A certain amount of mythology is woven into every nation’s identity. Canadians, for instance, tend to believe that our fresh water sources are vast and infinite and that we ourselves are decent water conservers, thank you very much.

It’s a shame that we’re totally out to lunch on both counts.

True, the Great Lakes hold an impressive 20 per cent of the world’s fresh water, but only 1 per cent of that is renewable – not so comforting when you realize that we are the world’s second-biggest water hogs per capita (just behind our neighbours on the other side of those lakes).

How much water do you think you use in a day? Add up every flushed toilet, brushed tooth, rinsed veg, washed dish and cleaned pile of laundry and, just at home, Canadians squander a good 125,000 litres per person per year. (Do a rough calculation of your home’s H2O footprint at goblue.zerofootprint.net.) Read more…

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