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Bottled Water

Bottled Water. Nolan O’Brien. Environmental impact of bottled water. Most bottled water is in plastic bottles When burned, these bottles release toxic chemicals When buried (put in landfills) it can take them over 1000 years to decompose. http://blogs.citypages.com/food/bottled-water.jpg.

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Bottled Water

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  1. Bottled Water Nolan O’Brien

  2. Environmental impact of bottled water • Most bottled water is in plastic bottles • When burned, these bottles release toxic chemicals • When buried (put in landfills) it can take them over 1000 years to decompose http://blogs.citypages.com/food/bottled-water.jpg

  3. There are a lot of bottles… • 200 billion liters sold worldwide in 2007 • 33 billion sold in the USA • 86 percent of bottles in the USA become garbage or litter • If the average bottle is estimated to hold .5 liters, that means 56.76 billion bottles become garbage or litter http://www.vcuinsight.vcu.edu/stories/fall07_archive_.htm

  4. Energy used for bottled water • Energy is required for: • Treatment • Bottle manufacturing • Transport • Cooling prior to consumption • A 2009 study by the Pacific Institute concluded bottled water consumes 1000-2000 times as much energy as tap water • The bottled water industry consumes the equivalent of about 50 million barrels of oil per year, • This could instead be used to fuel 3 million cars http://www.treehugger.com/coal-plants-waste.jpg

  5. Why drink bottled water? • Bottled water can cost up to 1000-1900 times the cost of tap water • What are the benefits that offset this cost? • The International Bottled Water Association (IBWA) claims that “Bottled water is a great beverage choice for hydration and refreshment because of its consistent safety, quality, good taste and convenience.” • In a survey conducted by the University of Birmingham most people believed that bottled water was healthier than tap water

  6. Why drink bottled water? http://maryt.wordpress.com/2007/07/27/tap-waters-best/ http://www.sodabuzz.com/osc/10valve-fountain-soda-dispenser-icebeverage-postmix-p-559.html vs.

  7. Differences in water treatment • Bottled water is regulated by the FDA • Tap water is regulated by the EPA • Bottled water is required to meet the same standards that the EPA sets for tap water

  8. EPA water testing • The Safe Drinking Water act provides standards for over 90 contaminants • Every state except Wyoming has been given enforcement authority • In Maryland, water standards are enforced by the Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) • Every community water system is required to send letters annually to its users detailing “information on the source water, the levels of any detected contaminants, and compliance with drinking water regulations”

  9. Water report for the DC Area • http://www.wssc.dst.md.us/info/wssc_Final2008.pdf

  10. FDA Water Testing • The FDA is responsible for testing bottled water plants • According to the FDA’s website, “bottled water plants generally are assigned low priority for inspection”. • Bottled water companies are not required to disclose information about their water such as: • The source of the water • How the water was treated • Quality reports detailing levels of pollutants

  11. Independent bottled water testing • The Environmental Working Group surveyed 155 brands and 38 states. • Only 18% disclosed contaminant testing results.  • 33% did not provide treatment information on labels or their website • 30% of did not provide any information on the source of the water

  12. Independent bottled water testing • The Environmental Working Group (EWG) had 10 brands tested • Sam’s Choice water and Giant’s Acadia water had levels of trihalomethanes (carcinogenic chemicals) higher than the legal limit in the strictest state (California) • The National Resources Defense council tested 103 bottled water brands • 23 of these brands had contaminant levels that violated California law (where they were purchased)

  13. It’s a thermos! • Provides the convenience of bottled water • Also insulates your beverage and prevents it from temperature change • Reusable indefinitely http://www.thermos.com/product_catalog.aspx?CatCode=BEVG

  14. Summary • The bottled water industry has a negative environmental impact • Bottled water is not safer than tap water • The convenience of having water in a bottle can be achieved through buying reusable bottles • Bottled water is much more expensive than tap water • There is no valid reason whatsoever to justify the consumption of bottled water

