10 Reasons (Plus 3) Why Bottled Water Is A Blessing
The Top Ten Reasons (Plus Three) Why Bottled Water Is a Blessing
A crusade against bottled water has become something of a standard feature of
environmental activists.
Well, call me clueless and provincial, but this notion came out of the blue. In
its wake, I figured it would be a good idea to find out what all the shouting
was about, so I did some reading and digging.
Much of the anti-bottled water (or BW) propaganda can be traced back to an
outfit in Ottawa, Canada, called the Polaris Institute
. On the other side, the defenders of BW seem
centered in the International Bottled Water Association, a trade group in
Alexandria, Virginia .
After considerable study, I came to two conclusions on this topic. First, that
water problems, in the U.S. and the world are very real and very serious. And
second, the anti-BW crusade is a mistaken, misleading, and misguided way to
tackle these issues.
Indeed, the more I studied, the more clear it seemed that BW was not at all the
plague upon humanity its attackers claim it to be. Quite the contrary; at the
end of the day, I believe we're very lucky to have it around. Why? Below are my
Top Ten Reasons (plus three), a description of which will also suggest much of
why I regard the anti-BW jihad as unsound. Here we go:
1. Safety—a major anti-BW complaint is not about water, but about the plastic
containers most of it comes in. And to be sure, there are drawbacks to plastic.
Yet, consider the alternatives. No, not the ten-dollar or more stainless steel
mini-jugs that are fashionable in some quarters; their appeal is strictly
limited. Glass containers are the primary alternative containers in the
marketplace, and they were what plastic supplanted.
Glass containers are pretty benign in recycling terms. But en route to the
recycling center, they have a real downside: their broken remnants are the cause
of thousands of serious injuries each year, especially in poorer neighborhoods.
This was the main reason they were largely replaced by plastic in the first
place. The switch was made initially by moms, because kids could carry the
bottles safely. Beware of trying to take this away from them. (A 1998 study in
distressed Philadelphia neighborhoods showed that broken glass injuries from
bottles incurred in public spaces, especially by children, were still quite
common. See .)
2. Bottled water is an absolutely critical lifesaver in many natural disasters.
Check the lists of emergency supplies put out by the Federal Emergency
Management Agency.i
Look at the pictures of the Hurricane Katrina aftermath and other calamities. In
almost all such events, public water systems are made unusable almost
immediately, sometimes for a long time. Then it's BW or death by thirst or toxic
poisoning. I would hope Friends think long and hard before joining efforts to
make this resource more scarce.
3. Bottled water is not a significant contributor to actual water problems. This
is a very important point, so before going any further let me repeat that water
problems are very real in the world, and in the U.S. But all the BW in the U.S.
accounts for less than one hundredth of one percent of water consumption.ii If
it all disappeared tomorrow, this would have no measurable effect on the very
real water problems the U.S. faces (ditto the world).
4. Bottled water has a substantial shelf life. This is especially valuable for
emergency preparedness, but also for many other purposes.
5. The anti-BW indictment paints the product as an intolerable luxury, pointing
out that its price can be several dollars per gallon. But of course, one
typically does not buy BW by the gallon, but by the pint. And in such serving
sizes, BW is in fact within the economic reach of virtually all people in the
United States. That's why one finds it in the coolers of the humblest slum
convenience stores, as well as the most elegant spas and food courts. Yet,
paradoxically, costly as it is compared with tap water, BW is also the most
realistically priced water in public use. Let me say that again: it is the most
realistically priced form of water. That's because if there's one thing that's
just about beyond dispute regarding the real water issues, it is that solving
them will mean that water is going to cost us more, probably a lot more. Buying
BW can be useful in preparing us for that eventuality.iii
6. Bottled water is an excellent advertising medium—it conveys a sense of
wholesomeness, which is well-deserved, and it is very serviceable for positive
brand imaging. Using it as such, which I did, is not a crime. (I cite my own
experience here, as well as that of thousands of other advertisers who use
bottled water.)
7. Most water bottles are recycled or are now made from plant products, without petroleum, are already coming onto the market
8. Bottled water is a nearly ideal consumer product: it is healthy,
non-addictive, hypoallergenic, caffeine-free, calorie free, and contains no
artificial colors, flavors, trans fats, etc., etc.
A truckload of bottled water enroute to New Orleans after Katrina, donated
by Wal-Mart.
National Private Truck Council
9. Likewise, bottled water is neither militarist, sexist, racist, nor
homophobic. Almost all classes and kinds of people use it.
These data suggest a quick quiz:
Which product would you rather have a child in your care consume several
servings of each day?
