AlterNet: Bottled Water's Shocking Impacts and the Growing Opposition

[marmar]

Bottled Water's Shocking Impacts and the Growing Opposition

By AlterNet Staff, AlterNet. Posted August 5, 2008.

Here are two stories that show the huge impacts of bottled water and the pressure the industry is receiving lately from consumers and officials.



Editor's Note: We've been following the rising grassroots movement against the bottled water industry. And it looks like the hard work is paying off. According to one group working on the issue, "In May, Nestle reported that its bottled water profits had dropped, acknowledging 'criticism of bottled water' as a factor in decreased sales. According to Beverage Marketing Corporation, last year the U.S. bottled water industry experienced its slowest annual revenue growth in more than 15 years." Below you'll find two stories that show what's going on in the fight against bottled water.

Tap Has 1/100 the Impact of Bottled Water by Graham Hill, Huffington Post

We have forgotten about our closest source of water at home -- the tap. Yet one of the simplest ways to reduce our environmental impact, to save money (not a ton...yet!) and to free ourselves from shopping and storage hassle, is by saying goodbye to bottled water. A life cycle assessment commissioned by the Swiss Gas and Water Association traced the entire life cycle from water extraction to serving it up in a glass.

Their findings showed that tap water has less than one percent of the impacts of un-refrigerated bottled water. Even when the tap water is refrigerated its impact is only one quarter of that of bottled water. These astonishing figures show that tap water is hands-down the greenest and most responsible choice.

The biggest impacts for bottled water come from the refrigeration, packaging and transport. Refrigeration also substantially increased the impacts of the tap water scenarios thanks to the energy consumed to power the fridge. Returnable bottles and jugs had lesser overall impacts when the distances for their transport were short. But as the distances increase, the higher weight glass bottles resulted in an "on the whole" higher environmental impact as compared to the PET bottles.

This reminds us that transportation plays a big role in the impacts of bottled water, more so than even packaging in this case. The origin of the water causes the biggest impact and so the distance between the bottling site and you must be as short as possible to reduce impacts -- this is a pretty hard factor to control as a consumer. Hear that Fiji? When that distance is short, then returnable bottles become a viable alternative. As the distance gets bigger, the returnables cause more impact because of their higher weight. .....(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.alternet.org/water/93837/bottled_water%27s_shocking_impacts_and_the_growing_opposition_/

[BadgerKid]

1. Looking at the origin of food might be next. n/t

[Ezlivin]

2. Isn't packaging always the killer?

I don't know how many times I've purchased something only to find that the amount of packaging greatly dwarfs the item I was after.

We should already be downloading all of our music and movies; CD and DVD packaging is among the worst offenders in the trash race.

And where the hell is the "paperless office" that was envisioned?

[zbdent]

3. Remember when you returned the pop bottles for the deposit?

On the packaging ... there was a great "King of Queens" ...

The star was trying to open the "clamshell" packaging of something ... trying damn near everything (he didn't have a knife handy). His wife asks him if he wants a pair of scissors, and he says "Yes." She hands him a brand-new pair of scissors ... still in the clamshell package ...

[Bluzmann57]

4. I appreciate the packaging dilemma

But I work at a place where there is no potable tap water and often find myself far away from the bottled water cooler on hot days. Therefore, we all depend on bottled water to quench our thirst and keep from dehydrating. I often take a soda bottle and fill it with water from the cooler, but not everyone drinks soda either. So bottled water is a must in some situations.

[freesqueeze]

5. Please explain the fridge cost.

if your fridge is running anyway...isn't it more efficient to fill it up with something? I am talking of putting a pitcher of tap water into the fridge...how does that increase cost? If you have a store with a special fridge just for this silly bourgeois item then by all means unplugging it will save energy.

[TexasObserver]

6. a home reverse osmosis filter system is the answer

That's what they do to the city water used to make bottled water. I got a system put in 20 years ago, and I've had one installed in every home I've had since.

You make your own "bottled" water that way.

[Ezlivin]

7. R/O is the way to go

I've had an R/O system for many years. It is fabulous.

Well, when it works. Now the company "Texas Drinking Water Systems" has gone belly-up, leaving me with a dead R/O system. If I weren't in a wheelchair I'd fix it myself, but it's damned hard to get under that sink!

[TexasObserver]

8. you can probably find the filters online

it's the new filter they need occasionally, and that's about it