Bottled Water - A Scourge to the World

by Michael Smith (Veshengro)

Even though people in the US and Britain, and other places in Europe, have access to clean water from their taps, they drink an average of 200 bottles of water per person each year (in the US). Over 17 million barrels of oil are needed to manufacture those water bottles, 86 percent of which will never be recycled.

But, and people always think that I, and others, are on about the bottles that are not bein g recycled and being plastic and having BPA in them, and then some clever one will always try to tell me that there are biodegradable bottles now. Fine, but the bottles are not my primary concern.

The primary concern is that fact that all that bottled water depletes the resource of water in our own countries and around the globe. Please note, if you have not noticed already, that there is now bottled water shipped all the way from Fiji to the US and the UK.

In the last 10 years, per-capita consumption of bottled water in the U.S. has doubled and Americans now drink an average of 200 bottles per person per year, and while I have no figures available at present for the UK and other European countries, I would say that Britain probably just lags behind a little bit and about 100-150 bottles per person are the norm.

So, while millions of people across the world don't have access to clean water at all, Americans and Europeans, the overwhelming majority of which, have safe and cheap tap water flowing freely, still are choosing to shell out tons of money for bottled water. And the industry is making a killing off of it. It does not make sense.

What most people do not seem to realize is that a great many of those brands of bottles water, that cost at least around $1 to $1.50 a bottle, contain nothing more than filtered or reverse-osmosis treated, if lucky, tap water. Both Pepsi-Cola's Aquafina and Coke's Dasani are nothing but tap water, basically, and Pepsi, unlike Coca Cola, have actually admitted and now state that the water is from public sources.

Aside from the rip off this bottling of water from public water sources also puts a great strain on the municipal and otherwise public water net and in fact we, the public, who, through our water rates pay for the public water infrastructure pay twice, and often thrice, if we buy bottled water. Make mine Tap! Thank You!

As I have said already, what many consumers don't know is that at least a third of bottled water in the USA is actually from the same source as tap water. In some other countries it is as much as half.

Companies like PepsiCo, Coca-Cola and Nestle, the big three water bottlers, are actually sucking municipal water systems for the product they bottle and sell back to us for hundreds and even thousands of times the cost. Additionally, Nestle has been mining groundwater in rural communities – many of which are concerned about their springs and streams going dry because of bottling operations.

The latter is also true as to bottled water from other companies where ground and spring water is being “mined” for the bottling process and causes water shortages.

Water is becoming more and more in short supply because we are using an d abusing in at an enormous rate, in our homes and our businesses and because the amount of water that goes back into the water courses and from there back into the seas, whether from flushing our toilets, from industry or whatever, the original water cycle no longer works. More water stays in the seas and less comes back to us in the form of rain and thus bringing us droughts even in countries such as Britain.

We must take a very close and serious look at how we use water and that includes also our use of bottled water.

What is a very sad thing is to see how many bottles are thrown away daily that have only had a few sips taken out of then and have then been chucked into the litter bins. At times we see two liter bottles having gone that self-same route with, maybe, a cup of water having been drunk.

It is time to get the public drinking fountains back where then people can fill up their own water bottles, of whatever material, for use and for free. Alternatively a small charge for filling a bottle could be made, say ten pence, which would then go to charities working to provide safe water facilities for the Third World.

A quick recap to conclude: It is not so much about the plastic bottle, whether compostable (in a composting facility, for they don't do at home), that are the problem but the very fact that we put water in bottles in the first place and the extraction of the water, the mining of groundwater.

Water is the next oil and a substance that wars will be fought over and in some places wars are being fought over it already and in some places such wars have always been on the agenda. However, if we do not think and act positively now it will become worse.

© 2010

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TAP LAUNCHES A REFRESHING ALTERNATIVE TO BOTTLED WATER

- Tap into the growing trend of re-usable bottles to save money and the environment -



A new ethical enterprise called Tap has entered the world of bottled water, with a sole mission of getting Brits to re-think bottled water and turn to tap.

Despite having some of the highest quality tap water in the world, Britain spends £1.5billion per year on designer label water, discarding over 3 million empties. Not only is this impacting on the environment, but it’s costing the nation too, with bottled water up to 10,000 times more expensive than tap.

We Want Tap has really launched the real alternative to bottled water, namely what we already have and that is mains water, that is to say, TAP.

In a bid to break the habit, Tap has launched its very own re-usable water bottles. Think of them as flasks for water. Set to become the ‘must-have’ item of the summer, the bottles are stylish and sustainable, and available in two sizes, making them the perfect fit for your handbag, gym bag or fridge.

More importantly, they are made from a new generation of Tritan plastic which is 100% recyclable and free from the polycarbonate chemicals, such as being absolutely 100% free of Bisphenol A, also known as BPA, found in most other re-usable plastic bottles. What’s more 70% of profits from each Tap bottle sold will go to water and sanitation projects in the developing world.

