Toronto - The majority of Canadians (53 per cent) rank freshwater as the country's most important natural resource; ahead of forests (20 per cent), agriculture/farmland (14 per cent), oil (eight per cent) and fisheries (two per cent), according to the 2009 Canadian Water Attitudes Study released this week. More than eight in 10 think Canada will have a freshwater shortage problem if we do not pay attention to conservation. But despite this appreciation of the value of freshwater, Canadians continue to waste it at alarming rates, using five times more water per day than they think they do.

This level of consumption must change, says leading water expert Bob Sandford, following today's release of the 2009 Canadian Water Attitudes Study, a national opinion survey on Canadians' awareness, perceptions and
habits related to freshwater. The survey, in its second year, was commissioned by Unilever and RBC, and is endorsed by the Canadian Partnership Initiative of the United Nations Water for Life Decade.
    
"We have a disturbing paradox in Canada when it comes to our freshwater," says Bob Sandford, chair, Canadian Partnership Initiative of the UN Water for Life Decade. "On the one hand, Canadians appear to value water as a crucial natural resource and understand that conservation of this precious resource is critical. Yet unfortunately at the same time, they don't seem to know how much water they use each day or where it comes from."
    
The Canadian Water Attitudes Study indicates that Canadians believe they use an average of 66 litres of water per day, for drinking, showering, bathing, toilet flushing, laundry and dishwashing. In fact, they actually use five times more - with an actual consumption of about 329 litres per day.

Canadians not only underestimate the amount of water they use, but their water habits actually worsened in 2009. For example, the length of showers taken by Canadians increased from 2008 to 2009. Canadians rank second only to the United States in terms of highest per capita water use in the developed world. In comparison, Europeans consume less than half of the water Canadians do.
    
There are both serious financial and environmental implications to wasting water.
    
"While Canadians understand the value of water, they don't think about its cost or the larger impact on the environment. Irresponsible and inefficient water use directly contributes to climate change. For example,
running a tap for five minutes uses as much energy as leaving a 60-watt lightbulb burning for 14 hours," says Sandford. "If water is our most important natural resource, as I believe it is, we need to start using it more
responsibly and efficiently, for our country and for the planet."
    
"Irresponsible use of water has environmental implications for today, but even more so, for tomorrow," says John Coyne, vice president, legal and corporate affairs for Unilever Canada. "This study highlights the need for
increased awareness about how Canadians use water. The inefficient use of water is a critical dialogue in which governments, NGO's, business and individuals must engage. For our part, Unilever is committed to leading by
example as we reduce our water footprint from operations and supply chain through to the consumer use of our products."
    
"Freshwater is essential for human health and all life on earth, so it's really 'the' cause for the ages," said Shari Austin, vice president, corporate citizenship, RBC. "It's important for people to understand the value and
vulnerability of our water resources, which is why we undertook this survey. That's also one of the reasons we created the RBC Blue Water Project, our grant program of $50 million over ten years to help protect our watersheds and ensure access to clean drinking water."

For more information about the Canadian partnership initiative in support of the United Nations Water For Life Decade visit www.thinkwater.ca. In 2008, Unilever Canada launched Go Blue, a national awareness program which to educate consumers about steps they can take to conserve water in their daily lives. For more information, visit www.unilever.com. For more information on RBC's work in this area, visit www.rbc.com/bluewater.

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