Bottled water can cost as much as 10,000 times more...

Leonie2 · Bottled water can cost as much as 10,000 times more...

...than tap water.

This article "Down the drain" by Pat Franklin is in this months issue of Waste Management World, a trade magazine that OH subscribes to for work. I read this article and was shocked at the wastefulness and environmental price we pay for drinking bottled water. The article is looking into this issue in the US, in the UK I expect things are a bit different but even still lots of people drink bottled water here. Pleased to say I'm not one of them.

Some extracts in summary but the full article can be read here (fortunately there's an online version so I didn't have to type it all out!)

Each day in the US more than 60 million plastic bottles are thrown away. Most end up in landfills or incinerators, and millions litter America's streets, parks and waterways.

Filtering tap water by means of a filter installed under the kitchen sink brings the cost up to about 10 cents a gallon. Bottled water can cost as much as 10,000 times more than tap water.

But the price that consumers are paying for the bottled water itself pales in comparison to the price they're paying for the environment consequences of manufacturing, transport, and disposal of the bottles. The Earth Policy Institute estimates that making bottles to meet the US demand for bottled water requires more than 1.5million barrels of oil annually, enough to fuel 100,000 cars for a year.

Only about one in six plastic water bottles sold in the US in 2004 was recycled. Only a small percentage of PET bottles sold are used to make new plastic bottles - approx 4%. The paucity of closed-loop recycling means that new water bottles must be manufactured almost entirely from virgin petroleum resin, consuming vast amounts of energy and resources.

Consumers need to appreciate the fact that their municipal water is not only safe to drink, but it may even be safer than bottled water. They also need to appreciate the multiplicity of environmental problems created by their consumption of bottled water.

In South America and Europe, many beverage companies still offer their products in refillable bottles. In the US today, refillable bottles are just a memory for older American consumers. Younger consumers have no memory of refillables at all.

The number of plastic water bottles sold in the US grew from 4 billion in 1997 to an estimated 26 billion in 2005 while the number thrown away increased from 3.4 billion to 22 billion. Plastic bottle waste is not just a national problem in the US, it is a national disgrace.

n

Couldn't agree more, I would charge a £10 deposit on plastic bottles.
I can't believe how whole aisles of supermarket space are devoted to bottled water, and when you add in fizzy drinks, squash etc, most if not all of it in plastic bottles, it's just ridiculous.
n

Guest

I agree it is ridiculous. But imagine also if they did recycle all those bottles,the amount of transport and again energy. We are a terrible wastefull breed and this planet will one day say enough is enough.

Leonie2

That's the thing isn't it, we shouldn't be using so many plastic bottles in the first place. Whatever happened to everyone owning a drink bottle that we refill with water from the tap to take out with us. I bought a bottle of spring water recently when I was out without something to drink. I always reuse the bottles for putting into the kids lunch boxes, it's one of those sports bottle type bottles if you know what I mean. Whilst washing it out I read some text on the label, it said something to the effect of this bottle should not be reused or refilled. I thought to myself then what a waste not to refill it. Of course I ignored the advice and it's been used as the drink bottle I take to the allotment with me.

n

We all have our own drinks bottles, mostly the kind you get to fit in bike bottle cages because they are the most durable and have good spouts. OH even takes a bottle of best "tap" on the plane to London.
My kids.... must stop saying that, really when they are 15 and 17.... have always had packed lunches and water bottles for school, even now. The oldest is now in his final year of school and says he is the only one who takes a packed lunch from home, but he says he likes being different so that's okay!... and he just can't understand how people can afford to buy sandwiches everyday, not to mention cafe latte in a paper cup! I guess we must have done something right after all!
n