Posted on Sustainabilitank.info on August 9th, 2008
by Pincas Jawetz (PJ@SustainabiliTank.com)
Bottled Water: The Height of Stupidity - says Diane Francis of Huffington Post, August 6, 2008.
Bottled water is a joke, one of the biggest consumer and taxpayer ripoffs ever. I applaud California’s Attorney General Jerry Brown who said recently that he will sue to block a proposed water-bottling operation in Northern California by Nestle.
Next, Attorneys General everywhere should require recycling of all plastic bottles and containers by requiring deposits to be paid to encourage returns, as is the case with aluminum cans. Not only do society and the environment pay an unfair price for this consumer hoax, but consumers are being hoodwinked. They are paying from 300 to 3,000 times more than the cost of tap water without any benefit.
An estimate by a University of Toronto geology professor Andrew Miall, who took a picture of a grocery store skid of bottled water and calculated the extent of the ripoff, found the stack of bottles:
Contains 24,192 bottles, each containing 500 ml of water, a total of 12,096 liters of water, in 314.5 kg of plastic.
Purchase price of the $4.99 per 24-bottle pack is $0.42 per liter for a total retail value of $5,029.92
To purchase the same volume of water in bulk through Toronto’s domestic water supply would cost $16.93
The scam
The water is usually not superior to “city” water or tap water, and is merely a big branding hoax by soda makers. In some cases, this “designer” water is drawn from tap water and labeled for suckers to buy as though it is a superior product.
Dasani in Britain was caught doing this. There are not regulations or proper labeling requirements governing bottled water as there is involving tap water. Some water may be contaminated.
Bottles of water are not fluoridated which has been created tooth decay problems among youngsters and adults who avoid tap water.
There are indications that the plastic may contain harmful carcinogens.
Bottles of water are mini gas guzzlers
One expert estimated that the amount of petroleum — used to make the bottles, transport, refrigerate, collect and bury them — would fill one-third of each bottle.
These plastic bottles are creating landfill problems worldwide, and are washing up on beautiful beaches around the planet.
What’s wrong with using filters, if people are concerned about local water supplies, and refillable bottles?
Another stupidity: A real estate developer explained the idiocy of ordering bottled water in restaurants. He said bylaws require special water filtration systems be installed so that their “tap water” is safer than any.
Of course, there’s always those who want fancy sparkling or soda water, but that’s another issue.
About the only justification for bottled water is in developing countries where water supplies are decidedly unsafe or untrustworthy.
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Posted in Policy Lessons from Mad Cow Disease, Reporting From the UN Headquarters in New York, UN Commission on Sustainable Development, Reporting from Washington DC, Canada, Global Warming issues, Real World's News, Green is Possible, European Union, Futurism, Asia & Australia, Norway, Iceland, Switzerland, Other UN Cities, The US States, Brussels
August 12th, 2008 at 7:52 am
Some tap water has objectionable taste or odor. It is also subjected to the condition of the conduit from the source to the point of use; not to mention that chlorine, THMs, fluoride, trace metals and pharmaceuticals can be present under EPA standards.
All that noted, tap is basically safe and the best choice for our citizens. We have invested billions of dollars building the treatment plants and infrastructure to have potable water available everywhere. There is no need to use fuel for large trucks or plastic production to deliver water.
For those of us that prefer contaminant free water from the tap, I find a bottleless reverse osmosis water cooler is a great solution. It purifies tap water at the point of use. This eliminates the objectionable elements of tap, while leveraging the municipal infrastructure. It is the next generation drinking water service and the green alternative to bottled water.