Why Bottled Water is Bad

http://environment.uk.msn.com/green-living/article.aspx?cp-documentid=8691948

http://environment.uk.msn.com/interactive/BottledWater.aspx must check this


Buying bottled water used to be a sign of water shortages. Now we buy it come rain or shine, no joke intended.

Unfortunately, for something as simple as water there is a huge environmental waste associated with it and one which campaigners are asking us all to help to reduce.

The waste of water

• Graphic: How Bottled Water is Bad for the Environment

Water quality in Britain amongst the highest in the world and yet despite rising water bills we fork out an extra £1.5 billion on buying even more water every year. That equates to an average of 41 litres per person every year.

It was not always like this though. Only a decade or less ago, if your supply had been cut off or there was a drought then you used to have a bit of a search to find bottles of water in your local store. Now our supermarket shelves are now jam packed with water from the Peak District, Wales or as far afield as the Alps.

So why is bottled water so bad?

• There is enough oil used in the production process of water bottles in the UK to keep 17,000 cars on the road for a year.

• About 1.5 million tons of plastic are expended in the bottling of 89 billion litres of water each year.

• The total amount of energy used to produce and deliver one bottle of water is the equivalent of filling the same bottle a quarter full of oil.

• Bottled water for UK consumers produces about 33,200 tons of CO2 emissions each year.

• Only 10% of water bottles are recycled - most go to landfill. In total we have discarded more than 3 billion empty containers.

• A quarter of bottled water bought travels up to 16,000km to reach UK consumers.



Tap water versus bottled water

In an effort to help turn consumers away from bottled water there has been a growing amount of publicity about its negative impact. However, it is difficult to argue against people drinking water because of its health benefits.

A recent campaign attempted to get round this by trying to get people to carry on drinking water but just not the branded bottled variety. The DIY Bottled Water campaign focused on the difference, or lack of, between tap water and its branded and bottled alternatives. If you could not tell the difference then it was surely time to stop buying it.

In essence it was asking consumers, why are you paying all this money for another bottle of water when you could just refill your own from the tap?

"The bottled water industry is a triumph of marketing over common sense," said the campaign's founder Joshua Blackburn. "It has become a symbol of our disposable culture at its dumbest."

"In countries such as Britain, where high quality water is literally on tap, it's time to bin the bottle."

And that is where the arguments against bottled water become so strong for environmental campaigners. We are told that we have an abundant supply of safe drinking water which we are fortunate enough to have available to us all, yet we are consuming millions of bottles of very similar water.

Are you willing to give up the bottle?

Further reading links
• Graphic: How Bottled Water is Bad
• Graphic: How to save water in your home
• Energy Saving Trust: Water Saving Tips
• London Tap: Campaign for tap water in London
• Message Board: Are you willing to give up bottled water?