hat sentence sums up one of the major problems with bottled water. Humans on average consume A LOT of water. We need it to survive. However many people simply prefer the ease of using a plastic water bottle to that of say a tap or even something like a Brita. While bottled water does provide access to clean drinking water it often comes with some consequences to humans, animals, and the environment. From what bottles are made out of and how they are made, to how they are disposed of, can cause lasting impacts on humans and this planet. Not to say that all bottled water is bad. Bottled water can save lives in emergency situations. Bottled water can be a lifesaving thing to have after natural disasters, or in instances when access to fresh According to One Green Planet, The United States consumes on average the most bottles of water. Followed in second by Mexico, then Brazil, and China. This means that it is mostly developed countries and not developing countries using bottled water. I found an interesting study done by BMC about the health beliefs surrounding bottled water. Its findings concluded that, “Convenience, cost, and taste were influential factors when making decisions as to whether to buy bottled water; health beliefs were unimportant motivating factors” (Ward et al.). In this study most people did not see that there was any health benefit or difference from drinking bottled water in comparison to tap. This makes me think then, why are so many people choosing convenience over this planet’s environment and the health of all who are on it? After all a Brita, which is still made of plastic, but is a much more environmentally friendly option, isn’t being used more frequently to replace bottled water. Even now water filters that connect right to ones tap that filter ones water. Some bottled water is not even really “filtered” and is simply tap water after all. Brands of water and how pure they are can be Both good and bad consequences. Bottle water makes it easier for people to consume water. Bottles are portable, they have lids that can close, can be bought for “relatively” cheap, and even comes in different fruit flavors. All of this makes people more inclined to choose water over highly sweetened, caloric beverages. The more water people drink the better off they are especially in the place of sugary drinks that can play a factor in obesity and diabetes outcomes of populations. Plastic water bottles can be good but also bad. Bottles in general and their production can cause some serious environmental issues, “It takes over 1.5 million barrels of oil to meet the demand of U.S. water bottle manufacturing. This amount of oil far exceeds the amount needed to power 100,000 for a year, which does not include fossil fuel and emissions costs of greenhouse gases needed to transport the final product to market” (Water Project). Aside from that, marine life can swallow plastic caps and bottles, thinking it is a source of food and that can cause death or serious internal issues to the marine life. Residents, especially farmers, near water plants can have water shortages since so much water is needed to make bottled water. Plastic water bottles are also made with BPA and PVC. With these chemicals and others carcinogens can be released if the bottles are not stored correctly or are exposed to extreme heat. Water
Americans live in a consumer society where majority of products are packaged ready for use. This is attributed to the availability of disposable merchandise that is favorable and efficient in delivering the various products that are on demand. Among the various favorably consumed packed products is bottled water. It does not however, make sense for people to buy bottled water and throw the container away after they have emptied it. This is because the plastic bottles have a number of defects to the environment as well as to the general welfare of the economy. For example, in 1976 an average American drank 1.6 gallons of bottled water and since then the quantity has increased to an average of 30 gallons whereby a lot of resources are spent importing synthetic fiber in spite of the pollution plastic cans have caused to the environment (Didier 214). The move has had an alarming statistic because some of the chemicals that are contained in the plastic water bottles have been recently proven to be harmful for the human consumption. The two types of chemicals that are particularly harmful are phthalates and biphenyl-A which are used to make the plastic bottles flexible. The use and manufacturing of plastic water bottles has negative consequences for humanity because it has health risks, is damaging to the environment, and is a waste of fossil fuels. Furthermore, there are other more feasible alternatives to bottled water.
