Hopefully if you’re at this site and reading this you are well aware of the alternatives to using disposable bottles and recycle the ones you do. The advent of bottled water sent our already wasteful consumer culture into pollution overdrive and it’s a tremendous task to put the brakes on the momentum of this waste. Here is a list of plastic bottle fun facts that put the magnitude of this pollution into scope.
* Plastic bottles take 700 years to begin composting
* 90% of the cost of bottled water is due to the bottle itself
* 80% of plastic bottles are not recycled
* 38 million plastic bottles go to the dump per year in America from bottled water (not including soda)
* 24 million gallons of oil are needed to produce a billion plastic bottles
* The average American consumes 167 bottles of water a year
* Bottling and shipping water is the least energy efficient method ever used to supply water
* Bottled water is the second most popular beverage in the United States
Although it can be easy and convenient to pick up bottle beverage products the end cost to the environment is staggering. So be mindful when you drink…and remember, friends don’t let friends drink from disposables!
7 comments:
I've never been a huge fan of bottled water, to be honest. And this admittedly comes mostly from a superficial standpoint—it takes so long to find a brand of bottled water that doesn't taste downright funky. You can just taste the plastic in most major brands. The exception is Arbor Springs water—I remember enjoying the taste of it, and thought it was pretty cool that it came straight out of Ann Arbor. Having said that, it certainly isn’t the only bottled water I bring myself to drink. I’m sad to say that I do consume bottled water when it is available, but also thankful to say that it isn’t available very often.
I know people are pretty quick to call a plastic water bottle a health risk. I might be convinced of this some day, but I take all the current accusations with a grain of salt. The main argument is that “plastic water bottles have been proved to break down into carcinogenic compounds when reused or frozen” (Snopes); however, it is unclear whether this is really true. Snopes.com provides a pretty comprehensive overview here: http://www.snopes.com/medical/toxins/petbottles.asp
My family has relied heavily on tap water for as long as I can remember. We’re fine with taking water right from the sink and drinking it out of a glass. We don’t even have a Brita filter or anything. We just take it straight up. I guess it’s a good thing that I prefer the taste of tap water—from the looks of it, drinking bottled water isn’t good for anyone.
This is really something that could be controlled by the public. If the demand for bottled water decreased, surely the supply would as well. I wonder if this is all a matter of public awareness. How can we get the message across that bottled water poses a danger to the environment?
Lots and lots of bottles:
http://blog.globalhealingvision.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/plastic-bottles.png
—Eleanor Schmitt
Lindsay Bienick
December 1, 2008
I find myself in complete shock while reading the facts on bottled water. The numbers used in the statistics are so high that I cant even fathom them. It is a crazy paradox when a seemingly same piece of plastic, said to be our clean water carrier, can lead to all things (pollution and contamination) minimizing the amount of fresh water in this world.
There is one thing though that is sometimes goes over looked due to bottled water’s mass effect on the environment’s health; our own body’s health. Over the past year or so, I have learned that plastic bottles, both disposable and non-disposable, contain many chemicals that can have a huge effect on us. So then, let me tell you about my water bottle story.
It wasn’t until recently that I have switched over from bottled water to a Nalgene bottle. I had been drinking bottled water for years due to the fact that my tap water at home, prior to college, came from a well and tasted horrible. Then freshman year, I did the same thing pretty much due to the drinking fountains. Conversely, this year I have become much more conscientious and have begun to just reuse my plastic water bottles numerous times until they were about to fall apart. BUT! I have come to find out that the chemicals in the plastic start to break down into compounds and come off in your water the more and more they are used. Thus, today I have ended up with a Brita water filter and a Nalgene bottle, which is extremely durable and huge! I love it and use it everyday now. However, here is a funny coincidence that my roommate just told me as I am writing this: the older versions of Nalgene bottles have many chemicals in them that have been proven to affect the user. Thankfully, this has been realized and the new versions are now claimed to be chemical free. Guess that means I will be making a trip to Moosejaw sometime soon since mine was bought while I was in high school.
This is from the New York Daily on Nalgene bottles:
“Hard-plastic Nalgene water bottles made with bisphenol A will be pulled from stores over the next few months because of growing consumer concern over whether the chemical poses a health risk.”
“With more than 6 million pounds (2.7 million kilograms) produced in the United States each year, bisphenol A is found in dental sealants, baby bottles, the liners of food cans, CDs and DVDs, eyeglasses and hundreds of household goods. The chemical has been linked to neurological and behavioral problems in infants and babies, along with certain cancers, diabetes and obesity.”
After reading this article, and ones like the such, it is brings me to raising the questions: why is being green so hard to do? Will I ever get it right? I can only hope that research will tell the truth and the world will become more educated on its quest to be truly green. No more false sayings or hidden consequences, PLEASE!
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/us_world/2008/04/18/2008-04-18_reusable_plastic_water_bottles_recalled_.html
http://www.thegreenguide.com/doc/114/bpa
I think one of the reasons why the seemingly harmless bottle of water had basically turned into an incessant, hard to control, environmental issue is because of the convenience factor. For many individuals throughout society, drinking anything but bottled water is a far off and unreasonable idea. Even those who reside in homes that offer perfectly clean and healthy tap water, they choose bottled water because of the taste or unnatural fear of drinking contaminated water.
