Bottled Water - Making a Clear Choice
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The cost of just one case of bottled water could supply a person in Africa with clean, safe drinking water for a year!
Your choice matters... It will make a difference...
How will you change the world today?
Choices
We all have choices to make in how we spend our hard earned money. We can choose tap water, an inexpensive water filter system, or much more expensive bottled water.
But for nearly 1 billion people...there is no choice. All they have is dirty, diseased water that is miles away from home.
With a simple choice, you can change that. So...we're asking you to consider skipping bottled water, even if just for a few weeks, and consider donating the money you save to help build wells in Africa.
Want to know more?
Why pick on bottled water?
Bottled water is one of many luxuries we afford ourselves in the developed world. We could have chosen fancy cars, the latest iGadget, 52" 3D TVs, or any other excessive use of the resources we have. But given the nature of our work, we recognized that bottled water is an obvious and symbolic choice. Should you decide to apply the principle of "simplifying your life" to other products and services so that you can live more responsibly, we applaud you. We will be too!
What's "wrong" with bottled water?
Essentially there are three big reasons we believe spending money on bottle water makes little sense.
1.) What defines luxury? Find out and learn why in the face of the needs of real people, suffering the real effects of water scarcity, luxury should not be our choice.
Most luxuries are, but bottled water has enormous costs that rival some of the biggest offenders. See how our environment, as an example, is hurt by this product.
3.) The Money Spent Can Be Used Better Elsewhere.
Waste not, and others will want less. Learn how your resources can change someone's life!
Some More Info...
Read this editorial in The New York Times.
"Buying bottled water is wrong, says Suzuki" - CBC Report
| Top Bottled Water Consuming Countries and Compound Annual Growth Rates, 1999-2004 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Millions of Litres | Compound Annual Growth Rates | |||
| 2004 Rank | Countries | 1999 | 2004 | 1999/04 |
| 1 | United States | 17,336.8 | 25,766.1 | 8.2% |
| 2 | Mexico | 11,571.6 | 17,671.4 | 8.8% |
| 3 | China | 4,606.8 | 11,886.6 | 20.9% |
| 4 | Brazil | 5,654.6 | 11,590.9 | 15.4% |
| 5 | Italy | 8,918.8 | 10,653.7 | 3.6% |
| 6 | Germany | 8,307.5 | 10,306.2 | 4.4% |
| 7 | France | 6,942.8 | 8,544.8 | 4.2% |
| 8 | Indonesia | 3,433.7 | 7,356.9 | 16.5% |
| 9 | Spain | 4,074.6 | 5,502.1 | 6.2% |
| 10 | India | 1,680.7 | 5,122.8 | 25.0% |
| Top 10 Subtotal | 72,527.7 | 114,401.2 | 9.5% | |
| All other countries | 25,867.6 | 39,879.3 | 9.0% | |
| TOTAL | 98,395.3 | 154,280.5 | 9.4% | |
| Source: Beverage Marketing Corporation | ||||
Bottled water can come from any source. Here's a quick reference guide.
Mineral and spring water
This must come from an underground source (not a public water supply) and can't be altered with chemicals. Mineral water has a higher amount of dissolved mineral salts.
Bottled water
This can be water from any source, distilled, carbonated or treated in any manner. Dasani (owned by Coca-Cola) is filtered municipal tap water, bottled in Brampton, Ont., and Calgary. (Pepsi owns Aquafina, which is also sourced from municipalities.)
Artesian water/Artesian well water
Bottled water from a well that taps a confined aquifer (a water-bearing underground layer of rock or sand).
Sparkling water
Water that has been carbonated. Soda water, seltzer water and tonic water are not considered bottled waters.
Glacial water
Water from a source directly from a glacier.
Natural water
Water(such as spring, mineral, artesian or well water) obtained from an approved underground source and not from a municipal or public water-supply system. This water is untreated other than by filtration.
Purified water
Water produced by distillation, de-ionization or reverse osmosis, which contains not more than 10 mg/L of total dissolved solids.
Source: http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/consumers/bottled-water.html
