Water brand latest to jump on the environmental bandwagon
Relax News
March 17, 2011
http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/water-brand-latest-to-jump-on-the-environmental-bandwagon-2244949.html
Recently the water company, Evian, came out with a new 1.5L bottle. It's been advertised that this bottle is made with 50% Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) , is 100% recyclable, and uses 11% less less plastic. Evian is not the first company to take this step, as pepsico has done similar with its water bottles. It appears as though we can trust water bottles more. However, here's what your not being told. Americans alone purchase 29 billion water bottles, which takes 17 million barrels of crude oil to manufacture, and only about 5 billion of them end up being recycled. Not only this, but 6kg of carbon dioxide are produced for every 1kg of PET in the water bottles. It is for these reasons that environmentalists remain unconvinced.
I have personally never been a big fan of water bottles. If I ever want water, I get it from the sink. It's completely free, and it's safe to drink. With water bottles you to pay to mess up the environment. This is the biggest scam I've ever heard of. I don't know how we could have been tricked into this. Even though water bottle companies are trying to get better, they're never going to stop polluting the earth.
Do you drink water bottles? If so, do you drink Evian or Pepsico brand?
Do you think water bottles are a scam?
What would you do if you were head of one of these companies?
Opinion/Reflection:
ReplyDeleteI never knew just how bad water bottles are for the earth. It really aggravates me that someone could have come up with something so harmful to the environment, get people to buy it without telling the true facts, and then not care what happens to the environment. It’s sickening.
I think it’s good that water bottle companies are now trying to be environmentally friendly. Although what they’re doing isn’t that drastic, it should help out the environment a little bit. However, I’m not 100 percent convinced that all these changes are being made to benefit the environment. I have a feeling that companies are just changing their bottle structure for publicity reasons, and to try to advertise their brand as more environmentally friendly than the next, when in reality, no water bottles are good for the environment.
I was shocked to read that it takes 6 kg of carbon dioxide being released into the atmosphere just so 1 kg of PET can be produced. I didn’t even know companies were legally allowed to release that much pollution into the atmosphere. Once again, another thing hidden from the consumers. In addition, I was just as surprised to discover that although around 29 billion water bottles are purchased by Americans each year, only 5 billion are recycled. That’s just downright ridiculous because anywhere you go nowadays there is always a recycling bin around. It’s not that hard to just simply toss your water bottle in one. After all, it’s the least you can do.
Personally, I must admit that I drink bottled water. It is so convenient and easy to have wherever you go. Bottled water is also pretty cheap, like 24 cents a bottle, if you buy them in very large packs. So yes, I admit that I am one of the consumers who was tricked into buying water bottles.
In conclusion, I honestly think that someone needs to look into this issue further, and start educating the public about the true harmful effects of water bottles. Otherwise more people like me will be tricked into using them on a daily basis.
Answer the Questions:
1) Yes, like I previously mentioned, I do drink bottled water, but I do not drink the Evian or Pepsico brand. I drink Acadia. However, reading this article has made me aware of the harmful effects that using water bottles can have on the environment. I will now try to cut back as much as possible.
2) Yes, I do think water bottles are a scam. Like Ryan said, people are basically paying to mess up the environment. Because people aren’t given the true facts on just how bad water bottles are for the environment, thousands are purchased daily. The water here in Horsham and most other parts of America is generally very clean, so there is nothing wrong with drinking tap water. And if you need to go somewhere, you can simply fill a reusable bottle with tap water and drink it later. Plus, tap water is free. Part of the reason I think so many water bottles are sold is because American are just too lazy to do the aforementioned act of using reusable bottles.
3) If I were a head of one of these companies, I would try to shield the public from as much of the true facts as possible. After all, I’m running a company, not trying to educate everyone about the environment. Like the other companies, I would change my water bottles so that they’re more “environmentally friendly” and advertise them to be the best brand the world has ever seen. But that’s just what companies do. They’re in it to sell their product and make money.
Ask more Questions:
ReplyDelete1) Do you believe that Evian’s new water bottle is as environmentally friendly as it claims to be?
2) On average, how much carbon dioxide is released into the atmosphere each year from manufacturing water bottles?
3) Do you think someone should take charge and start educating the public about the harmful facts of producing water bottles?
4) If you are a water bottle drinker, has this article given you the motivation to change your ways? Possibly educate others?
