The common individual in the US consumes more than 45 gallons of bottled water per year, for a complete of 60 billion water bottles a year. 9 out of 10 Individuals now anticipate bottled water to be obtainable wherever different drinks are bought, in response to a survey conducted for the International Bottled Water Association (IBWA) by The Harris Ballot.
Right here’s why that’s horrible information, and why it’s best to stop consuming bottled water at this time…
Bottles Dripping in Oil
Do you know that, yearly, the equivalent of 17 million barrels of oil are used to provide plastic water and soda bottles within the U.S.—not together with transportation? Or that bottling water produces greater than 2.5 million tons of carbon dioxide per yr?
What an unbelievable waste of sources and a silly menace to the local weather—all for a bottle you employ as soon as and throw away!
The extra we squander what little accessible oil now we have on actually silly issues like single-use plastic bottles, the extra now we have to acquire from different nations or dangerously and expensively drill out of pristine ecosystems.
Given all of the conflict, corruption and environmental devastation triggered all over the world by the demand for oil, that is neither politically nor environmentally sustainable.
Something we will do to shortly and completely part out disposable plastic bottles would assist enhance our relationship with the folks residing in oil and gas-rich nations, scale back financial and environmental waste at house, and ease the burden that extracting and burning fossil fuels locations on communities and ecosystems worldwide.
The Worth of Comfort
A 2021 study in the journal Science of the Total Environment in contrast the well being and environmental advantages of bottled water, faucet water, and filtered faucet water within the metropolis of Barcelona, Spain, the place bottled water is gaining popularity. The outcomes had been overwheming: Faucet water is healthier than bottled water, each for folks and for the planet.
Researchers discovered that if your entire inhabitants of Barcelona determined to drink bottled water as a substitute of faucet water, it will price $83.9 million per yr to extract the uncooked supplies wanted for bottles, which might destroy 1.43 species per yr. In comparison with faucet water, that’s 3,500 instances the fee, 2,000 instances the vitality, and 1,400 instances the influence on ecosystems.
Plastic Bottles are Down-Cycled, Not Recycled
“The bottled water trade says accurately, however misleadingly, that the plastic the water is available in is recyclable,” says Peter Gleick of the Pacific Institute. “It’s deceptive, as a result of recyclable just isn’t the identical factor as recycled.”
Only 8.7% of plastic water bottles consumed in the US are recycled, which means that about 91% results in the rubbish or littering the streets.
Even the minority of bottles that do get recycled are merely down-cycled. In different phrases, after another incarnation, they may find yourself within the landfill (or as litter) anyway.
Subsequent to plastic baggage, plastic bottles are probably the most prevalent (and unpleasant) supply of air pollution discovered on our seashores and shores. Every year, over 500 billion disposable bottles and cups find yourself littering our soil, rivers, lakes and oceans, killing numerous fish and animals. The unhappy picture above is turning into all-too-common at lakes, rivers and seashores throughout the U.S.
In accordance with Gleick:
“There isn’t any comparability with the environmental footprint of bottled water. In fact, the plastic footprint is identical as it’s with different drinks which are available in bottles. However that argument is disingenuous, as a result of for bottled water the choice isn’t soda, it’s faucet water. And the environmental footprint of bottled water vastly exceeds the environmental footprint of low cost, high-quality faucet water. It’s not even shut.”
The Water Footprint of Bottled Water
On the most elementary degree, it takes 3 liters of water to provide 1 liter of bottled water, according to the Pacific Institute. In different phrases, earlier than even including up the vitality wanted to provide the precise bottles—which is significant—bottled water was already thrice as inefficient as faucet water.
However when NPR regarded intently at this subject, it discovered that they examine failed to think about the complete chain of waste that goes into producing and promoting bottled drinks:
In accordance with Ertug Ercin with the Water Footprint Network, bottled water corporations (together with many different beverage corporations) ought to embody the water of their provide chain. A real water footprint consists of all freshwater utilized in manufacturing, together with the water used for packaging and transportation.
“Packaging makes a big footprint,” Ercin says, including that three liters of water is likely to be used to make a half-liter bottle. In different phrases, the quantity of water going into making the bottle could possibly be as much as six or seven instances what’s contained in the bottle.
Drilling for oil to make plastic, Ercin says, makes use of a considerable quantity of groundwater. And also you want water to make the paper labels, too, he provides. Placing all of it collectively, from cradle to grave, it truly takes about 6 liters of water to make 1 liter of bottled water.
Bottled Water is No Safer Than Faucet Water
Though many individuals imagine bottled water to be more healthy than faucet water, the reality is, the federal authorities doesn’t mandate that bottled water be any safer than faucet water. Actually, the chemical pollution standards are nearly identical.
Faucet water can be tested more frequently than bottled water. Lots of the bottled water bought within the U.S. is just filtered water from our municipal water systems—the identical place our faucet water comes from.
Even worse, whereas most public water utilities are required to reveal their testing outcomes to the general public yearly, bottled water corporations aren’t required to launch their testing information to the general public in any respect, besides within the state of California, the place a minimal of knowledge is required. So if you happen to purchase bottled water, you simply can’t make certain of what you’re getting.
