A vision

A quick post here before going to bed. : )

Learned that some scholar has put forward a new concept of "virtual water", meaning the water use amount during the processes of production and distribution of food and consumer products. For instance, to make a cup of coffee we drink requires 140 liters of water, a hamburger roughly equals to 2400 liters of water, and a computer chip which weighs about 2 grams is manufacturerd at the cost of 32 kilograms of water.

Meanwhile, more and more people abroad have opted to an "old" lifestyle: to carry a water container for self use instead of buying bottled water, because the latter is non-environmentally friendly. Estimates show that the US will consume about 10 billion US dollars worth of bottled water every year, yet only one fifth of the used bottles will be recycled, while to produce the chemicals necessary for manufacturing the bottles will use up about 1.5 million barrels of oil every year, which is able to support 100,000 cars' gas usage.

Quite shocking figures, aren't they?

After watching Wild China, I've more and more keenly felt the critical need to protect our natural environment and resources. No need to talk big here. I think I will be quite motivated and committed.

Mmm, this vision has made my CommDev's final professional project more or less clearer: a user analysis to find out the possibility for non-profits to use Web 2.0 technologies in environmental protection endeavors.