The Guiltridden Groupie

I like rock shows.
 
Okay, I mean, I really love rock shows. There is nothing better than heading out late evening with levels of anticipation (think Christmases of childhood) knowing I am going to hear heavenly blistering loud music. Jumping about in the lights from the stage watching a drummer count, bassist careen, keyboardist contort, guitarist scream and shouting out lyrics that I have obsessively been listening to, that is my idea of havin’ a time.
 
What does that have to do with water? (Besides my bladder being pushed to the extreme or the sweat weight loss of the evening) Well a lot actually. Water is used to support our way of life, but far removed from our thoughts because of time and distance it becomes known as virtual water. This is the water that we use to make stuff.
 

Is that what you're wearing?

 
Take the cords and t-shirt I wore to the show. The cords and shirt are mostly cotton. Believe it or not, cotton isn’t made from those puffy clouds in the sky, but it is a crop grown in a field. Cotton is a huge business and growing for textiles can result in water depletion due to irrigation practices or water pollution from biocides and chemical fertilizers.  To make 1kg of cotton (roughly a pair of jeans and a t shirt) it takes 15 000L of freshwater.
 
Ugh.  Even though my t-shirt and cords were new when I bought them, a lot of my other clothes are from second hand shops. Buying clothes second hand makes the most out of those raw materials.
 

Didjeat?

 
To fuel the walk to and from the venue, I ate a tasty supper, a yummy vegetarian pizza. A whole lot of water is used in the production of the food we eat and a vegetarian diet uses about half the water that a typical North American meat rich diet uses.  A vegan diet would use even less water. This is partly due to the amount of water that is needed to produce crops for animals rather than just eating the crops ourselves.
 
At the show, I had a beer (okay, maybe two), which uses about 75L for one bottle. At least it was a local beer, right?
 

Check one, check two

 
So plug in amps, tune that guitar, mic check, and let’er rip.  But wait a second, do you hear that hum? The hum of the electricity: lights, amps, the heater, stage monitors, air conditioner, speakers, fridges, dry ice machine, wires, strings...eek.
 
Most of the power that is used in NS comes from fossil fuels. There may not be a huge investment of virtual water in the mining and processing of coal,  but it is the impact that it is having after that power has been generated that is a big problem, carbon dioxide and climate chaos. Unless you are willing to invest a lot of time and headspace to figure out how to get yourself off of the grid, there isn’t the option of plugging into a wind powered outlet or flicking on a solar light switch instead of one powered by coal or diesel.
 
And notice I haven’t even touched on the materials that were mined to make the instruments, the microphones, the speakers, or heck, the venue. Or plastic that is made by petroleum. All of the stuff that we use comes from somewhere and water is used and abused to extract the metals, minerals, and gunk that we use to make all sorts of stuff. If you would like to know more, waterfootprint.org is a good place to start and has a calculator to help connect you to all that ocean virtual water that we are using all the time.
 

So cue the Full House music

 
We can all make better choices that make a difference to protect water at home and around the world, however, some of the issues are bigger than individuals and are rooted in how our society is organized and how decisions are made. The Atlantic Chapter of the Sierra Club Canada is the local office of Canada’s only grassroots environmental organization that is working to address environmental issues (including water issues) at this broader level. There is strength in numbers and perhaps you'll consider joining or donating to support one of our campaigns that will help us protect water here in Atlantic Canada.
 
Hopefully, someday I will be able to rock out  (and you'll be able to do something you love) with a little less guilt.