Bottled Water Revisited

I never thought I'd get so wrapped up in something so silly as bottled water. But I'm coming to realize that maybe it's not so silly after all. Apartment Therapy has mentioned bottled water twice recently. I followed the link back to fastcompany.com's article, Message in a Bottle. For some reason, it made me rather emotional. I urge you to read it. Here are some excerpts I found especially interesting.

"Thirty years ago, bottled water barely existed as a business in the United States. Last year, we spent more on Poland Spring, Fiji Water, Evian, Aquafina, and Dasani than we spent on iPods or movie tickets--$15 billion. It will be $16 billion this year. Bottled water is the food phenomenon of our times. We--a generation raised on tap water and water fountains--drink a billion bottles of water a week, and we're raising a generation that views tap water with disdain and water fountains with suspicion. We've come to pay good money--two or three or four times the cost of gasoline--for a product we have always gotten, and can still get, for free, from taps in our homes."

"Bottled water is often simply an indulgence, and despite the stories we tell ourselves, it is not a benign indulgence. . . Meanwhile, one out of six people in the world has no dependable, safe drinking water. The global economy has contrived to deny the most fundamental element of life to 1 billion people, while delivering to us an array of water "varieties" from around the globe, not one of which we actually need. That tension is only complicated by the fact that if we suddenly decided not to purchase the lake of Poland Spring water in Hollis, Maine, none of that water would find its way to people who really are thirsty."

"In San Francisco, the municipal water comes from inside Yosemite National Park. It's so good the EPA doesn't require San Francisco to filter it. If you bought and drank a bottle of Evian, you could refill that bottle once a day for 10 years, 5 months, and 21 days with San Francisco tap water before that water would cost $1.35. Put another way, if the water we use at home cost what even cheap bottled water costs, our monthly water bills would run $9,000."

"Where the drinking water is safe, bottled water is simply a superfluous luxury that we should do without. . . We're completely thoughtless about handing out $1 for this bottle of water, when there are virtually identical alternatives for free. It's a level of affluence that we just take for granted. What could you do? Put that dollar in a jar on the counter instead, carry a water bottle, and at the end of the month, send all the money to Oxfam or CARE and help someone who has real needs. And you're no worse off."

"Bottled water is not a sin. But it is a choice. . .Once you understand the resources mustered to deliver the bottle of water, it's reasonable to ask as you reach for the next bottle, not just 'Does the value to me equal the 99 cents I'm about to spend?' but 'Does the value equal the impact I'm about to leave behind?' Simply asking the question takes the carelessness out of the transaction. And once you understand where the water comes from, and how it got here, it's hard to look at that bottle in the same way again."

Feeling inspired? You really, really should read the full article. And check out Sigg for great, reusable bottles that are super fun and eco-friendly. We've been using Sigg bottles for about 6 years and we still have the same original four. I highly recommend them!