Results from a new study into ethical behaviour in Britain, ahead of World Water Day on the 22nd March, published today
• Wales shown as 2nd most ethical part of the UK, after East Anglia
• 76 per cent of those living in Wales donate to charity
• 85 per cent of Welsh recycle every day, compared to 67 in London
New research commissioned by the UK’s leading ethical bottled water company, One Water, in a bid to discover how ethical Britain is ahead of the global water initiative, has found that an impressive 94 per cent of those living in the UK take measures to conserve water.
This research illustrates an overwhelmingingly positive level of water awareness here in the UK, in the run-up to World Water Day, with the most popular water conservation measure being to turn off the taps whilst brushing teeth. The region that is most active in water conservation is East Anglia, followed by London. The least active is Scotland.
Created in 1993 by the United Nations to raise global awareness of the water crisis and place it firmly on the world’s agenda, World Water Day provides an opportunity to shine a spotlight on the 748 million people without a clean water supply.
The nationwide survey asked respondents a number of questions, probing their approach to life from an ethical standpoint and providing One Water – which donates 100% of its profit to funding water projects in Africa – with an insight into how ethical Britons are, as well as a regional ethicality breakdown.
From most to least ethical (1):
1 East / East Anglia
2 Wales
3 North West
4 Scotland
5 South East
6 Yorkshire and the Humber
7 South West
8 West Midlands
9 East Midlands
10 North East
11 Northern Ireland
12 London
Results also show that:
– Almost a third of Brits are more likely to buy a product that donates all, or most, of its profit to charity (30 per cent)
– More than half of Brits claim to be living their lives in what they believe is an ethical manner (53 per cent)
– More than three quarters of Brits recycle daily (78 per cent)
The water crisis remains one of the biggest issues of the 21st century. Currently:
– 748 million people in the world don’t have access to safe water. This is roughly one in ten of the world’s population
– 2.5 billion people don’t have access to adequate sanitation – one in three of the world’s population
– 500,000 children die every year from diarrhoea caused by unsafe water and poor sanitation – more than 1,400 children a day
– Women and children spend 140 million hours every day collecting water
The burden of water collection usually lies with women and children, who will walk anywhere from an hour (multiple times a day) up to two days in some parts of Africa to the nearest water point, which is often unprotected and likely contaminated.
Founder and Managing Director of One Water, Duncan Goose, says: “Water underlies everything. Not having access to clean water presents a well-documented host of health-related issues but most people aren’t aware of how it directly affects a entire nation’s economy.
One example of this can be seen with women and girls. Usually burdened with the role of water collection, they are consequently unable to attend school or work, which is why providing a girl with an education can help lift a country’s GDP – a reminder of how central water is on every level.”
For more information about how One Water is helping alleviate the water crisis in Africa, go to www.onedifference.org/worldwaterday
