Jade Van Tonder
Born in Cape Town, Alison van Tonder relocated to Gqeberha in December 2020. No stranger to ‘Day Zeros’, she is making it her business to ensure that her fellow residents understand the complexity and urgency of the water crisis we are facing.
Putting pen to paper she has written an article titled,” It took 11 417 liters of water to make my birthday cake”. We are sharing it with her most eager permission.
It took 11 417 litres of water to make my birthday cake
By Alison van Tonder
I celebrated my birthday with a picnic at Kouga Dam. This year I had a birthday bucket list and wanted to visit Hankey and Patensie, at the heart of the Eastern Cape’s citrus production and home to Kouga Dam. I transported my unique birthday cake from Gqeberha to Kouga Dam, collecting a few ingredients along the way, like fresh strawberries, from Mooihook Strawberry Farm in Hankey.
We live in a beautiful region, and we need to learn how to protect it. The Eastern Cape contributes to at least 26% of South Africa’s citrus production.
Water scarcity has changed my life. I have developed a renewed appreciation for water, especially after two water crises, in two cities, within the course of five years, and after being restricted to 50 liters, per person, per day. I was born in Cape Town and relocated to Gqeberha in December 2020 - talk about a double whammy with ‘Day Zero’.
It’s easy to get caught up with ourselves (focusing solely on how the drought impacts us as individuals or our households), without fully understanding the bigger picture, namely that our current behaviour towards water, will have a profound impact on our future survival.
Understanding the virtual water footprint or ‘big water’ has significantly changed my perspective and mindset towards actively practicing water conservation. Everything we use, wear, buy, sell, and eat takes water to make. The water footprint measures the amount of water that it takes to produce every item, from food, a pair of jeans, smartphones, cars etc. and it is mind-blowing how much water we consume daily. For example, it takes 748 litres of water to produce one kilogram of clementines, 347 litres of water for one kilogram of strawberries, and 1981 liters of water to produce one kilogram of avocados, etc.
I did the Maths on my birthday cake. I listed every ingredient and researched the water footprint for each item, then divided the amounts as per the quantities that I used. My birthday cake took at least, 11 417 litres of water to make. To put it into perspective, that is more than what an average South African household uses in a month.
Water security is no longer someone else’s problem to fix. There are over one million citizens in Gqeberha and approximately 60 million inhabitants in South Africa. It is time to stop pointing fingers and actively contribute towards securing our water resources.
Our mindsets toward water need to change in our everyday experiences. For example, we cannot be silent or indifferent when we see sprinklers gushing water into roads (potable or boreholes alike). We need to speak up when we see kids frolicking under municipal water when the ocean is a few meters away. We cannot be silent when our water infrastructure gets vandalised.
Our future water security depends on you and me and our positive activism.
Pictured below: Allison van Tonder and her 'unique' water guzzling birthday cake
