SOUTH WATERFRONT
PORTLAND OREGON

The price of oil is at an all time high. The nation’s landfills are inundated with plastic. All this while our municipal water systems are receiving high praise. So, why are we still producing and drinking bottled water?

In a recent article published by Kevin Maney in the Conde Nast Portfolio, a discussion regarding the effects of bottled water is introduced. Since water bottles consist of polyethylene terephthalate (PET), aka oil, it is estimated that 17.6 billion barrels of oil are used in their manufacturing. That roughly projects out to the use of enough fuel to power one million vehicles annually.

The EPA monitors municipal water systems and grades them accordingly. Most places in the United States succeed in producing water that is safe and some even add fluoride. The two largest producers of bottled water, Aquafina and Dasani actual do nothing spectacular in the creation of their water. Aquafina’s water comes from filtered municipal taps while Dasani’s water comes from a plant in Canada that also produces cars and paint.

As far as municipal systems go, Portland was recently rated as having the second best drinking water in the nation. The EPA was quoted as saying that the water is so pure coming from the taps that filtration was not needed. Several other cities across the United States can claim almost the same thing which leads us again to question why we are wasting the precious oil on bottling water. Let’s not just hold water responsible. Bottled sodas and juices are also at fault. Imagine how much oil could be saved to heat our homes and power our vehicles if fluids were not plasticized.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, October 31st, 2007 at 12:37 pm and is filed under Green Living. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

2 Responses to “To Bottle or Not To Bottle”

1. Ethan Derner Says:
   October 31st, 2007 at 1:03 pm

   Great piece, Jerry, especially the info about where Aquafina & Dasani waters are actually sourced from. I can remember growing up when the only bottled water was an expensive and what was considered (at the time) to be an exotic product: Perrier. Now bottled water is ubiquitous and pervasive. However I’d add that as good as our local water quality is, the condition of supply plumbing isn’t the same. By the time the water reaches taps in many homes it’s been in contact with whatever pipes that it travels through. And that usually yields water with an identifiable taste.

2. Jerry Differding Says:
   November 1st, 2007 at 9:44 am

   Thanks Ethan. You are correct in your statement regarding pipe travel. At least we are starting off better from the source.

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