WATERguide
WATERBottled or tap?
1. Cost of bottled vs. tap water
2. Plastic production and fossil fuels
3. Transportation energy
Plastic bottles are made out of PET(polyethylene terephthalate) and require
about 17.6 million barrels of oil toproduce enough water bottles to meet
the annual American demand.
The average 16.9 ounce bottle of waterbought at a retail operation isapproximately $1, bringing the cost toroughly $7.57/gallon.
Bottled water costs approximately 2,000times as much as tap water, which isvirtually free in most American homesand businesses.
reasons tochoose tap overbottled water:7 According to the bottled water
industry, Americans purchasedover 30 gallons of bottled waterper person in 2012
....................................................................Equivalent of fueling 1 million
American cars for a year...........................1,000,000........................
Bottle water travels fromfactory to filling plant andthen to consumers via truck,train, boat and airplane.
Transportationenergy for
bottled waterequals or
exceeds theenergy requiredto produce the
bottles.
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4. Drought and environmental impacts
One beverage company bottles 700 milliongallons of water per year in drought-ridden
California. At a time when water restrictionsare placed on residents, bottled watercompanies are extracting water from
municipal and groundwater supplies.
5. Privatization vs. common resource
Many see bottled water as a human rightsissue. Beverage companies are extracting acommon resource needed for all life andselling it for profit. It may cause publicresources to be diverted from improvinginfrastructure necessary to provide safedrinking water for all.
LIFEHUMAN RIGHT?
6. Plastic Bottle Waste2 x
GreatPacific
GarbagePatch
Americans throw away 185pounds of plastic individuallyeach year and 35,000,000,000
plastic bottles collectively.
90% of all trash on the ocean'ssurface is plastic
......No one has studied theenvironmental and water
supply impacts of waterextraction for bottling.
resources formore information3
7. Chemicals in Plastic Water Bottles
Plastic water bottles contain chemicalsthat leach into the water over time andwith increased temperature. Even BPA-freebottles may not be safe. To prevent theconsumption of potentially dangerouschemicals, choose a reusable bottle madeof glass or stainless steal instead.
