engleski

ASSESSMENT OF WATER FOOTPRINT COMPONENT BASED ON STUDENTS ́ CONSUMER HABITS

Water footprint is an indicator of sustainability and measures the amount of water used directly and indirectly to produce any goods/services. Water footprint can be calculated for process, individual product or service, but also at personal, company or community level. In this paper, the analysis the water footprint components based on students‘consumer habits have been performed using the survey. Water footprint components include indoor water consumption (for showering, bathing in the bathtub, on the sink, flushing the toilet, in the sink, washing dishes, clothes and consuming grey water), outdoor water consumption (for watering lawns and gardens, pool water use, car wash, rainwater harvesting) and virtual water consumption (related to transportation, energy, shopping habits, consumption of paper, plastic, bottles and cans, clothing, diet habits and for pets). Results shows that virtual water consumption contributes most to the total value of the water footprint (62.11 - 98.99%), indoor water consumption to a smaller extent (5.75-9.48%), while the share of outdoor water consumption is almost negligible (<0.22%). This indicates that the biggest shift in reducing the water footprint for students can be achieved by rationalizing virtual water consumption, i.e., rationalizing shopping and diet habits. Calculation of water footprint components based on consumer habits has proven to be a simple tool in making students aware of their actual water consumption and impact on the aquatic ecosystem.

water footprint, consumption indoor water, consumption outdoor water, virtual water consumption

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