I’ve had enough of this bottled water
by Matt Critton
Bottled water is probably the biggest scam to hit the market since, I don’t know, the Segway.
I was at the corner store with a friend the other day, when with disgust I watched her pay almost ten dollars for a few bottles of water.
I said, “You know, that’s a lot cheaper at home.”
She said, “I don’t like the way it tastes.”
I dare you to set up a little taste test, pouring small amounts of different bottled water into cups, along with one cup containing tap water. Best of luck telling the difference. (Unless, maybe my palette is just not sophisticated enough…)
Believe it or not, there are more pressing issues than taste alone.
Being a poor college student, I am a notorious penny pincher. Thus I find it extremely lavish and unintelligent to pay for something that is at your fingertips for next to nothing. Depending on what brand of bottled water you buy you can end up paying anywhere from 150 to 10,000 times the amount you pay for tap water. Bottled water has grown into a 46 billion dollar industry.
A little ridiculous? Yes, just a little bit…
Do you think your bottled water comes from that mountain pictured on the front of the plastic bottle? Doubt it. Check the label. Chances are it comes from the same place you get your tap water. Good advertising, though, isn’t it?
Is bottled water healthier? Probably not.
Yes, most bottled water does go through some sort of filtration process removing some chemicals, but at the same time removing some minerals that are beneficial to your body, such as fluoride, a naturally occurring mineral that prevents tooth decay.
Also, public water systems are much more regulated and watched than that of any bottling company. There is a much higher standard for public drinking water. New York’s tap water was tested over 430,00 times in 2004. Good luck finding a water bottling company willing to put up with that.
However, this bottle-induced frenzy is causing much more of an impact on the environment than it is your pocket book.
The majority of bottled water cost goes to transportation (fossil fuel consumption) and refrigeration (fossil fuel consumption). Not to mention the actual bottling process.
Also, what percentage of bottled water drinkers do you think recycle?
So, the next time you go to buy some bottled water consider all your options.
Oh yeah, don’t forget about the 2.6 billion people, nearly 40 per cent of the worlds population, who don’t have access to clean, safe drinking water.
Maybe you could share some of your bottled water with them…