Companies Fault!

Among the CSR Asia article “ Time to look at your water footprint?” written by Richard Welford on September 9^th 2009 reported 3 different analysis that affects the yields of crops in developing countries. Richard believes by controlling our use of water and preserving this resource it will diminish our water footprint on freshwater. I found 3 statements I would like to discuss:

1) “Companies with close links to food and beverage production are already aware of the stresses being put on this most valuable resource.” (Welford 2009)

2) “A good starting point for any business is therefore to have a good hard look at your own water footprint.” (Welford 2009)

3) “However, many companies are actually unable to really measure their impact on water resources.” (Welford 2009)

Within his argument, there are two things that were stated that seem to contradict one another. In one phrase he claims that companies are well aware of their impact on fresh water, and then Welford goes on telling the reader that many companies are unable to have a water footprint. Welford’s argument appears to be that large water based companies are required to keep track of the amount of water that is used, this will better the management of water.

A better presentation of this argument would include:

1) To begin, within every argument it is required that there is some form of evidence. Without the evidence no one would trust that the claim is valid or not.

2) It may be true that freshwater is only 2.5% of the world’s entire supply of water, however out of the 2.5% of freshwater how much is really used by these large companies. It may also be true by having a water footprint it is clear to see where the water is being used, and where the water is being abused, but that isn’t enough to say that only companies are consuming freshwater. My point is that the entire world uses water as a necessity or as leisure. Water is used when hands are being washed, toilets being flushed, plants being watered. All of these functions used by everyday people are for their satisfaction, so including everyday people into the argument would provide a stronger claim.

3) A portion of the article made references to the companies that use the largest quantities of water. However, these companies use the water to benefit the people. For example it was mentioned that water was used to power Electrical generators. The electricity is generated to help power the: city buildings, street lights, and lights in homes. Since people living in cities use electricity, it could be said they are consuming water indirectly. This is another point that could be added to the claim to help show a specific direction the claim is taking.

Even though Welford claims seem to contradict each other it all points to our problem of not being able to control our use of water. He has made his point that our freshwater supply is decreasing but did not mention how much. Also he provided a solution but did not explain it fully to clarify what he meant by a water footprint. I think the next few steps for the claim to be improved is to provide reliable evidence to prove that freshwater supplies are decreasing, and be more specific when stating the claim because it was very general. My suggestion is to include the human population as a target considering we use quantities of water as well. Although it may seem that the freshwater amounts are decreasing, I do not believe it is true. They say that 2.5% of the total amount of water is fresh water and 2/3 of the freshwater is trapped in the polar icecaps, since the icecaps are melting shouldn’t our freshwater supply be going up? This is just my own personal thought on the topic, however this is our first steps to help with the issue.

References:

Krebs, Michael. "Digital Journal: Your News Network." Digital Journal: Your News Network. 29 Sep. 2009 .

Welford, Richard. "CSR Asia - Corporate Social Responsibility in Asia." CSR Asia. 28 Sep. 2009 .