That’s right, believe it or not dairy farmers are making great strides in conserving water throughout their industry. It may not be on everyone’s television ad programs, but recently an intriguing commercial came upon ours opening with the line “if you view water as a precious resource” ….my ears were perked. The commercial, by the American Dairy Association, ends saying that most dairy farmers recycle water up to four times. Four!
Going to their web page at usdiary.com, they have their sustainability plan which details how they intend to reach their goal for greenhouse gas neutrality by 2050 including optimizing water usage as well as water quality. “Thanks to modern and innovative dairy farming practices, producing a gallon of milk in 2017 required 30% less water and 21% less land and had a 19% smaller carbon footprint than it did in 2007.” That’s immense progress for 10 years and I imagine they are continuing to move closer to their goals in 2023.
Let’s go back to that recycle number. Four. I don’t think I have made a habit of recycling water anymore than twice. But could you imagine if other industries took the time to do their research on innovative ways they could conserve or recycle the water necessary for their product or service. What difference could we make even if each industry, like dairy farms, reduced their water usage by 30% in one year?
