The Impacts of Bottled Water
• • • • Bottled water is unnecessary. High quality, safe drinking water is already available at most public locations. US consumers spend more than $11 billion a year on bottled water. Bottled water can cost up to 10,000 times more than tap water. At $2.50 a liter ($9.50 gal) that’s more than premium gasoline1. More than a 40% of bottled water is sourced from municipal tap water; often the only difference is added minerals that have no marked health benefits1. Tap water travels through an energy efficient infrastructure; in contrast, bottled water must travel many miles from the source. This results in the burning of massive amounts of fossil fuels, releasing CO2 (the main contributor to global warming) and other pollution into the atmosphere1. In the U.S. the plastic bottles produced for water require 1.5 million barrels of oil per year – that’s enough to generate electricity for 250,000 homes or fuel some 100,000 cars for a year2. The manufacture of bottles also can cause the release of chemical toxins and other byproducts of plastic-making into water, air, or other parts of the environment. Smaller water bottles are made from polyethylene terephthalate (PET) which can generate 100 times more toxic emissions than the equivalent amount of glass3.
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1
Arnold, Emily & Janet Larsen “Bottled Water: Pouring Resources Down the Drain” The Earth Policy Institute. February, 2nd 2006 www.earth-policy.org/Updates/2006/update51_printable.htm
2
Howard, Brian C. “Message in a Bottle” www.emagazine.com September 2003 http://www.emagazine.com/view/?1125&printview&src= Sierra Club et al. “Bottled Water: Learning the Facts and Taking Action” www.seirraclub.org/cac/water
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Disposable plastic water bottles can contain antimony, a potentially toxic trace element with chemical properties similar to arsenic4. Plastic water bottles are one of the fastest growing sources of municipal waste Americans drank 26 billion liters of bottled water in 20041. Nine out of ten bottles used for water fail to make it into the recycling bin, that’s 30 million discarded bottles per day or 20 billion a year3. Bottled water can contribute to water depletion at the source due to the large demand. Pumping ground source aquifers can deplete nearby streams and wells resulting in damage to the ecosystem3.
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References:
Fahrenthold, David A. “Bottlers, States and the Public Slug It Out in Water War” The Washington Post sec A3 June 12th 2006www.washingtonpost.com/wpdyn/contnet/article/2006/06/11/AR2006061100797 Urban, Kevin “The Health Benefits Of Drinking Water - Is Bottled Drinking Water Healthier Than Filtered Tap Water? July, 2005www.searchwarp.com http://searchwarp.com/swa12369.htm Various Authors, “Health Benefits and Drawbacks: Water is Life” University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, April 2006 http://academic.evergreen.edu/g/grossmaz/KLESSILL/ Vangsness, Stephanie “Tap Water or Bottled: Which is Better?” previously published on intelihealth.com, August 2004 http://www.brighamandwomens.org/healtheweightforwomen/special_topics/intelihea lth0804.aspx?subID=submenu10 Various Authors, “Health Benefits and Drawbacks: Water is Life” University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, April 2006 http://academic.evergreen.edu/g/grossmaz/KLESSILL/
For More Information Contact:
Jordan Gates Environmental Advisor to the Mayor Salt Lake City Mayor's Office 451 South State Street #306 Salt Lake City, UT 84111 801.535.7939 Jordan.gates@slcgov.com
Science News “Bottled Antimony” Environmental Science & Technology Online News March, 22nd 2006 Http://pubs.acs.org/subscribe/journals/esthag-w/mar/science/kc_antimony.html
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