Is Water Becoming the New Carbon?

While many of us working on river protection are dreaming of the day that water conservation gets the attention that reducing carbon emissions currently receives in the mainstream media, GreenBiz.com identifies a promising trend towards water-consciousness in an article called The State of Green Business 2009: Water Becomes the New Carbon.

The article mentions how big businesses including General Electric, IBM and Anheuser Busch are trying to significantly reduce their water consumption, and in some cases, neutralize it entirely.

A related article from GreenBiz called You Can't Go Green Without Adding a Little Blue reinforces the hope that water conservation will continue to become a larger focus for companies seeking to improve their "green" credentials:

Companies are beginning to realize that water, like energy and carbon, should be a key pillar of a corporate sustainability strategy. Both PepsiCo and General Electric have made commitments to reduce water consumption 20% by 2015 and 2012, respectively. Weyerhaeuser, an $8.8B company in the lumber and wood production industry, set a goal to reduce water at its cellulose fibers mills 20% by 2012.

We still have a long way to go before the true value of water is realized and businesses start using it as efficiently as possible, however, the trends pointed out in these articles give us good reason to be optimistic. By educating the public about the mounting stresses on our freshwater resources and the connection between water, energy and carbon emissions we can ensure that the trend towards smarter water use continues.

Thanks to Wendy Wilson for forwarding the article