Recently I heard a news report about a gas station owner who revealed that, like most gas station owners, he makes hardly any money on the gasoline he sells; the cash cow is the merchandise inside the store. His biggest money maker? Bottled water. While there is ever-present speculation about whether or not my bottle of Poland Spring water came from a tap or a hole in the ground, it’s cold, it tastes good, it’s portable and it’s disposable. For these reasons, along with brilliant marketing that allows for a low to high end spectrum of packaged water, bottled water is everywhere these days.
It is exciting to see statistics that show that Americans will soon consume more bottled water than soda, but underneath the trend toward healthier hydration lies the reality that a massive amount of packaged water exists where none did before. So, my question: What sort of impact does the production and distribution of disposable bottled water have on the volume of American waste and, ultimately, climate change?
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A crack at reason
While the voices of dissent are few, a number of North American organizations have taken action to convince people to drink locally, not globally. Salt Lake City mayor Rocky Anderson (in ‘06) and San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsome (in ‘07) have requested that city organizations stop providing bottled water to its employees. In San Francisco’s case, Mayor Newsome issued an executive order that bans city departments from buying any sort of bottled water for employees. City officials can still bring thier own bottled water to work, but they won’t be getting any from the water cooler down the hall. And the United Church of Canada, in 2006, “advised its 590,000 members to stop buying bottled water for economic and environmental reasons.”
On the lawmaking front, Oregon’s state legislature will vote this year on expanding their “bottle bill,” which would extend refunds for glass and aluminum containers to plastic bottles as well. If the bill passes, each plastic bottle will have a five cent deposit due back to the consumer if they return it. We may continue to see leadership in various organizations speaking out against a product that a vast majority of North Americans consider benign.
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