Americans are delusional when it comes to the most basic building block of life. If you had a choice between buying something priced at one dollar and the exact same thing priced at 10,000 dollars, common sense tells you to choose the former. However, it seems a lot of people in the United States lack common sense. That’s right, we’re talking about one of the greatest evils ever to be manufactured: bottled water.
Bottled water consumption has grown dramatically over the past 40 years. Today people in the United States consume between eight and nine billion gallons of bottled water yearly. Whereas tap water costs about 1.5 percent of one cent per gallon, bottled water can cost as much as 10 dollars per gallon – averaging anywhere between 1,000 to 10,000 times the price of tap.
This raises the question: Why do people ever drink bottled water?
“I want to be able to transport my water and drink it too,” a potential bottled water-drinker might say. However, this problem is easily solved by a five dollar refillable bottle and a sink.
“I prefer the taste of bottled water to that of tap water,” the same potential bottled water-drinker might once again say. This person ignores the fact that most bottled water companies literally take tap water and put it in bottles. That bottled water for which you’re paying 10,000 times more is little different from the cup of tap water you could have had.
“But bottled water is cleaner … right?” Wrong. Because tap water comes from the government, it has to pass certain safety regulations. Not only is bottled water exempt from these same safety regulations, but it is also exempt from tests for bacteria like E. coli as well as required quality reports. This is not to say bottled water is completely unregulated, but it doesn’t have the same regulations as tap.
“I like to pretend I’m a good person by recycling my empty plastic bottle.” You’re in the minority. Four in five bottles of water are not recycled. While we’re on the topic of these bottles, we should also look at what goes into making them. Plastic bottles are made using anywhere between six and 17 million barrels of petroleum annually, depending upon who you ask. It also takes more water to produce the bottle during the manufacturing process than actually goes into the bottle during the filling process. In no way is bottled water environmentally sustainable, even if the bottle is recycled.
“I like supporting corporate interests by purchasing bottled water over tap.” No you don’t. Corporations have hijacked a basic human right and jacked up the price by a factor of thousands. The sick twist is that people actually buy into this scheme more every year.
Luckily, the solution is simple: go buy a refillable bottle and fill it with tap water. Even if you bought a 100 dollar bottle and used it for just one year, it would be more cost-effective than purchasing a comparable amount of bottled water.
However, if you insist upon consistently paying for water, there is an alternative. A small company called Boxed Water caters to both markets: those who refuse to use water bottles and those who think sustainability is important.
Boxed Water is basically water in a paper milk carton, circumventing the environmental problems caused by manufacturing plastic. Paper breaks down more easily, so even when it’s thrown away it does not exist in a landfill for decades. The best part is that a portion of the company’s profits go toward philanthropic projects committed to sustainable water practices and responsible forestation techniques. While the company is still in its infancy stages, Boxed Water is available for purchase at locations close to Emory like Rise-N-Dine and Steady Hand.
So why are so many Americans still about this superfluous corporate concoction that comes in plastic bottles? Maybe it’s something in the water.
William Hupp is a College sophomore from Little Rock, Ark.
The Emory Wheel was founded in 1919 and is currently the only independent, student-run newspaper of Emory University. The Wheel publishes weekly on Wednesdays during the academic year, except during University holidays and scheduled publication intermissions.
The Wheel is financially and editorially independent from the University. All of its content is generated by the Wheel’s more than 100 student staff members and contributing writers, and its printing costs are covered by profits from self-generated advertising sales.