  15. Eliminating bottled water • Ultimately a supply/demand issue; demand must be reduced • Increase public awareness about the illogicality of spending money on bottled water • Local governments can not spend money on bottled water • Businesses and other organizations can refuse to spend money on or sell bottled water • San Francisco, St. Louis, Salt Lake City, and Los Angeles have banned using government funds for bottled water

  16. Action Plan for UMD • Don’t sell any bottled water • Vending machines • Athletic events • Dining service operated convenience stores • Do not allow use of UMD funds to buy bottled water • Raise awareness about the issues with bottled water • Provide clean filtered tap water to replace bottled water • Promote the use of reusable water containers

  17. Anti-bottled water marketing to use at UMD http://elizabethcarroll.files.wordpress.com/2008/07/bottled-water.jpg http://duke.raycomsports.com/blog/2009/12/16/a-look-at-duke/

  18. Literature Cited • 1. Cooley, H, and Gleick, P. “Energy implications of bottled water”. 2009. IOP science. Accessed 26 February 2010. • http://iopscience.iop.org/1748-9326/4/1/014009/fulltext?ejredirect=.iopscience • 2. Arnold, Emily. “Bottled water: Pourinngresourses down the drain.” 2006. Earth policy institute. Accessed 26 February 2010. • http://www.bvsde.paho.org/bvsacd/cd47/bottled.pdf • 3. Wilk, Richard. “Bottled water: The pure commodity in the age of branding.” 2006. Journal of Consumer Culture. Accessed 26 February 2010. • http://joc.sagepub.com/cgi/reprint/6/3/303 • 4. Ward, L, Cain, O, Mullally, R, Holliday, K, Wernham, A, Baillie, P, and Greenfield, S. “Health beliefs about bottled water: a qualitative study. 2009. University of Birmingham. Accessed 26 February 2010. • http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2458/9/196/ • 5. Posnick, L and Kim, H. “Bottled water regulation and the FDA”. 2002. Food and Drug administration. Accessed 26 February 2010. • http://www.fda.gov/Food/FoodSafety/Product-SpecificInformation/BottledWaterCarbonatedSoftDrinks/ucm077079.htm#authors • 6. Environmental Working Group. “Is your bottled water worth it?” Accessed 26 February 2010. Accessed 26 February 2010. • http://www.ewg.org/health/report/bottledwater-scorecard • 7. Office of water. “Drinking water monitoring, compliance, and enforcement.” 2004. Environmental Protection Agency. Accessed 26 February 2010. • http://www.epa.gov/safewater/sdwa/pdfs/fs_30ann_monitoring_web.pdf • 8. Naidenko, O, Leiba, N, Sharp, R, and Houlihan, J. “Bottled water contains disinfection byproducts, fertilizer residue, and pain medication.” 2008. Environmental working group.Accessed 26 February 2010. • http://www.ewg.org/reports/bottledwater • 9. Maryland Department of the Environment. “Safe drinking act annual compliance report for calander year 2008.” 2009. MDE. Accessed 26 February 2010. • http://www.mde.state.md.us/assets/document/WSP-ACR2009for2008.pdf • 10. Olsen, Erik. “Bottled water: Pure drink or pure hype?” 1999. National Resources Defense Council. Accessed 26 February 2010. • http://www.nrdc.org/water/drinking/bw/bwinx.asp • 11. Gleick, Peter.”The myth and reality of bottled water”. 2004. The Pacific institute. Accessed 26 February 2010. • http://www.pacinst.org/topics/water_and_sustainability/bottled_water/myth_and_reality.pdf • 12. Brown, Lester. “Plan B 4.0: Mobilizing to save civilization.” 2009. Earth policy institute. Accessed 26 February 2010. • http://www.earth-policy.org/index.php?/books/pb4/pb4_table_of_contents • 13. International bottled water association. “What is bottled water?” Accessed 26 February 2010. • http://www.bottledwater.org/content/what-bottled-water

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