The Big Bottled Water Problem

The large demand is driven by several factors, including perceived convenience, perceived safety versus municipal water, and perceived potability with taste advantages over municipal water. And of course packaging and advertising work to foster these perceptions – brand bottled water is very similar to branded soft drinks. Two of the largest bottled water sellers, Coca-Cola and Pepsi, use municipal water. The unprecedented demand for their products increases demand for public water, which they purchase at a substantially lower price than households are asked to pay.

More often than not, the empty plastic bottle is discarded in the nearest trash pail without thought by the consumer. According to the Container Recycling Institute, eighty six percent of plastic water bottles used in the United States are not recycled, and end up in public landfill sites. Incinerating these plastic bottles produces toxic byproducts such as chlorine gas and ash containing heavy metals tied to a host of human and animal health problems. On average, buried water bottles take over 1,000 years to breakdown. More than 40% of the water bottles that are recycled in North America are shipped to China for processing, so even more fossil fuel is expended in the cycle.

Fuel Ghoul