I seem to recall someone mentioning this last week but counldn’t find the thread. Anyway, this news item is interesting.
To me, no surprise. The primary reason I drink bottled water is convenience.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070726/hl_nm/pepsico_aquafina_dc_1;_ylt=AoV0H0v7AFUwzjRYhqAYoDEE1vAI
I am interested in the what people’s take is on this.
From an environmental perspective isn’t it better to use municipal water supplies to make your filtered water? Rather than going to some pristine spring and using it up?
From a marketing persepctive I see that you would definitely want your water to be more exclusive.
Springs generally don’t get “used up”, rather they are fed from an underground source, so you should really be indifferent (environmentally speaking) to water from a spring vs muni water from a source like groundwater (such as in Florida where aquifers provide much of the muni water supply in the state).
Bottled water has been hammered on a lot lately, but a lot of people I know would drink a lot less water if not for the convenience that bottled water provides. I think the research would prove a big net health benefit to the US overall due to widespread distribution of bottled water.
My big objection to bottled water is all the bottles. Think how many billions are created, used once, then thrown away or recycled. All of that takes a lot of energy and resources.
For me bottled water is stricly convenience. I refill brand name water bottles out of the tap and throw 'em back in the fridge all the time. They are just handy to have on the go.
That being said our tap water is better than most. I’m pretty sure the tap water in much of south Florida is diverted from the sewers.
Dasani was withdrawn in the UK when this came to light.
My big objection to bottled water is all the bottles. Think how many billions are created, used once, then thrown away or recycled. All of that takes a lot of energy and resources.
Which is different how from the billions of coke bottles that are created? I bet if you really looked into it there probably wasn’t a huge increase in bottle production, a lot of people just started drinking bottled water instead of pop when as it became more popular.
Grant
Thats an interesting take. I wonder how much less soda is being used now that bottled water has grown in popularity. So now resources are being shifted from soda to water bottles…que interesante
“Pepsi and Coke do not make a lot of profit”
Uhhhh yeh right. You take water, put it in a bottle and sell it for more than gasoline. No profit in that. I guess “A lot” is relative. Maybe not A LOT when compared to the profit on pop sales. But I bet the “Profit Margin” is A LOT more than those other products, they just don’t sell as much.
AS far as bottled water. I buy them now and then but mostly refill them for here at work and at home I drink tap. It makes me nutty when my wife and daughter go into the fridge at home, open a new bottled water and sit and watch TV or something. We have very good to great tap water with a reverse osmosis system. Use a damn glass!
~Matt
Nice rant but was it meant for me?!
Which is different how from the billions of coke bottles that are created? I bet if you really looked into it there probably wasn’t a huge increase in bottle production, a lot of people just started drinking bottled water instead of pop when as it became more popular.
Its not different. And I drink my share of both. But I am trying to cut back. The packaging and plastics industry doesn’t need any more of my money.
Funny how only old people seem to use the same coffee mug; soda mug; water bottle, etc. (All the way until its disgusting). I bet the increase in plastic bottles and paper coffee cups over the past 20 years is incredible. Industry must be making a ton of money off that.
Why bottled water is convenient?
Fred.
No, was supposed to me for the OP. Sorry.
~Matt
I bet if you really looked into it there probably wasn’t a huge increase in bottle production, a lot of people just started drinking bottled water instead of pop when as it became more popular.
Can’t find any exact info on this but I’m thinking this isn’t true. One article states “Soda sales drop for the first time in 20 year” This was in 2005. Pepsi fell by 3.2% and Coke 2%. However sales of “Specialty drinks” Red bull, Gatoraide etc EXPLODED. All up 40+%. I’m guessing people are drink less pop but those people switched to different drinks, not water. Since bottled water has been increasing dramatically since it’s inception back in the early 80’s or so and since pop just had a drop and it doesn’t look like it was people switching to water, I’m also guessing the water drinkers aren’t pop drinkers and or the water drinkers are drinking water in addition to not in place of water. But that’s just a WAG.
~Matt
Because you can carry it with you without spilling it. Don’t have to worry about it getting dirty on the inside like a glass so you can reuse it without washing it or leave it out without having to wash it. Easy to fill and store in the fridge so it’s cold, no ice.
For few reasons.
~Matt
Well, springs do in fact get used up.
If you pull out of the aquifer faster than it is naturally replenished, the spring goes away. I don’t know the exact situation of these springs whether they are close to being sucked away or not. But they can be depleted.
There used to be springs in south louisiana before the irrigation dropped the water table.
“The primary reason I drink bottled water is convenience.”
Would it be any less convenient to fill and reuse one of the many biking water bottles you must have? How about if we went back to glass bottles that had a hefty refundable deposit on them?
I didn’t think this was a big secret was it. Is this just coming up more now because some local governments have said they are getting tired of landfills filling up with empty water bottles, and have said that their municipalities will not be purchasing any more “bottled” water.
Should we start boycotting bottled water in races? It is very convenient for all of us to use it but I wonder what would happen if we started approaching RDs about eliminating bottled water. Some races have only paper cups and barrels with ice water. That works just fine for me.
I guess if you have to buy a bottle of something to drink, water is better than soda… but it’s funny how many people think I’m weird for drinking tap water… Really the only difference is that water stored in the fridge is usually colder.
Although, I did just get a Pur filter for my faucet to get rid of a little bit of the ‘taste’ that is in my tap water.