| 25 February 2008: A new report calls on Scotland to be water wise |
|
|
BE WATER WISE: NEW REPORT CALLS ON SCOTLAND A new report released today by Ariel laundry detergent and Waterwise, the UK’s leading authority on water efficiency, has revealed that Scots are wasting million of litres of precious water in their homes every week. Britain has less available water per head than many other European countries, yet the nationwide survey revealed that when given a choice of five of the main environmental issues facing the country, water shortages were not seen as a priority in almost 80% of cases . The report has prompted the launch of the nationwide ‘Be Water Wise with Ariel’ campaign, fronted by property designer Wayne Hemingway, to rally the nation to help protect one of its most precious resources. Scotland Numbers But it’s not just Scots who need to wise up to water. An overwhelming majority of the British public fail to recognise water saving as a pressing environmental issue, according to the new report. Jacob Tompkins, Director, Waterwise, said: ‘The past two years has seen the worst droughts and floods for a century in parts of the UK. Although these events give different messages to the public about available water supply and the need to be water efficient, both lead to restrictions on public water supply. Climate change means that we will see even more extreme weather in the future. Already, the South East of England has less available water per person than Sudan and Syria.’
‘Our increasing population is part of the issue – it is predicted that by 2027 water stress will be a serious problem worldwide and the average supply of water is expected to drop by at least a third. It’s imperative that we all work together now to implement simple changes that will ultimately make a significant impact on the well being of our planet,’ he added. KEY NATIONAL FINDINGS Wayne Hemingway said: “The statistics sound worrying but in truth there are many small things we can all do around the home to make a difference. 50 per cent of the country’s water consumption is down to household use so it’s an important place to start taking action. To put this into context, if we saved the water UK households waste in a week it would be enough to supply over 6 million UK families for one week. ” The key thing to remember is that this initiative is not about restricting use – it’s about being water wise and reducing waste.”
Sarah Boyack MSP, Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs, Environment & Climate Change and chair of the Save Water in Scotland Network said: "More efficient use of water in our everyday lives will help in the fight against climate change. Water is a precious resource and requires a great deal of energy in its distribution and treatment. I hope people will get involved and see how easy it to make practical changes." Ariel and Waterwise are working in partnership to inspire and enable British households to take action to conserve precious water without compromising their lifestyle. For water saving tips and advice visit www.ariel.co.uk/water. For further press information and images please contact: Editor’s Notes Ariel As part of their sustainability commitment, in 2006/2007 Ariel partnered with Energy Saving Trust to encourage UK households to ‘Turn to 30°’ by lowering their washing temperature to 30 degrees saving over 40% in energy consumption. Ariel’s advanced ‘cool clean’ technology enables users to achieve brilliant cleaning even at low temperatures. Independent research by IPC has shown that UK consumers are already getting the ‘turn to 30’ message with 8 times more loads now being washed at 30 degrees (from 2% in 2002 to 17% in 2007).
Waterwise Waterwise is the UK’s leading authority on water efficiency, focused on reducing the amount of water we all use at home and at work by 2010. Waterwise believes the key to water efficiency is reducing waste not restricting use. It is an independent, not-for-profit non-governmental organisation.
|