Photo Credit: Jose Stuefer

On Wednesday afternoon, the KOR Water team threw the annual Hydration/Libation Party at Outdoor Retailer in Salt Lake City, Utah, which meant discounted KOR ONE bottles and T-shirts, awesome music and refreshing beer.

Because KOR Water is all about celebrating and protecting water, I wondered about this social beverage’s water footprint (defined as “the total volume of freshwater that is used to produce the goods and services consumed” by the Water Footprint Network).

According to the WFN, a typical glass of beer (about 8.45 ounces) has a water footprint of 19.81 gallons. This is due to the production of barley used to create the beer. Now, this is not meant to scare you into stop consuming beer, but rather to think about the impact of our everyday choices such as what clothes we buy or what foods we eat. The WFN best explains why this consideration matters: “The water footprint helps to show the link that exists between our daily consumption of goods and the problems of water depletion and pollution that exist elsewhere, in the regions where our goods are produced.” We must realize that freshwater is a scarce resource and unfortunately, it is unequally distributed among humans.

Here are some more global average water footprints:

• Beef – 4,094 gallons per pound
• Coffee – 37 gallons per cup
• Cotton – 713 gallons per shirt
• Rice – 898 gallons per pound

Sounds pretty ridiculous, right? Remember that water footprints factor in the amount of water used in such processes as irrigation, washing, and consumption (such as an animal eating and drinking before it is slaughtered). Even though you’re not really drinking 19.81 gallons at the bar, that glass of beer has definitely come a long way.

Looking to reduce your water footprint? If you’ve got a KOR ONE, you’re already on your way. Twenty-four gallons of water are saved for each pound of plastic in disposable water bottles you didn’t consume. Cheers to that!