Bisphenol A (BPA), as most of us know by now, I am sure, has had some rather bad press as it is related to hormonal changes in humans and can affect children's hormonal development badly. Hence Canada has banned all BPA products, which meant 1,000s of baby feeding bottles had to be withdrawn and also Nalgene had to remove its old version bottled from the shelves.

Guaranteed to last a lifetime, Tap’s new re-usable bottles offer a practical alternative to unsustainable bottle water. Priced at just £6 for a 400ml bottle and £8.50 for a litre version, it’s a small price to pay to help save the environment, and people’s wallets in the long run. They can be purchased online at www.wewanttap.com.

Tap's founder, Joshua Blackburn, said: "Bottled water is simply a marketing invention, a brand – and one that is costing our nation both financially and environmentally. In a country where high quality water is literally on tap, we should be re-thinking the amount we spend as a nation on designer water.

"Tap water challenges undertaken across the country have repeatedly shown that tap is top. To encourage people to love their tap, we’ve engineered the ultimate re-usable bottle which can be used over and over again – designer water is set to become a thing of the past."

As Tap is also a consumer campaign, a range of stickers can also be purchased on the website to stick over existing empty bottles of bottled water – refilled with tap water - and raise awareness of Tap. Stickers cost £4 for a pack of 30 stickers – five large bottle labels, five small bottle labels and 20 fun size bonus stickers. It is advisable that ordinary water bottles are refilled only 10 times as most contain polycarbonate chemicals, such as BPA, to some extent. A Tap bottle, on the other hand, can be used for life.

The Tap enterprise has been launched by Provokateur, the ethical communications agency, in association with Belu, the carbon neutral water company.

The Centre for Innovation in Voluntary Action is responsible for the distribution of Tap profits to charity.

Log onto www.wewanttap.com for more information

by Michael Smith, August 2008
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Coke bottling despite water SCARCITY

Community water shortage concerns confirmed

January 18, 2008

BOSTON, MA – A report released on January 14, 2008 confirmed what communities across India have been saying for years – groundwater levels are dangerously low in areas near some Coke plants.




"The report was an attempt to hide certain facts and ‘whitewash’ the [corporation’s] operations," said R. Ajayan of the Plachimada Solidarity Council. "But the Coca-Cola corporation’s attempt to regain its lost credibility has once again failed."




Though Coke commissioned The Energy and Resource Institute (TERI) to conduct the 500-page study, the findings raise serious questions about Coke’s water use in India.




Of the six plants surveyed, three plants are located in areas where the stress on groundwater is increasing.




"…in Mehdiganj, the water tables have been depleting and the aquifer may move from a safe to semi-critical situation," the report found. “[I]n Nabipur, the state of the aquifer has already moved from critical to overexploited conditions.”




These findings stand in direct contradiction to earlier claims by Coke officials that water levels in the Mehdiganj area had actually risen since their plant began operations. Such findings also echo community concerns -- concerns that Coke has previously dismissed.




"[T]he basic focus of the Coca-Cola Company water resource management practices is on the business community – community water issues do not appear to form an integral part of the water resource management practices of the Coca-Cola Company," the report found.




What’s more, the report questions Coke’s wisdom in siting its Kaladera plant in an area where groundwater is ‘overexploited,’ saying the most practical option would be to close the plant.




Still, Coke is resistant. This week Atul Singh, the chief executive of Coke’s India division, is defending Kaladera, offering a strangely illogical explanation for keeping the plant running.




"The easiest thing would be to shut down, but the solution is not to run away," Singh told the International Herald Tribune.




The report surveyed only six of Coke’s 60 facilities in India. The findings indicate that Coke’s bottling practices may have much greater implications for India’s water resources as a whole.




"Reporters and officials need to be asking some very tough questions of this corporation,” said Patti Lynn, campaigns director for Corporate Accountability International. “We all need to be asking whether we should be allowing corporations to control community water resources, especially if this is the result."




# # #




Corporate Accountability International, formerly Infact, is a membership organization that protects people by waging and winning campaigns challenging irresponsible and dangerous corporate actions around the world. For over 25 years, we've forced corporations -- like Nestlé, General Electric and Philip Morris/Altria -- to stop abusive actions. For more information visit www.stopcorporateabuse.org

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NYC Tap Water to be Served at Olympus Fashion Week

Well up to 25,000 plastic water bottles are, traditionally, given out during Olympus Fashion Week at Bryant Park. But this year, in an effort to "green" the show, participants will be given reusable liter-sized non-toxic aluminum water bottles which have been specially prepared backstage and hold nothing but New York City tap water.

Aveda, along with NY's most talented and influential designers, is trying to raise the fashion industry's collective environmental conscience (as if boycotting food wasn't a grand enough contribution). They also plan to eliminate the use of fur in shows, serve organic and locally-sourced food, and print programs and invitations on post-consumer recycled paper.

