Cotto 1

Hannah Cotto

Prof. Spielvogel

CAS

Date

Reducing plastic bottle consumption

The problem

Nowadays, bottled water is the second major beverage category

by volume in the United States, following carbonated soft drinks. In

2015 bottled water sales hit an all time high. The total volume of

bottled water consumed in the United States was 11.7 billion gallons, a
1
7.6% increase since 2014. That is equivalent to 1.7 billion half-liters of

water per week and 36.3 gallons per person, which translates into

more than five bottles of water for every person in the country every
2
single week. This increase per capita consumption suggests that

consumers believe and see bottled water as the healthiest choice

among other beverages. Coinciding with this idea, sales revenues for

the U.S. bottled water market in 2015 were $14.2 billion in wholesale
1
dollars, a 8.7% increase over the preceding year.
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There are a lot of misconceptions facing bottled water and it all

started in the 1970s when giant soft drink companies got worried as

they saw their growth projections starting to level off. This was due to

the fact the people were buying less unhealthy soda and drinking more

healthy tap water. Thus, these companies found their next big idea

bottled water!

At first people thought this was silly since water is free,

therefore, the companies had to find a way for people to buy this fringe

product. The answer was simple; they manufactured demand by

creating a market by using fear and irrationality. A perfect example of

this is the Fiji Water Company with their ad campaign that mocks

Clevelands old reputation for unhealthy water. The Fiji ads, placed in

print and Internet vehicles, announce: The label says Fiji, because its

not bottled in Cleveland. Next, companies manufacture demand by

hiding the reality of the product behind images of pure fantasy. Water

bottle companies such as Fiji, Aquafina and Evian try to seduce us with

mountain streams and pristine nature in their ad campaigns and

packaging of the product. With these strategies, people are made

believe that bottled water is of a higher quality, cleaner, and is better

tasting when compared to tap water, when in reality this isnt true.

In many ways bottled water is less regulated than tap water.

After seeing the Cleveland ad, Cleveland public utilities director Julius
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Figure 2

Ciaccia ordered Fiji water to be tested.

The results showed that a Fiji water bottle contained 6.21 micrograms

per liter while Cleveland tap water had no measurable arsenic. 3 Sarah

Goodman of the New York times explains that this is possible because

Bottled water manufactures are not required to disclose as much

information as municipal water utilities because of gaps in federal

oversight authority. Bottom line: The food and Drug Administration

oversees bottled water, and U.S. EPA is in charge of tap water. FDA

lacks regulatory

authority of EPA.
4
The

Environmental

Protection Agency

(EPA), demands

several daily tests

for bacteria by certified laboratories and that violations be reported in

a specified time frame. Public water systems must make results

accessible to the public, providing the source, proof of contaminants

and fulfillment with regulation. The Food and Drug Administration, only

requires weekly testing and does not share its findings with the EPA or
5
the public.

Furthermore, in the United States, 24% of bottled water sold is

either Pepsis Aquafina or Cokes Dasani that are both filtered

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municipal water.6 The Results of many blind taste tests indicate no

difference between the taste of tap water and that of bottled water.

Boston University student Hila Landesman and CAS associate professor

of environment Nathan Philips decided to do a bottled water versus tap

water taste test where students had to choose which one they

preferred and which tasted like tap water. Each volunteer was given

two cups, one holding tap water and the other holding Vermont Pure

bottled water. The results showed that only a third of the students

identified the tap water sample correctly, and another third thought it

was bottled water, while the remaining students couldnt tell the
7
difference between the two.

In other taste tests across the country, people consistently

choose tap over bottled water. In a blind water taste test conducted by

Good Morning America the results showed that 45% preferred New York
8
City municipal water, 24% Poland Spring, 19% O2, and 12% Evian.

This proves that when blind tests are conducted, the taste buds really

dont seem to think that bottled water tastes better than tap water.

Bottled water companies say that they are just meeting

consumer demand, but why would someone demand a less ecological,

less tasty, way more expensive product? Bottled water is 240 to

10,000 times more expensive than tap water. 13 Bottled water costs

from $0.89 per gallon to $8.26 per gallon, compared to fractions of a

penny for water from your tap. 9 Doctors recommend eight glasses of
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water a day, that would mean about $1,400 spent on bottled water
10
every year versus $.49 per year at U.S. tap rates. Not to add the fact

that the average Figure

water 3pitcher filters 240 gallons of water a year for

about 19 cents a day. Put in perspective, to get the same amount of

water from bottled water would require 1,818 16.9-ounce water bottles

a year at an average cost of a dollar a bottle, thats $4.98 a day11

But the bottled water story doesnt end here. In a full-page ad,

Nestl stated that bottled water is the most environmentally

responsible consumer product in the world.12 This is completely

Figure 4
misleading to say when these water bottle companies use a lot of fossil

fuels and pollute the environment.

