by Michael Smith (Veshengro)
Oh, yes, I am back at one of my favorite subjects, bottled water, and the environmental impacts of it.
That bottle of water you buy to quench thirst, that you chug down, and the empty bottle that you then toss (into the litter bin). It all seems like a very innocent act doesn't it? But, do you understand the effects of that this act has on the environment? Do you realize that bottled water is more expensive than gasoline and is probably just municipal tap water?
The great majority of the people, of the general public, the consumers, around us do not seem to even stop to think about those questions once; not even for a second, it would seem. Otherwise, I doubt, the sales of bottled water, regardless of in plastic or glass bottles, would have hit rock bottom by now and reusable bottles would be sold out most of the time.
As neither of this is the case it would be safe to assume that the great majority of people do not consider this act of buying a bottle of water, gulping down the liquid and then tossing the bottle – whether glass or plastic – into the litter for one second.
Who in their right mind would pay the equivalent – at least as far as the UK is concerned – of US$ 1.80 to US$ 2.10 for a quart of water which, more than likely, is nothing more that tap water, water from municipal, aka public, sources; filtered, if you are lucky? The same amount of water from you faucet at home would cost you a few cents, if that much and if you fill up a reusable bottle from a municipal drinking fountain in a park then it costs you nothing (on the day).
But it is very difficult to get tap water in restaurants for instance. You can ask for it and will then get ask “sparkling or still?”. I mean, I did not know that there was sparkling tap water.
Or, if they are prepared to bring a pitcher of tap water they insist on charging you the same as bottled water. At least I have encountered that here in more than one place by now.
Here somehow the catering and hospitality industry needs some serious educating but so do people in general as regards to water.
The fact is that most plastic bottles, whether from bottled water or some other drink, that are tossed into the litter bins along the road and elsewhere are not recycled but go straight into landfill as it is, for the councils, too expensive to even think about trying to separate the stuff from the litter bins. The same fate awaits glass bottles that have ended up in such bins.
Then comes the issue of the water itself. It is, needlessly, taken out of the municipal stream, or extracted from the environment. Both have an impact on the water security of the country and thus on us and our food supply.
And this all without even having mentioned the use of oil and resources in the making of the bottles, in shipping the bottles full of water to their destination, etc.
The impact of the act of buying and consuming a single bottle of bottled water is immense; much larger than anyone could imagine. Time we stopped this habit.
© 2011
