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[GreenYes] Earth Policy News - Bottled Water: Pouring Resources Down the Drain



Fyi in case you haven't already seen this.




Eco-Economy Update 2006-1

For Immediate Release

February 2, 2006



BOTTLED WATER: POURING RESOURCES DOWN THE DRAIN

http://www.earth-policy.org/Updates/2006/Update51.htm





By Emily Arnold





The global consumption of bottled water reached 154 billion liters (41

billion gallons) in 2004, up 57 percent from the 98 billion liters

consumed five years earlier. Even in areas where tap water is safe to

drink, demand for bottled water is increasing-producing unnecessary

garbage and consuming vast quantities of energy. Although in the

industrial world bottled water is often no healthier than tap water, it

can cost up to 10,000 times more. At as much as $2.50 per liter ($10 per

gallon), bottled water costs more than gasoline.



The United States is the world's leading consumer of bottled water, with

Americans drinking 26 billion liters in 2004, or approximately one 8-ounce

glass per person every day. Mexico has the second highest consumption, at

18 billion liters. China and Brazil follow, at close to 12 billion liters

each. Ranking fifth and sixth in consumption are Italy and Germany, using

just over 10 billion liters of bottled water each. (See data at

www.earthpolicy.org/Updates/2006/Update51_data.htm.)



Italians drink the most bottled water per person, at nearly 184 liters in

2004-more than two glasses a day. Mexico and the United Arab Emirates

consume 169 and 164 liters per person. Belgium and France follow close

behind, with per capita consumption near 145 liters annually. Spain ranks

sixth, at 137 liters each year.



Some of the largest increases in bottled water consumption have occurred

in developing countries. Of the top 15 per capita consumers of bottled

water, Lebanon, the United Arab Emirates, and Mexico have the fastest

growth rates, with consumption per person increasing by 44-50 percent

between 1999 and 2004. While per capita rates in India and China are not

as high, total consumption in these populous countries has risen

swiftly-tripling in India and more than doubling in China in that

five-year period. And there is great potential for further growth. If

everyone in China drank 100 8-ounce glasses of bottled water a year

(slightly more than one fourth the amount consumed by the average American

in 2004), China would go through some 31 billion liters of bottled water,

quickly becoming the world's leading consumer.



In contrast to tap water, which is distributed through an energy-efficient

infrastructure, transporting bottled water long distances involves burning

massive quantities of fossil fuels. Nearly a quarter of all bottled water

crosses national borders to reach consumers, transported by boat, train,

and truck. In 2004, for example, Nord Water of Finland bottled and shipped

1.4 million bottles of Finnish tap water 4,300 kilometers (2,700 miles)

from its bottling plant in Helsinki to Saudi Arabia.



Saudi Arabia can afford to import the water it needs, but bottled water is

not just sold to water-scarce countries. While some 94 percent of the

bottled water sold in the United States is produced domestically,

Americans also import water shipped some 9,000 kilometers from Fiji and

other faraway places to satisfy the demand for chic and exotic bottled

water.



Fossil fuels are also used in the packaging of water. The most commonly

used plastic for making water bottles is polyethylene terephthalate (PET),

which is derived from crude oil. Making bottles to meet Americans' demand

for bottled water requires more than 1.5 million barrels of oil annually,

enough to fuel some 100,000 U.S. cars for a year. Worldwide, some 2.7

million tons of plastic are used to bottle water each year.



After the water has been consumed, the plastic bottle must be disposed of.

According to the Container Recycling Institute, 86 percent of plastic

water bottles used in the United States become garbage or litter.

Incinerating used bottles produces toxic byproducts such as chlorine gas

and ash containing heavy metals. Buried water bottles can take up to 1,000

years to biodegrade. Almost 40 percent of the PET bottles that were

deposited for recycling in the United States in 2004 were actually

exported, sometimes to as far away as China-adding to the resources used

by this product.



In addition to the strains bottled water puts on our ecosystem through its

production and transport, the rapid growth in this industry means that

water extraction is concentrated in communities where bottling plants are

located. In India, for example, water extraction by Coca-Cola for Dasani

bottled water and other drinks has caused water shortages for over 50

villages. Similar problems have been reported in Texas and in the Great

Lakes region of North America, where farmers, fishers, and others who

depend on water for their livelihoods are suffering from concentrated

water extraction as water tables drop quickly.



Studies show that consumers associate bottled water with healthy living.

But bottled water is not guaranteed to be any healthier than tap water. In

fact, roughly 40 percent of bottled water begins as tap water; often the

only difference is added minerals that have no marked health benefit. The

French Senate even advises people who drink bottled mineral water to

change brands frequently because the added minerals are helpful in small

amounts but may be dangerous in higher doses.



The French Senate also noted that small, localized problems with tap water

can cause a widespread loss of confidence in municipal supplies. In fact,

in a number of places, including Europe and the United States, there are

more regulations governing the quality of tap water than bottled water.

U.S. water quality standards set by the Environmental Protection Agency

for tap water, for instance, are more stringent than the Food and Drug

Administration's standards for bottled water.



There is no question that clean, affordable drinking water is
essential

to the health of our global community. But bottled water is not the answer

in the developed world, nor does it solve problems for the 1.1 billion

people who lack a secure water supply. Improving and expanding existing

water treatment and sanitation systems is more likely to provide safe and

sustainable sources of water over the long term. In villages, rainwater

harvesting and digging new wells can create more affordable sources of

water.



The United Nations Millennium Development Goal for environmental

sustainability calls for halving the proportion of people lacking

sustainable access to safe drinking water by 2015. Meeting this goal would

require doubling the $15 billion a year that the world currently spends on

water supply and sanitation. While this amount may seem large, it pales in

comparison to the estimated $100 billion spent each year on bottled water.





# # #



Additional data and information sources at www.earthpolicy.org or contact

jlarsen@no.address



For reprint permission contact rjkauffman@no.address

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