Water, food and resources at SCANZ

As SCANZ 2015 is about water and peace, we need to consider our resource usage. At this page on Waterfootprint.org, you can scroll though products to find the calculated water footprint of that product. The global average of water required for one cup of coffee is 132 litres of water. Clearly we need to work on this and related issues in regard to our diet.

At the same time, at SCANZ we are not interested in being policemen in regard to the environment and environmental issues. We just want people to think about their consumption and make adjustments. At Intercreate we are seeking a space where we can all connect in regard to the environment.

As organisers of the SCANZ residency, we are working on ways to reduce our water footprint. We usually supply tea, coffee beans and a coffee grinder because our largely artist group loves coffee. However, for 2015 water*peace we are considering not supplying coffee on Fridays, and only providing locally grown herbal tea: lemon verbena. This is because the best way to reduce water footprint is to consume locally grown products. The verbena will be fresh and available through the week, and we can also access a small amount of fresh bergamot, the herbal leaf form which is similar to the flavour of Earl Grey.

In addition, rather than purchasing the coffee solely on the basis of taste, we will be purchasing Fair Trade Organic. This is because we do want to support those growers in the Fair Trade scheme, who often are local people rather than multinational companies.

We are very lucky to be having WITT involved in the residency as we have negotiated being able to pick from the communal garden in return for watering and tending. Anyone who is picking or gardening will be asked to treat resources carefully, and to never pick an entire crop. We are also intent on getting food from local suppliers as much as possible.