most organisations conscious of the need to calculate carbon footprints.

But as environmental pressures grow, further counting is required. To

conserve "the world's most precious resource", organisations and

individuals now must understand the water footprint of products or

processes. Predictions of a worldwide water crisis have left scientists

arguing over the right way to measure water use, while large progressive

organisations have developed their own ad hoc approaches. With one

international authority claiming it takes 140 litres of water to make a

cup of coffee, it's certainly not time to relax.