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Majority of Canadians consider water to be Canada's most
important natural resource
New study reveals more people concerned about quality
and availability of freshwater than oil, fisheries, or forests
– yet use 329 litres per day
TORONTO, ON March 17, 2009 — The majority of
Canadians (53 per cent) rank freshwater as the country’s
most important natural resource; ahead of forests (20 per
cent), agriculture/farmland (14 per cent), oil (eight per
cent) and fisheries (two per cent), according to the 2009
Canadian Water Attitudes Study released today.
More than eight in 10 think Canada will have a freshwater
shortage problem if we do not pay attention to conservation.
But despite this appreciation of the value of freshwater,
Canadians continue to waste it at alarming rates, using five
times more water per day than they think they do.
This level of consumption must change, says leading water
expert Bob Sandford, following today’s release of the
2009 Canadian Water Attitudes Study, a national opinion survey
on Canadians' awareness, perceptions and habits related to
freshwater. The survey, in its second year, was commissioned
by Unilever and RBC, and is endorsed by the Canadian Partnership
Initiative of the United Nations Water for Life Decade. Full
survey results are available for NGOs and other interested
parties - contact
us.
“We have a disturbing paradox in Canada when it comes
to our freshwater,” says Bob Sandford, chair, Canadian
Partnership Initiative of the UN Water for Life Decade. “On
the one hand, Canadians appear to value water as a crucial
natural resource and understand that conservation of this
precious resource is critical. Yet unfortunately at the same
time, they don’t seem to know how much water they use
each day or where it comes from.”
The Canadian Water Attitudes Study indicates that Canadians
believe they use an average of 66 litres of water per day,
for drinking, showering, bathing, toilet flushing, laundry
and dishwashing. In fact, they actually use five times more
– with an actual consumption of about 329 litres per
day. Canadians not only underestimate the amount of water
they use, but their water habits actually worsened in 2009.
For example, the length of showers taken by Canadians increased
from 2008 to 2009. Canadians rank second only to the United
States in terms of highest per capita water use in the developed
world. In comparison, Europeans consume less than half of
the water Canadians do.i
There are both serious financial and environmental implications
to wasting water.
“While Canadians understand the value of water, they
don’t think about its cost or the larger impact on the
environment. Irresponsible and inefficient water use directly
contributes to climate change. For example, running a tap
for five minutes uses as much energy as leaving a 60-watt
lightbulb burning for 14 hours,” ii says Sandford.
“If water is our most important natural resource, as
I believe it is, we need to start using it more responsibly
and efficiently, for our country and for the planet.”
“Irresponsible use of water has environmental implications
for today, but even more so, for tomorrow,” says John
Coyne, vice president, legal and corporate affairs for Unilever
Canada. “This study highlights the need for increased
awareness about how Canadians use water. The inefficient use
of water is a critical dialogue in which governments, NGO’s,
business and individuals must engage. For our part, Unilever
is committed to leading by example as we reduce our water
footprint from operations and supply chain through to the
consumer use of our products.”
"Freshwater is essential for human health and all life
on earth, so it's really 'the' cause for the ages," said
Shari Austin, vice president, corporate citizenship, RBC.
"It's important for people to understand the value and
vulnerability of our water resources, which is why we undertook
this survey. That's also one of the reasons we created the
RBC Blue Water Project, our grant program of $50 million over
ten years to help protect our watersheds and ensure access
to clean drinking water."
