A Not-So-Splashy Way to Save the Planet
Give up bottled water. Seriously.
The oil used to distill water, make plastic containers and ship them over long distances rivals the energy spent and the pollution caused by gas-guzzling cars.
Americans have to drive to work, take the kids to school and go shopping. They don’t have to drink water out of bottles.
In most places in the U.S., the habit is as necessary for health as strapping on an oxygen tank and breathing your own private air–and just about as cost-effective.
San Francisco, PBS reports, is banning the use of city money for bottled water. It started when an aide brought the Mayor his bottle of Fiji water with a big bag of oil surrounding it, and said, “Here’s what you’re actually consuming”–to produce the bottle and the distribution costs to get it to the United States.
Americans spend almost $100 billion a year for water no better than most tap water and sometimes no different. If they worry about safety, portable home filters can reassure them for pennies a gallon and reusable glass containers can make it as portable as and safer than plastic, which may leach into its contents.
As a still-breathing consumer of tap water for more than eight decades, I’ll drink to that.
Cross-posted from my blog
10 Responses to “A Not-So-Splashy Way to Save the Planet”
Thanks for posting about this.
It just goes to show how crazy it is to depend on consumer demand for policies. Consumers demand what advertisements seduce them into demanding, even if it’s harmful or just ill; advised/
It’s important to note that bottled water is not nearly as regulated as municipal water is which critics have argued is a safety concern.
I buy a bottle of water when I need the bottle. It often gets refilled and used multiple times before it gets recycled.
“The oil used to distill water, make plastic containers and ship them over long distances rivals the energy spent and the pollution caused by gas-guzzling cars.”
Really? I’m on board with the whole bottled water is inefficient idea, but that sounds like hyperbole to me. We got some stats to back up that claim?
Oh, and thanks for an environmental topic. Thats politics too. More more!!
[...] This from the Moderate Voice. Give up bottled water. Seriously. [...]
Good point.
I try to refill water bottles too. But my family still consumes literally hundreds of plastic bottles a year, all of which end up in a landfill somewhere.
Sam-
Despite its not being the most academic source available, there is a sizable section of information on energy in the Wiki section on bottled water. It can give you an idea of the energy consumption of bottled water.
I have yet to be burned by wikipedia, so its a fine source for me still. Besides, when you know nothing at all about a topic any info helps to give you a point you can start to cross reference from.
People forgot that bottle water demand has been aided by the elimination of water foundations in public spaces. Most cities learned in the 1970′s that a water fountain attracts the homeless. So cities and business eliminate them. The same goes for ground level public restrooms and for the same reason. Also, carrying around a thermos of water was seen as being low class.
Also, pitchers of water sitting on a table are seen as unsanitary. Thus, water bottles at meetings. Also, leaving a drinking cup sitting around your desk is also seen as unsanitary. Thus, drink bottled water at work.
The Demand for bottled water was at least partially created out of other concerns. However, those concerns have been forgotten.
I reuse my bottles at work, I’ve had the same 2 bottles for months now. However, they do eventually get sent to the land fill or recycled.
SD has a point, you hardly see water fountains any more. In fact, at my work they switched them out for a RO filter system when the cooling unit went out on the last fountain.