Photo: Brian Yurasits
One of my pet peeves is bottled water. Its environmental impact can be 3,500 times greater than tap water. Plastic housing is a health concern, with uncertainties about hormone-disrupting effects, and the unknown effects of microplastics that constantly shed from waste into drinking water.
Bottles used to package water take over 1,000 years to biodegrade and if incinerated, produce toxic fumes. Over 80% of all single-use water bottles used in the U.S. likely become litter.
Recycling is rarely feasible because only PET bottles are recyclable with only 1 out of 5 bottles sent to the recycle bin. U.S. landfills overflow with 2 million tons of discarded water bottles.
More than 17 million barrels of oil are required to produce enough plastic water bottles to meet America’s annual demand. That doesn’t include fossil fuel and emissions costs of greenhouse gases needed to transport the product to market. It’s estimated that 3 liters of water is used to package 1 liter of bottled water.
On top of that, bottled water generally is no cleaner, or safer, or healthier than tap water. The federal government requires far more rigorous and frequent safety testing and monitoring of municipal drinking water.
www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2021/08/bottled-water-numbers-dont-add-up-their-environmental-impact-is-3500-times-that-of-tap-water/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=bottled-water-numbers-dont-add-up-their-environmental-impact-is-3500-times-that-of-tap-water&utm_source=Anthropocene&utm_campaign=fa9d912259-Anthropocene+science+to+AM&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_ececcea89a-fa9d912259-294331733
thewaterproject.org/bottled-water/bottled_water_wasteful