🔎 What’s going on?
Last week, the UK’s Department for Environment, Food and Agriculture (Defra) announced plans to introduce mandatory water efficiency labels for products.
💧 Cool, tell me more!
The new regulation was announced as part of the Government’s 25-year Environment Bill to reduce personal water consumption to 110 litres per day by 2050. According to Waterwise, the average water used per person per day is 143 litres in England and Wales, it goes up to 165 litres in Scotland.
The purpose of the label is to inform consumers and encourage them to buy water-efficient products for home and business use. The product categories that could be included in this regulation include showers, baths, taps, toilets, washing machines, dishwashers and external garden related products.
Essentially, the labelling should provide a simple rating or an indication of whether fittings, fixtures and appliances are efficient based on the amount of water it uses. These labels are similar to the energy efficiency labels we currently have for electrical appliances in the UK such as fridges, washing machines and dishwashers. The aim here is that consumers are empowered to make better choices by favouring products that are more water-efficient and better for the environment.
❓ Why should I care?
There is a lack of water availability in the UK, not just in California or South Africa which we hear a lot about in the media. Surprisingly, it doesn’t rain as much as we think it does in the UK! Compared to other cities, London actually receives less rainfall than main cities such as Rome, Barcelona, Miami and Sydney. This is caused by climate change, where irregularity in rainfall is the norm. Instead, droughts and floods are becoming more common - there is a 1 in 4 chance that over the next 30 years, large parts of the UK may experience severe drought. Plus, the UK’s population has increased, meaning there is more demand for water and thus we abstract unsustainable amounts of water.
According to research commissioned by Waterwise, the Energy Saving Trust found that water labels can save carbon, energy, money and water. It’s estimated that mandatory water labels in the UK could cut carbon emissions by over 58 MtCO2e and over £38 billion in household utility bills over 25 years. And more importantly, save over 27 litres per person per day! That’s a fair amount! 💸
This estimate is based on a similar system that’s been implemented in Australia since 2005. By 2017, the scheme in Australia has saved over 300 megalitres per day, has reduced emissions by 11 MtCO2e, and reduced household bills by $1 billion per year. Singapore has also implemented a similar scheme that was introduced in 2009 after Australia. This provides us reassurance that this system could be very effective in the UK as well.
🚦 Where do we need to be?
For starters, we need more information from the government about this mandatory water efficiency label, such a timeline and how this regulation will be enforced - if at all.
Beyond water efficiency labelling measures we need more concrete water conservation awareness globally and in the UK. One of the nine planetary boundaries is freshwater use and we are still within the safe zone for now. However, with the current climate and biodiversity crisis, we are facing, it’s very easy to exceed the safe limit. Water is touted as the next oil or commodity and many countries are already facing water scarcity issues so water conservation measures taken today will prove to be extremely prudent in the coming years.
👤 What can I do about it?
As an individual, save water. You can do this by installing devices that save water in the bathroom, kitchen and garden, such as water-efficient taps, showers and toilets. Learn more here.
As a business, designing products and services that use less water is absolutely crucial. For example, producing one cotton shirt currently uses about 2,700 litres of water during its production. That’s the equivalent of 49 baths filled with water! Businesses can ensure all the water they use during production is recycled efficiently and reused, ensuring the circularity of water.
Related: Oxwash, a sustainable laundry company raises seed-funding
Photo credit: Photo by Herbert Goetsch on Unsplash