The problem begins

with the extraction and

production of oil that is

used to make these water

bottles. To make all of the

water bottles produced only

in the U.S, it takes about 17

million barrels of oil per

year. That amount of oil is

enough to power 1.3 million

cars for a year13 and

190,000 homes.15 Imagine a water bottle filled a quarter of the way up

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with oil. Thats about how much oil was needed to produce the

bottle.14 It is estimated that each used water bottle only uses of its

capacity in oil to manufacture, fill, transport and dispose of it.13

A huge amount of energy is used to make water bottles that we

drink and trash rapidly. Which bring us to the big problem at the other

end of the life cycle disposal. Sadly, for every six water bottles we

consume, only one makes it to recycling. 14 The U.S.s plastic recycling

rate is 23%, which means that 38 billion water bottles, approximately

$1 billion worth of plastic, are wasted every year. 16 Additionally,

recycling is not always possible since only PET, made of polyethylene

terepjthalate, water bottles can be recycled18 or more specifically

downcycled. This means turning them into lower quality products that

will be tossed later. All other bottled than cant be downcycled go to

the landfills. It is estimated that in the U.S. more than 80% of water

bottles used once become

waste. In fact, landfills in the

U.S. are flooding with 2 million

tons of trashed water bottles.17

Moreover, the water bottles

that dont end up in land fills

end in worst places, such as on

the land, rivers, lakes, and the

ocean.
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But it doesnt end here. Plastic bottles take from 400 to a 1,000

year to biodegrade18 and if the are burned they produce a great a

mount of toxic fumes. Lets not forget about the 18 million tons of

exhaust19 that are released into the atmosphere into each year due to

transported bottled water.

Solution

Bottled water companies sell us their product by frightening us,

seducing us, and by lying and misinforming us, all fundamental to

manufacturing demand. And at the same time they our keeping us

from our basic human right to clean, safe drinking water.

There are many ways to solve this problem and it starts taking a

pledge to not buy or drink bottled and instead drink tap water or use a

water filter. In fact, the average water pitcher filters 240 gallons of

water a year for about 19 cents a day 4. Put in perspective, to get the

same amount of water from bottled water would require 1,818 16.9-

ounce water bottles a year at an average cost of a dollar a bottle,

thats $4.98 a day.19 Plus, a water pitcher filter is able to replace up to

300 16.9 ounce bottles.20 Additionally, to drinking filtered or tap water

buy a reusable bottle to bring on the go, so that you dont see yourself

forced to buy a water bottle.

Second, start a campaign that demands clean tap water for

everyone. In the U.S. the public water system of many cities are

annually underfunded by $24 billion.21 As a matter of fact the are a

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billion people all around the world who dont have access to clean

water right now. Nevertheless, cities in the U.S. are spending millions

of dollars to get rid of the water bottles plastic waste. A report by

Corporate Accountability International found that four Northeastern

states -- Connecticut, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and Vermont --

spend nearly $2 million on bottled water that comes out of taxpayers'

pockets. 21 This money could be used to improve our water systems

and reduce pollution.

Thirdly, start a petition to urge cities officials to bring back

drinking fountains all around the city. This way people will have access

to free, filtered water and the need for disposable bottles will be

eliminated.

Finally, work to ban the purchase of bottled water in schools and

universities and even entire cities. Some Colleges have already started

the ban of water bottles. Among these, is the University of Nebraska

Cascades, Nebraska Wesleyan University, Skidmore College and many

more. And if the flat-out bans arent possible, we can still work to

reduce or restricting the sale of bottled water. Cornell and Yale both

have reduction campaigns in effect, and the University of Pennsylvania

encourages administrative offices to use hydration stations rather than

bottled water.22
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Sources

1. http://www.bottledwater.org/economics/bottled-water-

market
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2. http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2016/04/160420-

bottled-water-sales-record-high-despite-environmental-

opposition/
3. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-

dyn/content/article/2006/07/20/AR2006072000322.html
4. http://www.nytimes.com/gwire/2009/07/09/09greenwire-

fewer-regulations-for-bottled-water-than-tap-g-33331.html

5. Burros, Marian. Fighting the Tide, a Few Restaurants Tilt to

Tap Water. The New York Times [New York City, NY] 30 May

2007: Section F, Page 1.

6. Fishman, Charles. Message in a Bottle. Fast Company

Magazine July 2007: 110.

7. https://www.bu.edu/today/2011/bottled-vs-tap-which-

tastes-better/
8. http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=126984&page=1
9. http://www.foodandwaterwatch.org/about/live-healthy/tap-

water-vs-bottled-water
10. http://www.oakparkusd.org/page/93

11. Fishman, Charles. Message in a Bottle. Fast

Company Magazine July 2007: 110.
12. http://stopnestlewaters.org/2008/12/01/nestle-ad-

claims-bottled-water-most-environmentally-responsible-

consumer-product-in-the-world/355
13. http://www.oakparkusd.org/page/93
14. http://kids.nationalgeographic.com/kids/stories/space

science/water-bottle-pollution/

15. Not Disposable Anymore. P.O.V.s Borders. 2004.

PBS.
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16. Fishman, Charles. Message in a Bottle. Fast

Company Magazine July 2007: 110.

17. https://thewaterproject.org/bottled-

water/bottled_water_wasteful
18. https://www.banthebottle.net/articles/10-startling-

facts-about-bottled-water/
19. http://archive.onearth.org/blog/misconceptions-and-

bottled-water
20. https://www.banthebottle.net/bottled-water-facts/Mak
21. http://www.alternet.org/story/146116/are_greedy_wat

er_bottlers_stealing_your_city%27s_drinking_water
22. http://www.mnn.com/money/sustainable-business-

practices/blogs/college-campuses-ban-bottled-water