by Fern Shaw | May 10, 2023 | Water, water cooler
I’m sure you all have a fair inkling about some elements of what your carbon footprint is and have implemented, in your own way, certain strategies on how to lessen that footprint.
But are you at all aware of what the water footprint is for each bit of food you consume?
Here are the water footprints for a few foods that may surprise you – making it high time perhaps to get the most out of your allotment or even your windowsill gardens for that matter.
- Tomato: On average, one tomato (250 gram) costs 50 litres of water.Tomato sauce / ketchup costs 530 litres of water per kilogram of tomato ketchup.
Tomato puree costs 710 litres of water per kilogram of tomato puree.
- A pound of lettuce = 114 litres
In general, vegetables take much less water to produce than animal products: That’s where the Meatless Monday suggestion comes in. There’s no need to go vegan but every bit helps. Lettuces’ water footprint for the UK can be a lot higher as the produce can need to be brought in for consumption from other countries in the winter months.
- A kilogram of chocolate = 17 000 litres
On average, cocoa beans have a water footprint of 20 000 litres/kg. Cocoa beans are first made into cocoa paste, with cocoa shells as rest product. About 97% of the total water footprint of cocoa beans is allocated to the cocoa paste that is derived from the beans; the rest is attributed to the by-products. One kilogram of cocoa beans gives about 800 gram of paste, so that the water footprint of cocoa paste is about 24 000 litres/kg. From this we can calculate that chocolate has a water footprint of about 17 000 litres/kg.
- A slice of pizza = 159 litres of water
That would be 68 litres for the flour, 79 litres for the cheese, and nearly 11 for the sauce. Mozzarella, it turns out, is a real water sucker, as is any animal product. Of course, this is the global average, and water use per slice varies from country to country. French pizza has less than half this footprint, the US just about hits the average mark, and Chinese pizza is slightly more waterlogged.
Obviously, you can’t live on water alone (although it’s super important to ensure that you drink sufficient water), but perhaps spare a thought in future about where your food comes from.
*excerpts from Waterfootprint.org
by Fern Shaw | Mar 1, 2023 | mains fed water cooler, water cooler, Water Coolers
Are we getting a little ahead of ourselves? Of course we are. Why? Because we can.
If you’re wondering what we’re referring to, we’re talking about March 1st being the first day of spring. March first isn’t actually the first day of spring, that’s on 20 March. However, most meteorologists recognize March 1 as the first day of meteorological spring. With a nod of approval from such auspicious quarters, we’re going with it.
The icy grip of winter seemed so recent when lo and behold, the crocuses peeked their beautiful heads out of the soil and officially announced it’s spring.
Whatever way we approach this change of season, keeping fit and perhaps shedding some of our bear type hibernation weight becomes somewhat of a priority. This means (hopefully), that one’s water intake will increase too. To make your water intake more fab and fun, try a different approach to ensure good hydration habits
If drinking water all day is what bores you, try treating it as a meal or, better yet, three meals. Drink water to a comfortable fullness 3 times a day. On colder days, it might be less, on warmer days, more. Comfortable fullness should be enough to stay hydrated. This will lower the amount of calories you eat for roughly an hour afterward.
Simply change the way you drink water – out of a glass instead of a bottle, for example. Alternatively, drink it at a different temperature. If you change the temperature, you can change the experience and that can be enough to alter your water intake. Remember, cold water takes longer to drink. If you want to down it faster – to get your water intake over with – drink it at room temperature instead of icy cold.
Whether commuting, exercising, being sedentary, working, relaxing or socialising – in fact, pretty much every -ing, keep hydrated this spring – it can only be good for you.
Remember also to speak to us at AquAid for all your water requirements (we have something for all seasons). We offer a range of water dispensers: high volume watercoolers for children and staff at schools as well as a range of low, medium and high volume mainsfed or bottlefed watercoolers for use on building sites, at events and in warehouses, workspaces and offices nationwide.
by Fern Shaw | Feb 27, 2023 | water cooler, Water Coolers
There is a common misconception that wine, spirits and even beer, for example, contain no kilojoules and that this is reserved solely for food. Sadly, this is not the case.
So you may see a lot of people who will eat sparingly, but consume glassfuls of wine and spirits (and even beer) and wonder why they’re not losing weight.
Here are a few examples of wines vs. spirits in the kilojoules department:
- 225ml glass of white wine = 659 kilojoules
- 225ml glass of red wine = 641 kilojoules
- 225ml glass of full strength beer = 341 kilojoules
- 225ml glass of vodka (30ml tot) and soda = 266 kilojoules
- 225ml glass of gin (30ml) and tonic = 545 kilojoules
Two large glasses (450ml) of white wine (1 318 kJ) are equivalent to:
- Five chocolate chip biscuits – 1245 kJ
- Seven jelly snakes – 1 292 kJ
- Four medium apples – 1 354 kJ
- Twelve squares of milk chocolate – 1 350 kJ
- Five large, hard boiled eggs – 1 283 kJ
- Seven chicken nuggets – 1 353 kJ
- One toasted ham and cheese sandwich – 1 244 kJ
225ml glass of soda water = 0 kJ
225ml glass of water = 0 kJ
Although it’s doubtful that anyone would want to spend the rest of their weight conscious lives calculating kilojoule content per gram of lettuce or dollop of mayonnaise (lots!), hopefully these comparisons should give one pause when embarking on a liquid diet in the hopes of staving off the pounds from eating.