In depth analysis finished by The Environmental Working Group (EWG) discovered 38 contaminants in 10 popular brands of bottled water, together with disinfection byproducts, industrial chemical substances, arsenic, fertilizer residue and ache medicine.
Separate testing finished by the Pure Sources Protection Council additionally discovered many contaminants in bottled water. In a study of more than one hundred bottled water brands, one-third of the manufacturers examined had not less than one pattern that exceeded really helpful ranges for micro organism and/or chemical contaminants.
It’s clear that confidence within the purity and security of bottled water is basically unjustified, and in lots of circumstances the trade could also be delivering a beverage no cleaner than filtered faucet water—however bought at a 2,000 instances the fee.
Associated:
Poison within the Plastic
Plastic beverage bottles are made out of PET (Polyethylene Terephthalate) polymer. In accordance with the EPA, poisonous pollution, together with styrene, butadiene and methanol are launched into the air throughout its manufacturing—for all of us to inhale.
And air air pollution is an ongoing by-product of plastic bottles as they’re made, crammed, packaged and transported to shoppers.
In accordance with the National Resources Defense Council:
In 2006, the equal of two billion half-liter bottles of water had been shipped to U.S. ports, creating 1000’s of tons of worldwide warming air pollution and different air air pollution. In New York Metropolis alone, the transportation of bottled water from western Europe launched an estimated 3,800 tons of worldwide warming air pollution into the environment. In California, 18 million gallons of bottled water had been shipped in from Fiji in 2006, producing about 2,500 tons of worldwide warming air pollution.
From creation to disposal, these bottles contribute to air air pollution. And lots of the chemical substances that go into their manufacturing proceed to leach out into the air and into the water they maintain.
If the menace to our pure sources weren’t sufficient, there may be additionally overwhelming proof of opposed well being results tied to poisonous chemical substances that leach from the plastic bottles into the water we drink.
Antimony
PET is the plastic used for water and comfortable drink bottles, mouthwash bottles, containers for condiments like nut butters and ketchup, and TV dinner trays. PET is taken into account protected, however it will probably truly leach the poisonous metallic antimony, which is used throughout its manufacture.
One study that checked out 63 manufacturers of bottled water produced in Europe and Canada discovered concentrations of antimony that had been greater than 100 instances the standard degree present in clear groundwater.
The examine additionally discovered that the longer a PET bottle sits on the shelf—in a grocery retailer, your pantry, or your automobile—the larger the quantity of antimony current. It’s also thought that the quantity of antimony leaching from these PET bottles will increase the extra they’re uncovered to daylight, larger temperatures, and ranging pH ranges.
Bromine
Brominated compounds have additionally been found to leach into PET bottles. Bromine displaces iodine within the physique, and is a central nervous system depressant. It could actually accumulate over time, and set off well being issues.
Microplastics
Microplastic contamination can be widespread in bottled water. Microplastics are tiny particles of plastic that leach into liquid or meals from the container they’re housed in. Though extra analysis is required to grasp the consequences of microplastic ingestion, research counsel that chemical substances like BPA, antimony, and different endocrine disruptors present in microplastics is likely to be dangerous to human well being.
In a 2018 examine, eleven globally sourced manufacturers of bottled water, bought in 19 areas in 9 totally different nations, were tested for microplastic contamination. Of the 259 complete bottles processed, 93% confirmed some signal of microplastic contamination.
The Healthiest Choice: A Reusable Bottle
There may be nothing more healthy for you, your pockets, and the planet than filtered faucet water in a reusable bottle. (How to choose a good water filter.)
Most bottled waters manufacturers comprise nothing greater than filtered faucet water anyway, so an excellent filter on your faucet water at house pays for itself shortly. Plus you should use the filtered water for cooking, too!
There are lots of varieties of reusable bottles to select from, and it may be onerous to know that are protected and don’t leach toxins into your beverage.
A current examine revealed within the Environmental Health Perspective Journal examined child bottles, reusable plastic water bottles and different merchandise marketed as BPA-Free, and located that, whereas certainly BPA-free, all of them launched different poisonous, hormone-affecting chemical substances. Actually, some BPA-free plastic containers examined larger for dangerous chemical substances than the “common” ones with BPA!
“BPA-Free” is not any assure that your reusable bottle isn’t leaching poisonous, hormone-disrupting chemical substances into your beverage.
The most secure and most eco-friendly reusable bottles are made out of glass or stainless-steel. Each glass and metal bottles are made in a number of enjoyable colours and designs, and a few are thermal, permitting you to maintain scorching drinks cold and warm ones chilly.
Select one (or two) you want, and carry it with you so that you at all times have it readily available at house, work, the health club, or in town. That approach, you’ll by no means need to threat your well being or the well being of the planet by shopping for drinks in plastic bottles once more!
The True Price of Bottled Water
This video by Annie Leonard explores the bottled water trade’s use of seductive, environmental-themed promoting to cowl up the valuable oil it squanders and the mountains of plastic waste it produces.
Up to date August 28, 2021
