Here in California, water is always a major concern. Even before such a concept as a "water footprint" became part of the eco-conscious lexicon, Californians were rationing water, recycling water and rationalizing their use of water. But now, with the concept of a "water footprint," I am starting to look askance at how eco-friendly my household really is.

What is a "water footprint"? It's not only the water you are directly using for drinking, bathing, washing and hydrating your lawn; it's also the freshwater you use indirectly -- the water used in the production and distribution of the services and goods you consume. In other words, your water footprint is the wet side of your carbon footprint. Average direct consumption of water is some 37,000 gallons per year for each American, like me, which seems to be a lot of water -- but that's only a meager five percent of my footprint! The remaining 613,000 or so gallons is used in all the other ways I live. Say I decided to stop drinking water entirely, trying to reduce my impact. According to Waterfootprint.org, it takes some 50 gallons of water to make one cup of milk. Hey, I don't drink milk. I do, however, drink a lot -- a lot -- of coffee, and to produce one cup of coffee takes some 40 gallons of water just to grow the beans- enough water to fill a fairly large aquarium.

Here are some other examples of how much water is used to produce typical items in your life: To make one pair of shoes, it takes some 2,000 gallons of water. That cup of tea by your elbow? 10 gallons of water. To make one pound of hamburger takes some 5,000 gallons, if you include the care of the cow, and the water to grow the feed -- and that's the whole point. And the bun in which to sandwich that burger took another 60-80 gallons. The shirt you are wearing, if it's cotton, took some 500 gallons of water to produce. The microchip in the computer in front of you used approximately 10 gallons of water to produce.

Well, what do we do? I'm not going to give up water or t-shirts, or, God forbid, coffee. And my son is not getting out of his once-a-week, short, grumpy shower, no matter how sweetly he offers to give it up. And, frankly, that's not even the issue; the water we consume -- if not ingest -- is really more about goods and services and less about what comes out of our tap. Want to know the size of your personal water footprint? Use the calculator on www.waterfootprint.org.

Thought it often seems like it is everywhere (especially during the rainy months), fresh water is not an infinite resource, magically appearing when and as needed. As the Water Footprint Network points out:

"The interest in the concept of the water footprint . . . is rooted in the recognition that human impacts on freshwater systems can ultimately be linked to human consumption and that issues like water shortages and pollution can be better understood and addressed by considering production and supply chains as a whole. It is increasingly acknowledged that local water depletion and pollution are often closely tied to the structure of the global economy. Many countries have significantly externalized their water footprint, importing water-intensive goods from elsewhere. This puts pressure on the water resources in the exporting regions, where too often mechanisms for wise water governance and conservation are lacking."

In other words, not only are the ways in which we are indirectly consuming water sources contributing to pollution, but we're also using up water that doesn't belong to us, because it's being used to produce goods that we import. Those shoes made in some other country that you purchased at Macy's were made, in part, from 2,000 gallons of some other country's clean water. And guess what? Other people, in other countries? They need their water, too.

I don't have any easy answers for this one. Can my family really reduce, in a significant manner, our water footprint? In our house, we turn off the faucet while brushing teeth, we take short showers, we use the "water miser" setting for dishes and I installed low-flow shower and faucet heads from the fine folk at Water Geeks.

But it's obvious the water issue isn't about how long we rinse our dishes. It's about consuming all sorts of things, on a global scale. I ran my water equations up, down and sideways, and for my family, as well, and as far as I can tell, the number one way to reduce our water footprint is to become a vegetarian household, one that also consumes low amounts of sugar and dairy. This would also be a healthy way to eat, for certain, but I'm just as certain that it won't happen. So, now what? What else can we change? And where is the line drawn? I know how many gallons of water it takes to make my cotton t-shirt (500 gallons), but what if I change to clothing made from bamboo -- a far more sustainable fiber? How many gallons for growing and processing does that take? I'm looking for that information, and wondering if we all can simply stop purchasing and wearing new things (which, in this economy, is happening anyway) and what amount of water is used to make vegan shoes, anyway, should I desire them? There are ways in which going green is so easy, and then there are issues like this, with what seem like huge, cumbersome details to be worked out. Weighing what is better versus what is best. Let me tell you, it is all getting more than a little daunting

And if the concept of a water footprint sounds on the far side of eco-neurotic, you should know that this past February, major heads of industry, from Starbucks to Pepsi to Levi Strauss, were meeting to discuss this issue at the Water Footprint USA Summit. Sure, the conference was held in Miami, so it's not as if they lugged their bags to some cold, godforsaken, mid-winter site, but still. It's a sign that the concept is being taken seriously by people with serious money on the line -- a whole different kind of green.

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Barbara Card Atkinson is marching her family into the Green Revolution whether they like it or not. She blogs regularly for MSN Green and can be reached at BCAtkinson@aol.com.