Championing World Water Day 2023
Another month is with us, and we all know what that means. We are promoting another eco-action, and this month, we are celebrating World Water Day. This day, which took place for the first time on March 22, 1993 celebrates water and draws attention and action to the billions of people who lack access to this vital resource.
It is critical that we draw attention and action to water conservation, as this vital resource remains at the core of sustainable development and the survival of people and ecosystems across the globe. That’s why #WorldWaterDay, and our operations at IBB Hotel Collection and Cugó Gran place focus on inspiring action towards the scarcity of fresh ground-water.
The reality is that:
- 4 million people die annually and 74 million will have their lives shortened by diseases related to poor water, sanitation and hygiene.
- Today, 1 in 4 people – 2 billion people – around the world lack safe drinking water.
- Almost half of the global population – 3.6 billion people – lack safe sanitation.
- 8 billion people use or work in health care facilities without basic water services.
- Globally, 44 per cent of household wastewater is not safely treated.
- Global water demand (in water withdrawals) is projected to increase by 55 per cent by 2050, mainly because of growing demands from manufacturing (400 per cent increase).
But it’s not just doom and gloom. Between 1990 and 2015, the amount of people using an improved water source increased from 76% to 90%.
World Water Day 2023: Accelerating change
This World Water Day is about accelerating change to solve the water and sanitation crisis. And because water affects us all, we are taking action.
Our long-term plan is to reduce our water consumption across all our hotels by at least 20% by 2030. We will be achieving this through the redesign and reintroduction of notices to guests, across all the hotels, to encourage them to join us in our goal to reduce water consumption across the ball.
We want to make a positive impact, and let our actions speak for themselves. Therefore we are also making sure that our mission to continue regular staff training on sustainability measures in general will continue to be adhered to. We are excited to make this happen and look forward to looking back at this moment a year from now to see how far we have come.
We strongly believe that no effort is too small to count. On top of these wide-initiatives, we would also like to highlight some unique water-saving initiatives.
- Our hotel rooms are installed with perlators, which reduce water consumption by up to two thirds.
- We use glass water bottles to refill fresh water daily.
If we want our communities to thrive, we must allow nature to thrive as well.
How Can You Help?
There are a number of indirect and direct ways to champion water stewardship at home. You can start off by learning more about the scarcity of fresh ground water on the World Water Day website. We encourage you to share your learnings with your community through social media, events, and casual conversations.
If you want to be more direct, you can take actions as follows:
- Save water: Take shorter showers and don’t let the tap run when brushing your teeth, doing dishes and preparing food.
- Eat local: Buy local, seasonal food and look for products made with less water.
- Break taboos: Talk about the critical connection between toilets, water and menstruation.
- Be curious: Found out where your water comes from and hot it is shared, and visit a treatment plant to see how waste is managed.
- Make it equal: Share water fetching between women and men, girls and boys.
- Protect nature: Plant a tree or create and raingarden – use natural solutions to reduce the risk of flooding and store water.
- Flush safe: Fix leaking water and waste pipes, empty full septic tanks and report dumping of sludge.
- Build pressure: Write to elected representatives about budgets for improving water at home and abroad.
- Stop pollution: Don’t put food waste, oils, medicines and chemicals down the toilet or drains.
- Clean up: Take part in clean-ups of rivers, lakes, wetlands and beaches.
