The Environmental Cost of Bottled Water
In 2006 Americans spent over 10.
8 billion dollars on bottled water What was that money really spent on? What is the environmental impact of billions of dollars of bottled water? Does bottled water offer any real benefits other than convenience? Types of Bottled Water Bottled water comes in a variety of types.
Bottled waters are grouped into types by the their water source.
In comparison bottling plants, considered low risk (by some), are inspected less than once per year.
Understanding the Environmental Cost of Bottled Water According to SIGG, "Over 100 million plastic water bottles are dumped into America's landfills -- ever day!" Considering this fact landfill waste is an obvious concern.
Sadly it isn't the only one.
Exploitation of Water Supplies We live in a world with diminishing resources.
Water is precious commodity.
As we consume rare artesian and mineral waters from developing countries we are overtaxing their water resources.
Is it fair to bottle the natural resources of developing countries at the expense of their indigenous residents? The Cost of Production and Transportation According to Ling Li of Food & Water Watch, "the production of bottled water the bottling, and the packaging all require energy, so basically they use gas and oil.
And then when you ship bottled water you consume a lot of gas and create carbon dioxide emissions.
" Should we pay for bottled water when we already pay for a municipal water infrastructure? Filling our Landfills By throwing over 100 million plastic water bottles as a nation into the trash each day, we are filling our landfills.
By years end, we will throwaway 2 million tons of plastic bottle waste.
While more and more cities introduce recycling plans, plastic recycling is on the decline.
Last year we recycled only 23% of our plastic bottles.
Convenience at a Price However convenient bottled water is, we must all understand the cost of that convenience.
This cost isn't only environmental, it is also financial.
The NRDC estimates that bottled water costs between 240-10,000 times as much as tap water As a nation we need end our love affair with bottled water Once we understand the environmental cost of bottled water we can ask ourselves an important questions - Why do we chose to pay 240-10,000 times more than tap water for bottled water a convenience product, that destroys our environment?
8 billion dollars on bottled water What was that money really spent on? What is the environmental impact of billions of dollars of bottled water? Does bottled water offer any real benefits other than convenience? Types of Bottled Water Bottled water comes in a variety of types.
Bottled waters are grouped into types by the their water source.
- Artesian - Artesian water comes from confined aquifers.
- Mineral - Mineral water comes from geologically and physically protected underground water sources.
To be considered mineral water the water must contain at least 250 parts per million of total dissolved solids. - Spring - Spring water comes from underground formations from which water flows naturally.
- Purified - Purified water is filtered municipal water or tap water Purified water can be filtered in a variety of ways such as distillation, de-ionization or reverse osmosis.
In comparison bottling plants, considered low risk (by some), are inspected less than once per year.
Understanding the Environmental Cost of Bottled Water According to SIGG, "Over 100 million plastic water bottles are dumped into America's landfills -- ever day!" Considering this fact landfill waste is an obvious concern.
Sadly it isn't the only one.
Exploitation of Water Supplies We live in a world with diminishing resources.
Water is precious commodity.
As we consume rare artesian and mineral waters from developing countries we are overtaxing their water resources.
Is it fair to bottle the natural resources of developing countries at the expense of their indigenous residents? The Cost of Production and Transportation According to Ling Li of Food & Water Watch, "the production of bottled water the bottling, and the packaging all require energy, so basically they use gas and oil.
And then when you ship bottled water you consume a lot of gas and create carbon dioxide emissions.
" Should we pay for bottled water when we already pay for a municipal water infrastructure? Filling our Landfills By throwing over 100 million plastic water bottles as a nation into the trash each day, we are filling our landfills.
By years end, we will throwaway 2 million tons of plastic bottle waste.
While more and more cities introduce recycling plans, plastic recycling is on the decline.
Last year we recycled only 23% of our plastic bottles.
Convenience at a Price However convenient bottled water is, we must all understand the cost of that convenience.
This cost isn't only environmental, it is also financial.
The NRDC estimates that bottled water costs between 240-10,000 times as much as tap water As a nation we need end our love affair with bottled water Once we understand the environmental cost of bottled water we can ask ourselves an important questions - Why do we chose to pay 240-10,000 times more than tap water for bottled water a convenience product, that destroys our environment?
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