During 2006 an estimated 50 billions gallons of bottled water were consumed. This increase of 60% over and above the 2001 level is still set to rise again by the end of 2007. Only a very small proportion of this bottled water is used in areas where there is no clean water supply. The main reason for these high figures is "fashion" in the industrial areas of the world.
Bottled water costs more than 12,000 times the price of ordinary tap water. In fact it costs more than oil per litre. Yet, many people pay that price believing that it is somehow healthier, or more trendy to be seen drinking it.
Production of this bottled water uses large amounts of fossil fuels, but the real problem is the carbon emissions produced by the production of the polyethylene based bottles which are discarded in their millions. Globally, almost 3million tons of plastic per year is used to produce bottles for water and most of these never get recycled.
Many people think that bottled water is somehow healthier but more than forty percent of bottled water brands start life as tap water. Small amounts of trace elements and minerals are added to this tap water and it suddenly costs 12,000 times more.
Bottled water is not necessary in the developed world where we can get high quality drinking water from the tap. Buying it wastes your money and helps to create higher levels of environmental pollution.
There may be times when purchasing this product is necessary and useful, especially when travelling but even then it is possible to cut down on the number of bottle purchased by refilling the bottles from the tap, or water filter, and using them again.
