Love Your Coffee More After You Realize The Water Footprint!

March 12 2018

I love coffee, especially French dark roast!
My wife and I are very fortunate to have enjoyed coffee internationally in Italy, France and Spain and for me individually in Ethiopia where coffee is one of that country’s largest export products (Ethiopia earned 866 million USD exporting 221,000 tons of coffee during 2016).
Being a professional engineer in water treatment and resources, I evaluate my own "water footprint" that ultimately leads to a better comprehension of my personal impact on the planet's resources, especially water for I can control my use and consumption and share these experiences with everybody; personal resource accountability is important to me.
Okay, after compiling these facts I love coffee even more and you will too!
The typical cup of American coffee is 20 ounces and typically not limited to one cup a day (my personal consumption is at least 2 x 20 ounce servings/day)
The life cycle for a 20 ounce of coffee in terms of all water to produce (seedling protection, harvesting, processing, using the wet method and brewing) it is a bit crazy - 237 to 1! 237 x 20-ounce containers of fresh water to produce 1 x 20 ounce cup of Joe! In gallon units, it is about 35-gallons for one 20 oz. (0.16 gallon) cup!
Americans consume 400 million cups of coffee per day, equivalent to 146 billion cups of coffee per year, making the United States the leading consumer of coffee in the world!
Because of this, I Always drink the whole cup and never waste any coffee!
Enjoy your coffee, and remember to finish the whole cup – you in effect save water that way!