled water because there's something deeply unjust and dangerous about having a privatized water supply, not to mention the fact that the bottles are a colossal waste of plastic.