Did you know that nearly 95% of the water we consume is hidden in the food we eat, energy we use, and products and services we rely on.

That’s not something a lot of people consider, but as we celebrate the 20th World Water Day on Friday, we should all be thinking about it a lot more.

Because none of us can stop using water altogether, we’d like to give you some ideas about how we consumers can ‘live drier’ and save our water:

  • “Find out what’s happening! Clean water – got to take action!” sings South African hip-hop band, 3rd Wave. They wrote a song for Greenpeace’s Detox campaign in 2012, and you can download this song for free and share it with your friends to help raise awareness about the need to protect our water resources.
  • Ditch those plastic bottles! Did you know the drinking water in Johannesburg is one of the best in the world! Rather keep a bottle with you, and fill it up throughout the day.
  • Get a cleaning campaign started: keeping our inshore waters like rivers and parks clean helps us live in a healthy environment. And spending time outside with friends, doing something that makes an immediate difference can be really fun. You can even join our volunteer group here and organise river clean ups once a month.
  • And finally, spread the word! Share what you have learned from this newsletter and get creative: compose a song, write a poem or organise a radio show on water with your local station. Want to raise awareness and funds for water issues? Start an online fundraising profile here, and we'll help you campaign for your cause!

Thank you for keeping the tap closed this World Water Day.