Michael Smith (Veshengro), Feb 2008

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WARNING! - Do NOT Reuse Plastic Water Bottles

Refilling and reusing plastic bottles can release toxic cancer-causing chemicals and also cause bacterial infections

Most types of plastic bottles are safe to reuse at least a few times if properly washed with hot soapy water. However, how clean can we ever get plastic? I have used military water bottles of the plastic kind before but found that the plastic more often than not leaves a taste in the later and I am not sure how clean I can get them even in very hot water. The hotter they get washed, I found, the more the water tasted funny afterwards.

But recent revelations about chemicals in bottles of certain types of plastic, such as Lexan, are enough to scare even the most committed environmentalists from reusing them (or buying them in the first place).

Then again why anyone, unless there is no other option, buy bottled water in the first place beats me anyway, especially if we consider that a great deal of bottled water is nothing but packaged tap water in the first place. Why would you want to pay for something that you can get for “free”, even if you are out and about. In public parks and other places there you will find public drinking fountains and it should be possible to fill up your own, ideally proper safe plastic, such as the military canteens (I personally don't like the taste of them too much), or metal, water bottle.

Chemicals May Contaminate Food and Drinks in Reused Plastic Bottles

Studies have indicated that food and drinks stored in such containers – including those ubiquitous clear Nalgene water bottles hanging from just about every hiker’s backpack – can contain trace amount of Bisphenol A (BPA), a synthetic chemical that interferes with the body’s natural hormonal messaging system. How lovely – NOT! What next?

Reused Plastic Bottles Can Leach Toxic Chemicals

The same studies found that repeated re-use of such bottles - which get dinged up through normal wear and tear and while being washed - increases the chance that chemicals will leak out of the tiny cracks and crevices that develop over time. According to the Environment California Research & Policy Center, which reviewed 130 studies on the topic, BPA has been linked to breast and uterine cancer, an increased risk of miscarriage, and decreased testosterone levels. Well, I guess here is the answer to my “what next?” question.

BPA can also wreak havoc on children’s developing systems. (Parents beware: Most baby bottles and sippy cups are made with plastics containing BPA.) Most experts agree that the amount of BPA that could leach into food and drinks through normal handling is probably very small, but there are concerns about the cumulative effect of small doses.

Even Plastic Water and Soda Bottles Should Not Be Reused

Health advocates also recommend not reusing bottles made from polyethylene terephthalate, also known as PET or PETE, including most disposable water, soda and juice bottles.

According to The Green Guide, such bottles may be safe for one-time use, but re-use should be avoided because studies indicate they may leach DEHP - another probable human carcinogen - when they are in less-than-perfect condition.

In addition to that, e.g. carcinogens, the other problem is that such bottles cannot be 100% sterilized and bacteria may accumulate over use and time and could really seriously harm the drinker. This, in fact, is one of the greatest concerns about the reuse of PET bottles. If the water is too hot it may melt or deform the bottle and, although no study seems to have been conducted on that as yet, who is to say that there is not a further release of some chemicals occurring when such heat is applied.

Millions of Plastic Bottles End Up in Landfills

The good news is that such bottles are easy to recycle; just about every municipal recycling system will take them back. But using them is nonetheless far from environmentally responsible: The nonprofit Berkeley Ecology Center found that the manufacture of PET uses large amounts of energy and resources and generates toxic emissions and pollutants that contribute to global warming. And even though PET bottles can be recycled, millions find their way into landfills every day in the U.S. alone.

Incinerating Plastic Bottles Releases Toxic Chemicals

Another bad choice for water bottles, reusable or otherwise, is polyvinyl chloride or PVC, which can leach hormone-disrupting chemicals into the liquids they are storing and will release synthetic carcinogens into the environment when incinerated. Plastic Polystyrene or PS, has been shown to leach styrene, a probable human carcinogen, into food and drinks as well. Not that I have, I must admit, as yet seen water bottles made of polystyrene.

Safe Reusable Bottles Do Exist

Safer choices include bottles crafted from safer HDPE, low-density polyethylene (LDPE) or polypropylene (PP). Consumers may have a hard time finding water bottles made out of LDPE or PP, however. Aluminum bottles, such as those made by SIGG and sold in many natural food and natural product markets, and stainless steel water bottles are also safe choices and can be reused repeatedly and eventually, in the final end, recycled. The aluminum one, we must remember, must be coated on the inside with a special sealant, often this appears to be gold-based, to stop contamination by the heavy metal which aluminum is but aluminum is, as mentioned in the article on aluminum recycling, fully recyclable, as is, obviously, stainless steel. Such bottles, however, should last for many years if not generations even. Less environmental impact and another reason to invest in some of them.

Looks like all in all the best advice could be: bring your own bottle of aluminum or stainless steel and also bring along a stainless steel cup, for the polystyrene ones certainly cannot be recommended.

Michael Smith (Veshengro), December 2007

N.B. I hope to be able to bring you, the readers, in due course, product reviews on the SIGG bottle(s) and hopefully also on one or the others.

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