Every Drop of Water and Food Footprints Count for Humanity

The concept of water footprint as a life-long journey for students and stakeholders’ initiatives and involvement was demonstrated in the paper “Every drop of water footprint counts for humanity” (Liew Kian Heng and Liew Yuqiang 2020). It was in a Living Lab where the listening and learning of every drop of water was collected in real life. Every each individual, student, corporations, and highest level as a nation is a stakeholder in attaining sustainable Water Footprint (WF) goals as laid out by United Nations Sustainable Development Goals 2030. In doing so, Singapore has recycling wastewater and desalinating seawater strategies while reducing the per capita consumption to 130 liters/capita/day by 2030. Similarly, the concept of food footprint has intertwined meanings with water footprint, which must be imbued for life starting with the youngsters. The food footprint is measured by the greenhouse gas emissions produced from the start of food production, supply, and consumption till the end of food wastages by any individual. It is also called the food carbon footprint. WF is affected by the type of foods and diets. Growing food locally is one way Singapore is pushing for the unprecedented “30 by 30” initiative for food security and safety while reducing WF. It is to produce 30% of nutritional needs by year 2030 locally in land scarce Singapore. School compounds, roof tops, as well as idling land are grounds to inculcate a breeding-growing culture for students/alumni/communities. At the same time food wastes reduction and at-source recycling/treatment in food outlets are implemented under the Resource Sustainability Act toward a Zero Waste Nation. At-source food and biomass wastes from kitchens to planters/gardens/landscapes could be converted into biogas/biochar/potash/enhancers for upcycled uses. Such initiatives with frugal innovations of mitigating total WF in Singapore by 2030 could be used as a model on modern built-environments on sustainability real-life life-long education.