Bottled Water: Still Pure Hype
Posted September 2, 2010 in Health and the Environment, Living Sustainably
One email instantly caught my eye this morning as I checked my email, “It's time to show your support for bottled water,” the email boldly declared.
My first reaction was a combination of amazement and laughter. The email shouldn’t have surprised me -- after all it was a press release from the International Bottled Water Association (IBWA), the lobbying arm of the billion-dollar bottled water industry. It’s their job to protect their funders—no matter how much pollution and waste they produce, or how they devastate our environment. IBWA’s job is to grease the wheels for bottled water companies making it easy to bring in billions of dollars while maintaining as little government oversight as possible.
What troubled me about this latest ploy was their tactic. IBWA is targeting teenagers. They’ve turned their misleading messages towards the same young people who will be left cleaning up our mess in a few decades. Like Joe Camel did for the tobacco industry, our children are now being targeted to help this gargantuan industry rake in even more profits.
Bottled water producers even want teens to add their names to a pledge--to promise that they will spend their (or their parents’) hard-earned money to buy something that they can get for next to nothing and will cause their world more harm.
I trust that young people will see right through this ridiculous ploy. Still I felt it was worth reminding everybody—young and old—that bottled water is just a waste. Here are a few truths:
- The bottled water industry is not transparent.
This pledge wants us to assume that bottled water is safe. IBWA, however, has fought tooth and nail to avoid regulations that would force them to disclose the data behind this claim. If bottled water is so safe, what do they have to hide? - Bottled water is not well regulated.
Bottled water in the U.S. (sold over state lines) falls under the regulatory authority of the Food and Drug Administration. But the reality is that 70 percent of bottled water never crosses state lines for sale, which means it is exempt from FDA oversight. And FDA has never even properly regulated the fraction of bottled water for which it has oversight. FDA assigns less than two people to oversee the entire bottled water industry. - Tap water is regulated to ensure it is safe to drink.
Our tap water is regulated by EPA, which has strict standards in place to ensure that our public drinking water does not contain E. coli or fecal coliform bacteria. FDA rules for bottled water include no such prohibitions. Under law, municipal water from surface sources must be filtered and disinfected, or it must have strict pollution controls. There are no filtration or disinfection requirements for bottled water at the federal level. - Tap water is certified. Bottled water is not.
Cities must have their water tested by government-certified labs. No certification requirement exists for bottlers. - Bottled water produces LOTS of waste.
Bottled water produces up to 1.5 million tons of plastic waste per year. According to Food and Water Watch, that plastic requires up to 47 million gallons of oil per year to produce. And while the plastic used to bottle beverages is of high quality and in demand by recyclers, over 80 percent of plastic bottles are simply thrown away.
Much more information can be found in NRDC’s report: Bottled Water, Pure Drink or Pure Hype. You can also get a glimpse at the truth behind bottled water by checking out Tapped: The Movie, where you’ll also see how quickly the Food and Drug Administration shuts down an interview when asked about the presence of a toxic chemical, BPA (bisphenol-A), in bottled water.
So I propose a different pledge that you and your kids can feel good about:
Bottled Water Matters
Water matters, but plastic bottles are a waste – a waste of money, a waste of energy and a waste of packaging. For the vast majority of us, plain old tap water is just as good for us as bottled – if not better. Plus, it’s easier on our wallets, doesn’t fill up landfills and doesn’t have to be flown or trucked to your door.
Ensuring all people have access to clean, inexpensive water in their homes is what really matters.
So teenagers, no need to worry, you can go back to refilling your reusable stainless water bottles. The future of YOUR planet depends on it.
Thanks to Valerie Jaffee and Jenny Powers for their contributions to this blog.
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Comments
Sandra L. Houle — Sep 2 2010 11:49 AM
I don't like buying water in bottles. And have a Purr filter on my kitchen fawcit. We use it all the time.
There are times I have bought bottle water if I am out and about and don't have a stainless steel bottle of water that I filled up at home.
At home I drink a lot of Lipton Green Diet ice tea is a favorite of mine and comes in those bottles also.
Wish the companies would come up with something eco friendly.
I do see the triangle on these bottles which I thought meant that they were recylcable.
Thanks
Tom Lauria -- IBWA — Sep 2 2010 03:07 PM
So much incorrect information posted on NRDC; so little time! Because you didn't post the link to BottleWaterMatters' YouTube video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aTpVu4O93us) one can certainly wonder about NRDC's transparency.
Your claim that 70% of the bottled water market it not regulated by the FDA is contradicted by the Beverage Marketing Corporation’s (BMC) 2008 Report (published in 2009), which lists the top 12 bottled water companies by market share, based on wholesale dollar sales. These 12 companies alone account for 79.2% of all U.S. bottled water sales, and as major regional or national brands, they are all involved in interstate commerce and are therefore subject to FDA regulation under any reading of the statute. A majority of the remaining 20.8% of sales are from bottled water.
Bottled water has been under zero-tolerance regulations for E-coli for a long time. Although the formal FDA regulation is only one year old, IBWA's Code of Practice has forbid any trace of E-coli in any product for a decade.
Also, municipal water is allowed to average results over a year while every single bottle of water must meet tough standards.
Bottled Water indeed does have filtration and disinfection standards, following the U.S. Pharmacopiea's tough definitions for purified water to the letter. We have to, it's an FDA regulation.
While we have to pay for our own inspections, they are done major certified inspection agencies such as UL and NSF.
This column ignores the important role state agencies play when inspecting bottled water facilties in conjunction with the FDA. IBWA itself requires mandatory annual inspections.
You'll be happy to know Food and Water Watch's guestimate for recycling rates is way off. According to NAPCOR, the plastic recycling experts, plastic water bottles have the highest recycling rate in the nation at 30.9% That's still too low and we're working to improve it. Meanwhile, the new very lightweight plastic bottles use 32% less plastic. Because waste is measured in weight, that's equivalent to keeping one out of three bottles out of landfills.
joseph medvec — Sep 2 2010 06:43 PM
filter water at the house bring your own bottle.....over....and over same bottle.how easy is that. been doing that for years...
Mark Wilson — Sep 2 2010 08:53 PM
Ms. Bottled water...Whether is it is one percent of the bottles or 30% of the bottles that get recycled, ALL disposable drinking cartons should be treated just like the glass containters (i.e. pop bottles) and have a deposit on them.
Get smart and go green, show us you can self-regulate, start a depost program before you prove just once more, self-regulation is nothing more than another description of a weak or compromised governmental system.
If you are all for self-regulation, then lets do away with the FAA...and BTW...be my guest, you and your kids fly first.
John Lopresti — Sep 4 2010 11:49 AM
There is some clear color residue in one-gallon size water. Try the following test, which is replicated easily with the same outcome consistently.
Begin with two ceramic coffee mugs. Fill each with water. Let stand several hours. Empty part-way, but try to keep the cups full. Do this every day without rinsing the cups, for 1-2 weeks. It is ok to repeat several times a day.
Fill one cup only from 1-gallon-size water purchased at the store. Fill the other cup with tap water only.
By the end of a few weeks, the cup which held 1-gallon bottled water will have a slippery, clear deposit in it. The tapwater-filled mug will remain clean.
I wonder if the residue in the 1-gallon filled cup is bisphenol-A