Cowspiracy: The Sustainability Secret Page #2

about 1500 gallons per person per day.

About half of that is related to the

consumption of meat and dairy products.

So meat and dairy products

are incredibly water-intensive...

...in part because the animals are using

very water-intensive grains.

That's what they eat, and so...

...all of the water embedded in the grain

and that the animal eats...

...essentially is considered part...

...of the virtual water footprint

of that product.

I found out that one quarter-pound

hamburger requires...

...over 660 gallons of water to produce.

Here I've been taking

these short showers to save water...

...and to find out just eating

one hamburger is the equivalent...

...of showering two entire months.

So much attention is given

to lowering home water use.

Yet domestic water use is 5 percent

of what is consumed in the U.S...

...versus 55 percent

for animal agriculture.

That's because it takes upwards

of 2500 gallons of water...

...to produce 1 pound of beef.

I went on the government's

Department of Water Resources...

...Save Our Water campaign. It outlines

behavior changes to conserve water.

Like using low-flow shower heads,

efficient toilets...

...water-saving appliances,

and fix leaky faucets and sprinkler heads.

But nothing about animal agriculture.

When I added up all

the government's recommendations...

...I was saving 47 gallons a day.

But still that's not even close

to the 660 gallons...

...of water for just one burger.

I wanted to see if I could talk

with the government about this.

Just calling to see

if we could schedule an interview.

Yeah, that would be good.

What does your schedule look like

this afternoon or tomorrow afternoon?

- Tomorrow afternoon.

- Tomorrow afternoon could be good.

For the urban environment, a lot of

things can be done. Indoors, you know...

...using low-flow shower heads,

low-flow faucets...

...efficient toilets...

...efficient water-using appliances.

All of those are really good areas

that can help quite a lot.

But the biggest water savings

is from outdoors.

We have to be mindful of the way

we use water.

We have to use it efficiently,

protect its quality...

...and be good stewards

of the environment that depend on water.

And checking the sprinklers.

A lot of times you get a lot of leaks...

...and broken sprinklers

and things like that that waste water.

Those are the areas that there is

a lot of room for conservation.

It kept on coming up a lot,

was animal agriculture.

Can you comment on that at all,

about how much that plays a role...

...in water consumption and pollution?

That's-I mean, that's not my area.

There's one study that found

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