Athletes drink bottled water during sporting events, students carry around bottled water at school, families buy cases of bottled water due to its convenience and versatility. According to Peter Gleick in “Bottled and Sold: The Story Behind Our Obsession with Bottled Water”, it was not long ago that society had no desire nor use for bottled water. From the times of Ancient Greece to modern Cleveland, Ohio, water has evolved to become safer to consume but has also become a product very much engrained in the materialistic and consumption culture of society (Bottled and Sold). Individuals are subconsciously trained to select, consume, and discard due to the nature of bottled water. Not only is this mindset associated with bottled water, it has also become apparent that branding and marketing of bottled water is now valued as much as the safety of the water being consumed (Bottled and Sold). Poland Springs, known to many individuals that purchase bottled water, for some time now has been decreasing the amount of water that it siphons from Alfred, Maine (Wikipedia). Poland Springs promises to provide water that is properly tested and from the springs of Maine, but according to “Bottled and Sold: The Story Behind Our Obsession with Bottled Water” the FDA does not do an adequate job recalling unsafe water and thus has allowed companies such as Poland Springs to add chemicals and purifiers in water
In today’s society it is uncommon to see people walking around without water. Those who carry water with them either have their water in a reusable bottle or have bought bottled water. Bottled water is the more commonly found type of water carried around, reason being that it is easy to just buy a huge pack so that a person can just grab a bottle a go. The problem with bottled water is that more often than not, the bottle does not get recycled, but instead gets thrown into the garbage. The problem with this is that the bottles end up in a landfill. However, in this past year alone American’s used “about 50 billion plastic water bottles” (Ban The Bottle, n.d., Para. 4). Most people do not see the big difference between bottled water and tap
When kids by lunch for school or when they buy beverages, kids make the right choice by choosing bottled water. Imagine if kids didn’t have the chance to get bottled water because it was all banned. Kids will go after sugary and unhealthy beverage. That will make kids be obese, and the health care to treat the kids will be rising. Then the U.S obesity rate will rise and our economy will be destroyed. So, don’t ban bottle water, it plays an important role for us. Water is one of the most beneficial resources ever known. You can live without food for a few weeks, but if you don’t have water you can die within days. I think bottle water is better than tap. Bottle water saves lives, and if you ban bottled water why can’t people ban the sugary and unhealthy drinks. Bottle water skeptics might say that all the corruption between bottled water and tap water will be over if banning bottled water because they aren’t being recycled, and plastic is indestructible and that will lead the bottled water to create an even larger landfill. But these people don’t seem to realize that bottle water is a small part of the landfill and it’s not the bottles problem that it isn’t being recycled, it’s the people.
Plastic water bottles are very unhealthy for our environment. First off, it causes Greenhouse Gas Emissions because of their use of fossil fuels. The Pacific Institute claims that the manufacturing of plastic water bottles uses about 2.5 million tons of carbon dioxide. One effect of greenhouse gas emissions is that they cause global warming, the cause of the ice caps melting and ruining arctic animal’s habitats. Plastic water bottles waste a lot of energy. They’re using energy while being manufactured, treated, filled with water, keeping the water cold and while being shipped. The Pacific Institute estimates that just making the plastic bottles for American
In, “Statement form International Bottled Water Association Regarding Concord, MA ban of bottled Water”, the author wrote, “People choose bottled water for several reason, including its refreshing taste, reliable quality, zero calories and additives, and convenience.” This shows me that bottled water has a great taste and very convenient. In, “Bottled versus tap: Which is safer?”, Elena Conis wrote, “State rules don't solve the problem of aging pipes that can carry water from public lines into peoples homes, which can leach copper and lead.” This is important to notice because the water from tap can have minerals that are unhealthy, especially lead. Kids can enjoy a convenient and safe way of drinking water. All of this is very important to note, but the environment and correct uses of petroleum matter
Bottled water is actually very beneficial to society for numerous reasons. Since water is hard to find in certain parts of the world it would be great if those people had access to bottled water. The water is clean and they water that they may is contaminated with many types of toxic wastes. If they had access to bottled water then they would be drinking clean water and it would make them live better and healthier. It would really help out the people who possess little to no water available. Water is very essential for life and having clean bottled water would make the body function well. Without water then humans would not be able to simple tasks because water is what allow the body to just about everything that it is supposed to do to keep us alive. If any natural disaster were to occur finding water would be very difficult so it would be a good thing to bottled water stored away. Anything can happen in a natural disaster so having bottled water would mean that chances for survival would increase. Lastly bottled water is easy to take around and is ready to go. It is also easy to dispose of and it can be recycled. Having access to bottled water is beneficial to society, it helps out in so many ways from little things to big things. Containing access to bottled water can better the health of lives and that is why people give donations to help people who really need some resource to live and that is
