Bottled Water: Nectar of the Frauds?
- From: "peace dream" <august1@xxxxxx>
- Date: Thu, 9 Feb 2006 20:52:26 +0200
Bottled Water: Nectar of the Frauds?
Abid Aslam, OneWorld US
Sat Feb 4, 4:49 PM ET
WASHINGTON, D.C., Feb 4 (OneWorld) - Water, water everywhere and we
are duped into buying it bottled.
Consumers spend a collective $100 billion every year on bottled
water in the belief--often mistaken, as it happens--that this is
better for us than what flows from our taps, according to
environmental think tank the Earth Policy Institute (EPI).
For a fraction of that sum, everyone on the planet could have safe
drinking water and proper sanitation, the Washington, D.C.-based
organization said this week.
Members of the United Nations have agreed to halve the proportion of
people who lack reliable and lasting access to safe drinking water
by the year 2015. To meet this goal, they would have to double the
$15 billion spent every year 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,'' said EPI
researcher Emily Arnold.
''There is no question that clean, affordable drinking water is
essential to the health of our global community,'' Arnold
said. ''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.''
Worldwide, bottled water consumption surged to 154 billion liters
(41 billion gallons) in 2004, up 57 percent from 98 billion liters
in 1999, EPI said in a written analysis citing industry data.
By one view, the consequences for the planet and for consumers'
purses are horrifying.
''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,'' said Arnold. ''Although in the
industrial world bottled water is often no healthier than tap water,
it can cost up to 10,000 times more.''
At up to $2.50 per liter ($10 per gallon), bottled water costs more
than gasoline in the United States.
A close look at the multibillion-dollar bottled water industry
renewed Arnold's affection for the faucet.
Tap water comes to us through an energy-efficient infrastructure
whereas bottled water must be transported long distances--and nearly
one-fourth of it across national borders--by boat, train, airplane,
and truck. This ''involves burning massive quantities of fossil
fuels,'' Arnold said.
By way of example, in 2004 alone, a Helsinki company shipped 1.4
million bottles of Finnish tap water 4,300 kilometers (2,700 miles)
to Saudi Arabia. And although 94 percent of the bottled water sold
in the United States is produced domestically, some Americans import
water shipped some 9,000 kilometers from Fiji and other faraway
places to satisfy demand for what Arnold termed ''chic and exotic
bottled water.''
More fossil fuels are used in packaging the water. Most water
bottles are made with polyethylene terephthalate, a plastic 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,'' Arnold
said.
Worldwide, some 2.7 million tons of plastic are used to bottle water
each year.
Once it has been emptied, the bottle must be dumped. 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 tied to a host of human and
animal health problems. Buried water bottles can take up to 1,000
years to biodegrade.
Of the bottles deposited for recycling in 2004, the United States
exported roughly 40 percent to destinations as far away as China--
meaning that even more fossil fuels were burned in the process.
Meanwhile, communities from near which the water came in the first
place risk running dry.
More than 50 Indian villages have complained of water shortages
after bottlers began extracting water for sale under Coca-Cola Co.'s
Dasani label, EPI said.
''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,'' ''Arnold said.
All this, because many consumers associate bottled water with
healthy living.
More fool us.
''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,'' EPI said.
France's Senate, it added, ''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.''
To be sure, many municipal water systems have run afoul of
government water quality standards--driving up demand for bottled
water as a result. But according to the study, ''in a number of
places, including Europe and the United States, there are more
regulations governing the quality of tap water than bottled water.''
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency sets more stringent quality
standards for tap water than does the Food and Drug Administration
for the bottled stuff, it added.
Americans drank 26 billion liters of bottled water in 2004, or
roughly one eight-ounce glass per person every day. Mexico had the
second highest consumption, at 18 billion liters. China and Brazil
followed, at close to 12 billion liters each. Italy and Germany
ranked fifth and sixth in consumption, downing just over 10 billion
liters of bottled water each.
Italians drank the most bottled water per person, at nearly 184
liters in 2004--more than two glasses per day. Mexico and the United
Arab Emirates consumed 169 and 164 liters per person. Belgium and
France followed, knocking back almost 145 liters annually. Spain
ranked sixth, with 137 liters swallowed each year.
Some of the fastest growth in bottled water consumption is taking
place in poor countries, however.
With consumption per person increasing by 44-50 percent between 1999
and 2004, Lebanon and Mexico had among the fastest growth rates of
the top 15 per-capita guzzlers, EPI said.
Indian and Chinese people drank far less individually but
collectively, the world's two most populous countries appear to have
been on a bender. India swigged three times as much bottled water in
2004 as it did in 1999 and China, more than twice as much.
If individual Chinese consumers drank one-fourth the bottled water
downed by the average American, EPI said, China would springboard
over the United States and become the world's largest consumer.
.
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