The facts are astonishing and almost hard to believe. It takes 700 years just to begin the composting process? That is a ridiculous longer amount of time that one human (who is consuming the water out of these plastic bottles) lives on earth! I believe that this topic of the over-consumption of bottled water relates directly to the laziness of our society. Any aspect of life that can be made more convenient or easier is automatically the top choice. Now that our towns and cities have improved tap water purifying systems, the fear of drinking contaminated water from tap is not very valid. Many also do not think that the 30 seconds it takes to fill up a reusable water bottle instead of grabbing a plastic, disposable one is worth their time. When in fact, those extra 30 seconds are significantly helping repair our environment. Again, the statistic that states that 80% of plastic water bottles are not recycled is incredibly shocking to me because of how much media attention is being paid to going green and recycling recently. If more people are conscious of this effort, and relay the information to the people they see on a daily basis, than I think this laziness phenomenon could start moving in a positive direction. I also think that if certain businesses start creating and heavily advertising ways of reusing water containers, and stray away from the advertisement of bottled water, many people watching these advertisements in their homes will slowly become influenced to consume less bottled water. Artists and designers can also do their part by designing trendy and fashion forward reusable water bottles so consumers are more apt to use them instead of the drab, boring plastic water bottle found in the supermarket. One example of this is the SIGG brand of water bottles that are becoming very popular on campus lately.
http://www.mysigg.com/
Rachel Less
section 5
12/2/08
I have never really understood the fascination with water bottles other than the fact that if you want a lot of water in a random place with a vending machine, you can get it. Otherwise, I don’t see why people buy bottled water (especially in Michigan) when there is nothing wrong with our tap water. I think it’s interesting because there are several studies that show that bottled water is just as good and clean as the tap water (at least in Michigan). Also, the study said that more people are getting cavities because bottled water does not contain the fluoride that tap water does, which means that it’s actually more healthy to drink tap water as opposed to bottled. Another thing against bottled water is that other studies have shown that people who reuse their bottles without thoroughly washing them in boiling water with soap, actually have water that is dirtier than toilet water because of the build up of bacteria over time. The only reason I see a need for bottled water is for people who do not have access for clean water, otherwise I think you should be drinking from the tap.
(This is British, but hey, one world, right?)
http://images.thetimes.co.uk/TGD/picture/0,,269869,00.jpg
Jayme Rosenstock
Who hasn't been thirsty on a hot summer day and made a quick stop into a convenient store, gas station, or grocery store and bought a cold disposable water bottle. It isn't uncommon to see families at the grocery store buying water bottles by the case. You sure can't beat the convenience. They are so easy to take anywhere for very little money, usually between one to two dollars, depending on the size of the bottle. They have a screw top on them, so they shouldn't ever spill. If you misplace them or don't finish every last drop, it doesn't feel as if you have wasted a huge amount of money. Your thoughts on drinking bottle water should chance once you learn about the waste these bottles are causing.
Once everyone hears these facts listed above they hopefully will realize there are ways to reduce the number of bottles in our landfills. First of all, research has shown that the water in these bottles isn’t as pure as they advertise: natural spring water. Is the consumer supposed to feel as if natural means pure! There are minerals in them just like we get in our tap water. Some educated homeowners are installing reverse osmosis into their tap water. These systems are used to reduce the levels of dissolved solids and suspended matter from their tap water. The process of reverse osmosis is forcing the water to go through many filters in the process it is reducing the levels of nitrate, sulfate, and sodium from their normal tap water. If people planned ahead and filled up their own plastic bottles each morning and brought their own water bottles with them, there won't be a need to buy additional water bottles. American should be better educated on this. We need to plan ahead and realize we can make a difference. Taking water from home would help solve these problems. You then won't be wasting our recourse but instead reusing our resources. You would be saving money also since ninety percent of the cost of water bottles is from the cost of manufacturing the water bottles. Water itself isn't the expense; the cost comes from these disposable bottles. Please think about this the next time you are thirsty and realize you can make a difference.
I wonder how old these statistics are, but I do agree that the use of water bottles should be discouraged. It is much cheaper to bottle your own water (courtesy of the faucet). My family purchases 3 cases of bottled water every two months, give or take. I often wonder why we buy so much, because we frequently leave behind unfinished water bottles and open up new ones. The old bottles then gradually pile up and ultimately thrown in the trash (due to the fact that there are so many of them). I try my best to recycle all of them, but my parents are stubborn wasters; they rarely recycle of their own will. I think drinking tap water is worth it if there are this many issues.
This isn't to say that tap water doesn't equally disgust me. To drink water pouring straight out of pipes and plumbing is a sickening thought. And I have no idea how well those water purifier gadgets work. You know, the ones that you hook onto the end of your kitchen sink's faucet head and supposedly cleans your water as it pours out?
Then again, I don't really know how clean the water in bottled water is either, considering the whole idea of distancing.
-Louise C.
It seems to me that this is totally a problem of convenience. For me bottled water has always been about bringing it along, and not so much about the purity of the water. This seems to be the exact opposite of the advertising campaigns. Bottled water companies always talk about the purity of the natural spring that comes down from a quaint mountain town in Switzerland, and how their spring is better than the others. and this is where the plastic bottle comes from. in order to show the purity of their product the company uses a clear plastic bottle that looks nice rather than a more sustainable packaging. My favorite part this argument is the "all natural" aspect emphasized by companies selling spring water. What water isn't natural?
So it really comes down to the plastic. As I was saying before it is a convenience, but isn't it just as convenient to fill up the bottle at your sink, rather than spending more of your resources to waste more. As the statistics state, the majority of the price is in the bottle, so it is unnecessary to spend money on something you already have.By saving and reusing the bottles, you are really achieving the same result as buying a new bottle of water, without the waste. This is true especially after companies have been caught using tap water to fill up their bottles for retail in several cases.
This being said, if it is the purity of the water that concerns you, you can buy gallons of water from the grocery for a fraction of the price of the "fancy" bottled water.
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