The topic for our media discussion was "environment", and we discussed so many issues related to environment in our IE core class yesterday. I talked about the water crisis there. I regret that I didn't prepare much enough to make the discussion active, so I'm gonna introduce an interesting concept that I wasn't able to mention yesterday in this blog.
Do you know the concept of "virtual water"? I guess some of you have already known about this. In short, it is the water used when we produce some products. Wikipedia explains it like this: the hidden flow of water if food or other commodities are traded from one place to another (Wikipedia, 2014). Searching for more information about it, I found a shocking fact that I hadn't expected.
According to Wikipedia once again, more than 2,400 liters of water is used as "virtual water" when producing a hamburger that costs less than 1 dollar. Also, 2 tons of water is included in a bowl of gyudon (rice topped with beef). How shocking! Because I eat out almost every day after starting to live alone in Tokyo, these facts shocked me a lot. I didn't expect that a hamburger and a bowl of gyudon consumed lots of "virtual water."
The water crisis is one of the biggest problem and it has been disscussed for years, but the solution of this issue still remains unclear. In my opinion, however, only small acts can influence this issue, and they may become a solution. For instance, we can easily reduce the amount of water we use when doing dishes, taking a bath, taking a shower, or stuffs like that. Environmental problem is a big theme for us, but we can act environmental-friendlily in our daily life. Being aware of the virtual water, I'll try not to waste any food and any water in order to solve the water crisis from now on.