What we would suggest is rather chug-a-lug soda or spring water with your next packet of jelly snakes. Even better if you’re trying to shed weight is to keep your water glass or water bottle replenished and make frequent trips to the water cooler station throughout the day.
by Fern Shaw | Feb 23, 2023 | water cooler, Water Coolers
There’s no denying that the statistics speak volumes:
771 million people – 1 in 10 – lack access to safe water.* Millions of people take multiple trips each day to collect water. 282 million people spend more than 30 minutes each time. More specifically, women and children bear the primary responsibility for water collection. Women and girls spend 200 million hours every day collecting water. This is time not spent working, caring for family members, or attending school.
The ramifications of these stats and staggering amount of people affected can seem quite daunting in terms of how to address this global issue. The good news, though, is that there are multiple organisations that continue, year on year, to provide sustainable solutions to the lack of water and adequate sanitation to many thousands of people in hundreds of communities.
Sustainability may seem like the buzzword – bandied about without much meaning, but the truth of it is – sustainability is vital in the provision of water and sanitation to those for who access to water is an ongoing fight for actual survival.
There’s much truth in the adage, ‘Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime’, but before this philosophy can be realised, help is needed to provide water to communities that more often than not, do not have the most basic of infrastructures for a steady supply of water.
Sustainable water projects are those that include both short term and long-term solutions that pave the way forward by provide communities with convenient access to a constant supply of potable water and water for productive use every day.
That’s why, at AquAid Water Coolers we have, since our humble beginnings more than two decades ago, partnered with charities that not only provide emergency relief but also sustainable solutions to poverty around the globe, as is the case with Christian Aid and in the case of The Africa Trust, throughout Africa.
To learn more about the work that these organisations carry out, visit the AquAid website, and see how your water and water cooler purchases are making a visible difference to others.
*source: Water.org
by Fern Shaw | Feb 16, 2023 | water cooler, Water Coolers
Feeling lethargic when Nature is urging us to hibernate during the winter months is nothing new. What can be new and life changing (for the better) is how you counter that lethargy.
One of the simplest methods to counteract constant tiredness and feeling lethargic and having these impact on the rest of your day is to drink water as soon as you wake up.
Drinking water first thing in the morning:
Jump-starts your metabolism. The food we consume on a daily basis is metabolised and transported by way of water throughout the body. Having a sufficient amount of water in your system helps fire up your metabolism; it can also help with not eating too much. When we’re not adequately hydrated, we often mistake thirst for hunger, which can lead us to eat more.*
Helps fuel your brain. When it comes to daily productivity, hydration is crucial. The human brain consists of 73% water, so staying hydrated is especially essential for maintaining optimal brain activity. It is, of course, a daylong process, but starting with a glass of water right away is a step in the right direction.
The mornings set the tone for the rest of your day. If you feel sluggish, it will reflect in your morning activities/workouts, productivity at work, in fact, any daytime routine.*
Immediately helps rehydrate the body. Sleeping for hours is a long time to go without any water consumption. Drinking at least a glass (or two) of water right when you wake up is a good way to quickly rehydrate your body. So before you reach for that cuppa or coffee, rather refresh with water and kick start your day in the right manner.*
Increases your level of alertness. One of the biggest indicators of lethargy or low energy is that you are dehydrated. Because water aids in both body regulation and brain function, it is also closely related to balancing out our moods.
After a long period without anything to eat or drink, the first thing you consume in the morning can be a shock to the body. If that first thing is water, it will get the body working and can boost your alertness and low energy levels.*
Remember AquAid for all your water cooler and fresh drinking water requirements. With our decades of experience, you can rely on our expert knowledge to guide you in which of our high-quality range of water dispensers is the perfect install for your hydration needs.
sources: *from an article at Business Insider speaking to Nutritionist Rania Batayneh
by Fern Shaw | Aug 2, 2022 | water cooler, water cooler, water dispenser
With our lives now predominately online (often whether we like it or not) and our virtual conduct changing from day to day, it can be tricky negotiating one’s conduct in the physical realm. Added to this is with so many of us having worked remotely for such a long period, returning to work in the office or school can be a little challenging.
Change is good. Of course it is. There’s no progress or movement without change. Certain things though, don’t change. That’s also good. All said it’s good to know that in the physical realm thankfully some things never change.
How you approach the office water cooler station happens to be one of those things that hasn’t changed. Perhaps the banter has (massively, for obvious reasons) and very likely you’re using an AquAid touch-free water dispenser, but overall, as you head out to hydrate, water cooler station etiquette remains as it was.
Should you be feeling a little out of touch (no, not the same as a no-touch water cooler) here are a few helpful pointers:
- Don’t block access while you’re catching up with colleagues.
- Don’t use your water cooler to wash your containers/mug, water glass, or bottle!
- Keep your interaction light and impersonal. It may be important to you, but most likely hearing about your Aunt Violet’s verruca removal isn’t really what a workmate had in mind.
- Do confab about work. There are countless studies that prove exchanging ideas and comparing notes away from your office, workspace or desk often results in a good outcome.
- Keep the area tidy, help replace the bottled water if you can and if you note the bottle water supply is uncommonly low, make sure to alert your bottled water supplier. It may help to know that at AquAid, we have 23 local depots, meaning replacing your bottled water is quick and efficient.