HIGHLIGHTS OF THE POLL:
Additional Key Themes/Regional Trends
Pollutants and mass exports perceived as biggest threats
to Canada's freshwater supply
- Canadians believe the following to be the biggest threats
to Canada's freshwater supply: run-off pollutants from land
to water (19 per cent); mass export of water to the US (17
per cent); illegal dumping of toxins (12 per cent); mismanagement
of water by municipal, provincial and federal governments
(12 per cent); global warming and climate change (eight
per cent)
- Only six per cent of Canadians believe wasteful use of
water by consumers to be a threat to Canada's freshwater
supply
Canadians' concern for water equals concern for stability
of financial markets
- Eighty-five per cent of Canadians say they are "very
concerned" or "somewhat concerned" about
the stability of the financial markets; while 84 per cent
of Canadians say the same about the long-term supply/quality
of Canada's freshwater
- More Quebecers are concerned about the long-term supply
and quality of Canada's freshwater (80 per cent) than the
stability of the financial markets (72 per cent)
- Eighty-nine per cent of Canadians believe there is a growing
freshwater crisis on the planet, and 66 per cent think that
Canada is at risk of freshwater supply shortages
Canadians losing confidence in our water supply and
safety
- Confidence that Canada has enough freshwater for the long
term has declined by 11 points, from 81 per cent in 2008
to 70 per cent in 2009
- Canadians' confidence in their region's available water
has declined, from 84 per cent in 2008 to 74 per cent in
2009
- Quebecers (58 per cent) have the least amount of confidence
that Canada has enough freshwater to meet its long-term
needs
- Quebecers (68 per cent) and Albertans (67 per cent) have
the least amount of confidence that their region has enough
freshwater to meet their needs
Attitudes toward water safety are changing
- Canadians' confidence in the safety of Canada's water
supply has declined, from 81 per cent in 2008 to 72 per
cent in 2009
- Quebecers (54 per cent) have the least confidence in the
safety and quality of Canada's water supply
- While most Canadians (68 per cent) still drink their tap
water, only 4 in 10 (41 per cent) drink it directly from
the tap without first filtering or boiling
- One-third of Canadians do not drink the tap water in their
home
Attitudes toward conservation
- Ninety-five per cent of Canadians believe it is important
to conserve freshwater on an ongoing basis
- Most people (86 per cent) believe they are making reasonable
efforts to conserve freshwater
- Only 30 per cent believe that corporations, businesses
and industry are making reasonable efforts to conserve freshwater
- Significantly more Canadians put effort into electricity
conservation than water conservation (28 per cent versus
3 per cent)
- Only 40 per cent of the population knows how much they
pay for water each month, versus 73 per cent who know what
they pay for electricity
- Seventy-two per cent of homes in the Prairies say they
have water metres; this compares to 39 per cent of Canadians
in general
- Quebecers (63 per cent) are most likely to know that a
bath uses more water than a 10-minute shower
- Albertans (90 per cent) are most likely to say that they
are making reasonable efforts to conserve freshwater; Atlantic
Canadians (83 per cent) are least likely to say this
About the Survey
The 2009 Canadian Water Attitudes Study included an online
survey administered by Ipsos Reid from February 5 to 12, 2009.
It included a sample of 2,165 adult Canadians from the general
population across Canada. The results are considered accurate
to within ± 2.2 per cent 19 times out of 20, of what
the results would have been had the entire adult population
in Canada been polled. The data were weighted by region, age
and sex according to 2006 Census data.
About Canadian Partnership Initiative
in support of the United Nations Water for Life Decade
The United Nations Water for Life Decade is a globally proclaimed
decade for action on water quality and availability issues.
While each country in the world will be focusing on its own
water quality and availability issues within the larger context
of the global fresh water situation, the Canadian initiative
has been defined by a nation-wide public and private sector
partnership aimed at identifying and responding to regional
and national water issues. The United Nations Water for Life
initiative in Canada exists to put Canadian water issues into
a global context. The Canadian United Nations Water for Life
partnership initiative is housed, and has its research home
in the Western Watersheds Climate Research Collaborative at
the University of Lethbridge.
For more information about the Canadian
partnership initiative in support of the United Nations Water
For Life Decade visit www.thinkwater.ca.
References:
iUnited Nations Environment
Program, Division of Early Warning and Assessment Global Resource
Information Database - Europe.
www.grid.unep.ch/product/publication/freshwater_europe/consumption.php.
Accessed March 10, 2009.
iiBenefits of Water Efficiency, U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency. www.epa.gov/watersense/water/benefits.htm.
Accessed March 4, 2009.
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