5) What do you think should be done about this issue? Or do you think that it’s not a problem, and things should stay just the way they are?
6) Do you feel that there should be laws requiring water bottle companies (and others) that pollute the environment to include on their label the harmful outcomes?
Add a graphic:
http://www.globalpackagegallery.com/main.php/v/bev/bottled+water/evian+1L+HD.jpg.html
The following link shows a picture of an Evian water bottle, which is what the whole article is centered around.
I had no idea that this is how much the world is polluted just from the manufacturing of water bottles. But I do not fully blame the company. I mean one of the facts are that Americans buy 29 billion water bottles but only recycle 5 billion. Now are the companies at fault for this? No they are not and while bottles would still probably be bad for the enviroment if we recycled more, it would be a lot less harmful.
ReplyDeleteQuestions
1)Yes I drink water bottles and I drink no certain brand. I only drink water bottles when I need a bottle for Football Workouts or Karate and did not bring a plastic bottle filled with tap water with me. I will try to remember to carry a plastic bottle around more.
2) Yes and no. Yes because they are very polluting and not needed if you have a easily avaible source of tap water available and something to drink out of. But they are not if you are unable to easily get water into something like a glass or bottle and need to get something to hold the water.
3) I would hope I would strive to make it as safe as possible for the enviroment but I probably would not say our product is not safe at all. I mean would you really say "Don't buy our product. It is bad"? I don't think you would.
What Evian's doing is not hypocrisy, but it is still irritating. All that plastic still goes into a landfill, even if it is a whopping 11% smaller. They're also touting that the bottles are 100% recyclable like it cancels everything. Um, no. The resources to make and transport the water bottle where still consumed, and the resources (mostly energy) to turn it into another product were also wasted. And what a lot of people don't realize is that we should be concerned not just about where our water bottles end up, but also where they start. Many popular brands like Poland Springs or Deer Parks originate in, if I remember correctly, New England, and have to be trucked to your local grocery store. Some brands - such as Fiji- comes all the way from Asia! What a complete waste! Whereas if I use tap water, than my water is piped in from within a few miles. Just the energy saved makes it worth it, before you even factor in the disposable bottle.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I don't really use disposable water bottles. Not just are they a waste of your money, but they are a colossal waste of the Earth's dwindling resources. Besides, ever since I saw an episode of the TV show Monk, in which he stumbles across his favorite bottled water brand's bottling plant and water source, I have had a some what irrational distrust of the water in those plastic bottles. It makes me feel much better to use water from a source that is legally-required to send me reports about it's contaminate levels :).
http://wasteawarebusiness.files.wordpress.com/2010/02/graph-of-drinks.jpg?w=499&h=605
I thought that this was a very interesting graph. Tap water (filtered and unfiltered combined) makes up about 30% of the total volume of all beverages consumed, but contributes just 11ish% of the total contribution to global warming caused by beverages. In contrast, bottle water is has about half as much consumption yet contributes nearly as much to global warming.
Reflection
ReplyDeleteI think that nothing we can do from a non-legal standpoint (and maybe even from a LEGAL standpoint) will get people to give up bottled water. In the old days before treatment plants were really good, people felt safer drinking the bottled stuff, and even if those people's children don't buy into that erroneous logic, people mimic their parents (as much as most teenagers hate it), so you end up with a whole subculture of people who drink bottled water primarily.
I think the best thing we can do is to really encourage people to recycle more and not just dump water bottles on the ground when you're done; and to use up whole water bottles. (I can't count the number of times I've seen half- or three-quarter-full bottles of water on the ground.) The more of the water and the bottles it comes in are recycled, the less waste and damage we produce.
Responses
1) I don't drink "regular" water out of a bottle; only flavored stuff (Propel, SoBe, vitaminwater)
2) I don't think it's a scam, just companies mostly playing off stupid people who don't trust their tap water. And let's face it, sometimes you need a source of water you can carry with you when you don't have a canteen. And there are parts of the world, including parts of the U.S. where those concerns over the water quality are legitimate and it's easier and/or cheaper to hand out or buy bottles.
3) I would try to make the "Please Recycle" labels on the bottles much bigger and even maybe put in a little write-up. It would be an easy way to raise awareness and it would be cheaper than running a TV/radio campaign.
Oh, and Ryan, the word you're looking for is "hypocrisy," not 'hypocritism." The second is not even a word in the English language.