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October 8, 2007
Uncapped resources
Ann Arbor leads campaign away from bottled water
BY KATHERINE YUNG
This summer, Ann Arbor's City Council took a stand against bottled water, passing a resolution urging the promotion of the city's tap water.
At its annual art fair in July, the city sold 500 reusable water bottles for $4 apiece. The containers sold out within hours.
"We are trying to cut down on plastic water bottles," said Mayor John Hieftje. "We want to tell people there's no need to buy bottled water."
What's happening in Ann Arbor shows just how much perceptions of bottled water have changed.
Long regarded as a healthy and chic alternative to sugar-filled sodas, bottled water has come under attack by environmentalists and others, who portray it as a source of pollution and a symbol of corporate greed.
But whether the backlash will affect bottled-water sales remains uncertain.
So far, Americans have not forsaken their love for bottled water. And some experts believe the campaign against it will fail.
"It will probably have minimal to no impact on sales," said John Sicher, editor and publisher of Beverage Digest, an industry newsletter. "Americans love bottled water. It's healthy and convenient."
Gary Hemphill, managing director of Beverage Marketing Corp., a New York research and consulting firm, said, "It's hard for one to see that it would have a long-term impact."
Sales of bottled water are up 11% in the year ending Sept. 8, the latest figures from ACNielsen North America show.
The growth is lower than in previous 12-month periods, when sales rose as much as 18%. But demand has surged so much in recent years that some moderation is to be expected, Hemphill said.
Americans drank 28.3 gallons of bottled water per capita last year, compared with 18.8 in 2001, Beverage Marketing found.
Environmentalists warn that bottled water's popularity comes at a great cost. It takes lots of energy to produce and transport the bottles, many of which end up in landfills.
Most of the bottles contain an oil-derived plastic called polyethylene terephthalate, or PET.
The Container Recycling Institute estimates that 18 million barrels of crude oil were used to replace the 2 million tons of PET bottles that were wasted instead of recycled in 2005.
Opponents claim that using these resources to line the pockets of large corporations isn't necessary. Most cities offer tap water that's just as good and safe as bottled water and costs far less.
This summer, anti-bottled water efforts sprang up in San Francisco, New York and other cities. A Beverly Hills, Calif., restaurant proudly announced it would serve only tap water, sparking similar efforts by others.
"Water is a fundamental human right," said Deborah Lapidus, a national organizer for Corporate Accountability International, a Boston-based watchdog group. "Companies are trying to get us to think that the only place to get clean, safe water is from a bottle."
But other than in Ann Arbor, the bottled water controversy has yet to resonate in Michigan in a major way. The state's environmental groups focus their attention and resources on safeguarding the water in the Great Lakes. And no one's aggressively lobbying to expand the state's bottle deposit law to include water bottles.
Ann Arbor is promoting its tap water to residents by running ads. It has also filled thousands of bottles with its own water for distribution at city events.
To allay consumers' concerns, the three companies that dominate the bottled water industry -- Coca-Cola Co., PepsiCo and Nestle -- are trying to step up their environmental efforts.
Coca-Cola, which sells the Dasani and Glaceau brands, aims to recycle or reuse 100% of its PET bottles. It hopes to reach the 30% level by 2010, up from 10% today.
To get there, it has teamed up with its largest bottler to build a nationwide network of recycling centers that will include facilities in Detroit and Grand Rapids.
"We are looking at how we can eliminate waste across the system," said Scott Vitters, Coca-Cola's director of sustainable packaging.
The company and its rivals are also working to reduce the amount of plastic in their bottles.
Nestle, which sells the Ice Mountain brand in Michigan, spent two years engineering the bottle it now puts on store shelves. The new version uses 30% less plastic.
These and other efforts come as Corporate Accountability ratchets up its campaign against bottled water. It is asking people to pledge their allegiance to tap water and conducting blind taste tests in several cities to show that tap water tastes just as good.
That has put the International Bottled Water Association, the industry's trade group, in a defensive mode.
"Consumers are very intelligent. They have obviously heard the critics," said Joseph Doss, the group's chief executive and president. "I'm confident they will continue to purchase bottled water."
Contact KATHERINE YUNG at 313-222-8763 or kyung@freepress.com.
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071008/BUSINESS06/710080388/1002
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