The bottled water industry, i.e. major soda companies, did a brilliant job of manufacturing demand for something that is practically free and turning it into a multi-billion dollar industry. They have convinced the public that tap water is dangerous while touting that bottled water is environmentally friendly. In reality, every step of a bottled water’s lifecycle damages the planet and tap water is just as healthy and safe, if not more so, than bottled water.
Consider the following:
- Almost 50% of bottled water is now filtered tap water (versus spring water), sold back to the consumer at a price that is thousands of times higher than tap
- Tap water costs $0.002 per gallon; average home pitcher filter is $0.10 to $0.20 per gallon and bottled water ranges from $0.89 to $8.26 per gallon
- Only 20% of water bottles get recycled
- If you fill a plastic water bottle 1/3 full with oil, that is how much oil that goes into the production, shipping and storage of that bottle
- The trend of water bottlers increasingly turning to municipal tap water sources for bottling threatens our public water resources
- Energy is wasted and pollution is created by shipping bottled water around the world, and then shipping the empty bottles to landfills and recycling centers (some go as far as India for downcycling)
- Plastic bottles leach Bisphenol-A (BPA) into the waterespecially if warm or sitting in the sun
- For every liter of water that goes into a bottle, two liters of water are used to make the plastic bottles and bottle the water
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- Groundwater pumping can cause water levels to decline in surrounding lakes, rivers and streams
- Tap water has the lowest water footprint and the lowest carbon footprint of any beverage
- Water bottlers are increasingly using aging water treatment systems that are funded by taxpayer dollars
- The amount of tap water bottled increased at almost twice the rate of spring water bottled between 2000 and 2009
- Municipal water is regulated more stringently by the Environmental Protection Agency than bottled water is by the Food and Drug Administration
- Americans buy half a billion of bottles of water per week
- In taste tests across the country people consistently chose tap over bottled water
Clearly, there really aren’t any benefits to drinking bottled water. It is bad for the environment and our pocketbooksand in most cases it doesn’t even taste better.
So let’s go back to drinking from the tap! If necessary, put filters on your faucets and keep a stash of reusable water bottles on hand.
Just think. What if the millions of dollars being spent by our cities to deal with all the bottles we throw out could go towards funding water infrastructures to ensure that tap water will remain safe, sustainable and affordable for all. Doesn't this make more sense?
PHOTO CREDIT: Alex Anlicker