Caffeinated soda
Sweetened juice drinks
Beer
Bottled water
To anyone who picked the last alternative, here is another question: why support
a campaign to demonize the healthiest of these products? In our consumer
society, young people have numerous options for refreshment. Even once we have
all simplified our lives in good Quaker fashion, it's hard to imagine sugary,
colored drinks, beer, or water, disappearing from the retail scene. (Drinking
bubbly water is a custom that's millennia old; "soda" has been around for more
than 200 years; and lemonade 350.) Is it wise or even prudent to help stigmatize
what would be by far the most wholesome choice among them?
10. Bottled water has a better safety record than tap water. If you doubt this,
Google "public water contamination" and "bottled water recalls," and compare the
hits. Public water problems outscore BW problems by orders of magnitude, and
have caused more than a few fatalities.
This is not an abstract issue for me. Where I live, in Cumberland County, North
Carolina, public water safety issues have been an ongoing scandal;v there are
citizens here being supplied bottled water by the state because authorities are
unable to deliver safe water through the tap. And not far away, on and around
the large Marine base at Camp Lejeune, N.C., the public water system was
poisoned for decades by dry-cleaning toxins, affecting hundreds of thousands of
people. And have you read the shocking story about dangerous levels of lead in
the public water system in Washington, D.C., a scandal covered up by local
officials for years? () These are but a few of many
cases. When it comes to public water contamination, denial is more than a river
in Egypt.
This disparity in safety does not mean I want everyone to drink BW and abandon
public water systems. Not at all; public water needs to be made as safe as
possible, and BW is not the only alternative. But when the crusaders scorn
bottled water because "tap water is safe," they are repeating a talking point
that does not withstand close scrutiny.
And here are the bonus reasons:
11. When there is a safety concern, bottled water is easier to identify for
recall. An upside of the packaging that troubles some people also makes it easy
to find and pull shipments that have issues.
12. Bottled water is fully portable, and thus versatile.
13. Bottled water is highly convenient for our complex and rushed lifestyles;
and this convenience is not a crime or even a sin.
So that's my list of reasons for finding bottled water "not guilty" of being an
environmental or social blight. BW does not deserve to be banished from
from daily use as a sign of spiritual, moral, and ecological depravity; nor are its
users heedlessly ruining the planet.
I am not clear how or why the anti-bottled water crusaders selected BW as the
symbol for water problems; my guess is that its high visibility was a key
factor. But that is a marketing ploy, not a representation of truth about water
issues and their solutions. As noted in #3, if bottled water disappeared, the
real water problems would remain unaffected.
Perhaps the environmental movement needs a symbol to demonize for public
education about water issues. If so, my preference would be a product which, if
people did stop using it, the change would truly and positively impact water
issues. To this end, I have two concrete suggestions for a new symbol/icon, and
they are:
The cheeseburger—an alternative negative icon
1. The cheeseburger. Anti-BW arguments point out that it takes about three
liters of water to produce one liter of bottled water. Okay, fair enough. Yet by
contrast, it takes about 1,500 gallons of water to produce a single
cheeseburger. That's a ratio of about 2,000 to 1, burger for bottle. Moreover,
in most of the world, 60 to 70 percent of total water consumption goes to crop
irrigation, mainly to feed animals that are eaten, particularly cattle and
hogs.vi So if one wanted to make a serious dent in actual water issues—a very
desirable goal—crusading against cheeseburgers would point the propaganda guns
at a real target instead of a bogus one.
The other suggested symbol is:
2. Las Vegas. (Or Phoenix; take your pick.) Talk about foolish luxuries—the U.S.
cities that are built in deserts are unsustainable, enormous water and human
disasters waiting to happen, indeed already starting to happen. (And keep in
mind, when these disasters become full-blown catastrophes, bottled water in mass
quantities will be a crucial survival item for the victims. See
).
I hope Friends will consider these points before continuing to ride the
bandwagon to nowhere represented by the anti-bottled water propaganda campaign.
Water issues are too real and important to be thus diverted and trivialized.
For reference: There is a growing bibliography on water issues. The one piece
I'll mention here is a fine article, "The Last Drop," from The New Yorker, which
is online at .
And a postscript is as necessary here as it is regrettable: I am not employed by
a bottled water company; I have never been employed by a water company; I do not
seek to be employed by a bottled water company. To my knowledge no bottled water
producers have made grants or donations to my employer, and we are not seeking
same.
I See for example: FEMA: "Food and Water In An Emergency," p. 10: "To prepare
the safest and most reliable emergency supply of water, it is recommended that
you purchase commercially bottled water,"
.