The phenomenon of single use bottled water is quite fascinating. People pay money for water, but really they are just paying for the plastic. Water is needed to survive, and surviving is a human right, so people are paying to acquire the human right to survive, when water is essentially free if you go to the nearest fountain or faucet. In the United States, there are more laws making sure tap water is safe to drink, than bottled water, and currently, bottled water is more expensive than gas by the gallon. About 40% of bottled water is just tap water, the other 60% of bottled water just has minerals added that have no proven health advantages. So, why pay for the plastic? Will air be harnessed in plastic next? (lol)
“Making bottles to meet America’s demand for bottled water uses more than 17 million barrels of oil annually.” To dissipate that much oil every year on bottled water alone is a tragedy, because oil is a nonrenewable recourse that takes millions of years to make. If they didn’t sell bottled water on campus it would reduce the amount of bottled water being produced, which in return would lower the amount of oil being used. Bottled water also hurts wildlife, according to the website biologicaldiversity.org “Plastics pollution has a direct and deadly effect on wildlife. Thousands of …marine mammals are killed each year after ingesting plastic or getting entangled in it.” The essence of this statement is that water bottles do contribute to the deaths of species as well as endangered animals. If we stopped the sale of bottled water on campus it would reduce the amount of plastic waste that gets lost in the ocean or wildlife and less animals would die every year. So let’s not be selfish and get caught up in the greed of oneself and ban the selling of water bottles on campus to help protect the
"The federal Environment Protection Agency requires that water systems serving more than one million residents test 300 water samples per month, while utilities serving 3 million people or more must collect and test 480 samples monthly, for more than once a week for bottled water" (Social Ink). Meaning, bottled water is so risky that it has to be tested twice as more than tap water. Also, no one thinks about what these companies use to make these bottles that they put this "purified" water in. We really only pay attention to the convenience of it. According to Mercola, "About 40 percent of bottled water is nothing more than tap water! So not only might you still be drinking all the chemicals you were trying to avoid in the first place, you might be exposing yourself to even MORE chemicals by drinking from plastic bottles". Basically, while people are trying to avoid the chemicals in tap water, they are actually making matters worse and taking in more toxic chemicals. People do not realize these hazards. The easier route is drinking tap because no matter what we purchase in stores we honestly do not know what these companies use to produce these products. "Though drinking water directly from a store shelf poses serious health risks, leaving this bottled water in your car or strapped to your bike and exposed to the hot sun will cause even more serious chemical exposure (Mercola,5) therefore, if leaving the bottled
This wouldn’t be so horrifying if it weren’t for the fact that waste from these products never really goes away”(Ban the Bottle). This just goes to show that we can blame humans for everything we are polluting the earth just so that we can get stuff conveniently, these plastic bottles are a convenient way to drink water but the world is corrupted with money and trying to get power so it’s a dollar for some water you could get for free and if your water isn’t clean then you can just buy a water
While watching “The Story of Bottled Water,” I thought to myself, “Is this all true, or is this really being blown out of proportion?” I simply couldn’t grasp the idea that we as consumers are that wasteful. So, I decided to watch the film again to really grasp the narrator’s message. Then it hit me: in high school AP History, we discussed how bottled water started and how it has become a multi billion-dollar company. From a business point of view, it seems so ignorantly deceptive, yet it was absolutely genius. With a little marketing, bottled water became a huge success. However, it is killing the environment and the water is usually comparable to tap water regardless. The “The Story of Bottled Water” is a very well-made short
You'll find it at home, work, and school. It's in coolers and vending machines and on store shelves. You may have it with you right now. Bottled water is everywhere. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) reports, "Bottled water is the fastest growing drink choice in the United States." In some ways, this is good news. More people recognize the health benefits of drinking water. They are choosing water over sugary drinks like soda and juice. Unfortunately, bottled water has a dark side. It comes not only with a high environmental cost but also with a hefty price tag. Stop and think: Is the growing trend of drinking bottled water really worth it?
Given all the negative effects that come from plastic, why are people still participating in this poisonous cycle? Some claim that bottled water simply tastes better than water from the tap whether they prefer spring, purified, distilled, or mineral water. Most people just appreciate the convenience bottled water offers; it’s easier to carry little bottles that one can throw away instead of larger reusable bottles that need to be brought home at the end of the day. Also, bottled water comes in big “value packs” in most stores, which is beneficial for large group events and big families.
Water is one of the most essential non-renewable natural resources on the Earth. Technically, an un-hydrated human being can live no more than three days. In the United States, people consume water mainly from tap water and bottle water. However, the consumption between these two sources is not even but lean to one side heavily. According to the Natural Resources Defense Council, people consume from 240 to over 10000 times more per gallon for bottled water than they usually do for tap water. (NRDC) In addition, according to a survey from US National Library of Medicines, only 17% of the participants prefer to drink tap water exclusively.(US National Library) Compared to the bottled water which is shining like a superstar, tap water is like a diligent worker in the shade, unpopular but useful. The extremely unbalance of bottled water consumption implies that a commonly hold conception exists: bottle water is superior to tap water. In fact, scientific evidence proves that tap water is nothing different than bottle water. More importantly, the excessive consumption of bottled water is an irrational use of resources and creates severe environmental issues.