|
November, 2007
Upstatehouse.com
Water Bottles Everywhere
Calculating the environmental costs of bottled water.
BY JEFF GOLDEN
Last year I attended a family reunion in Idaho. We met in a small town in the Sawtooth Mountains, some of the most pristine lands in the country. I watched, heartbroken, as my relatives unloaded case after case of bottled water they had brought with them for the gathering. The labels indicated the water was from Florida, 2,500 miles away.
The ridiculousness of the situation was highlighted when, on the flight home, I found myself sitting next to the owner of a company that sells bottled water nationwide. His source? About 10 miles from where we'd been staying.
Jennifer Aniston Wouldn't Hurt the Planet, Would She?
Yes, those bottles of water are cute and convenient. Yes, you look cool when you down one after yoga class. They even lend an air of sophistication when the waiter opens one at your table and pours it for you. And, yes, Jennifer Aniston is hawking a certain brand these days.
However, bottled water is one of the most frivolous ways we contribute to one of the most significant crisis of our times, global climate shock, as well as a slew of other problems.
The story of bottled water is ghastly from start to finish. It takes 1.5 million barrels [Correction: 15 million barrels] of oil each year to make the bottles for the U.S. market alone. The Container Recycling Institute calculates that's enough oil to provide electricity for more than 250,000 homes for a year, enough to fuel 100,000 cars.
And that doesn't even touch the oil needed to get all that water from the source to the store. Charles Fishman of Fast Company reports that we're moving one billion bottles of water each week in ships, trains, and trucks for US consumption alone. That's equal to a convoy of nearly 40,000 semi trucks.
And while you may find some consolation in using a plastic bottle, which is certainly much better than glass when it comes to the energy required to transport it, the Berkeley Ecology Center found that the production of a plastic bottle creates more than 100 times the toxic emissions that glass does.
As you might expect, the fate of those plastic bottles isn't a pretty sight, either. Scenic Hudson reports that about 20 percent of the trash they collect from the Hudson River is beverage containers. More than three-fourths of plastic water bottles—more than 40 million per day—are not recycled, and it can take nature 1,000 years to break them down.
In addition, Fishman's report states that each brand has its unique demons. For example, the factory that bottles Fiji water requires an uninterrupted supply of electricity, something the local utility can't support. So the factory supplies its own electricity, with three big generators running on diesel fuel. Before being filled, Pellegrino's glass bottles are washed with mineral water, using up to two liters of water for every liter produced.
Fishman also points to moral issues that go beyond the environment. He reports that in Fiji, which churns out more than a million bottles of water every day for the world market, more than half the population lacks safe, reliable drinking water. The New York Times reports that for an additional $1.7 billion a year beyond current spending on water projects, clean water could be provided to everyone on earth. As a point of comparison, this year alone Americans will spend $16 billion on bottled water.
Wait: Tap Water is Healthier than Bottled Water?!?
All of the environmental costs of bottled water could perhaps be justified on some level if it were true what many people believe about bottled water—that it's healthier for us and tastes better than tap water. Unfortunately, in most cases neither is true.
As for taste, in the many informal tests I was able to turn up, tasters consistently failed to distinguish tap from bottled water. And New Yorkers can be especially proud that when "Good Morning, America" conducted a taste test with its studio audience, New York City tap water (admittedly, it comes from the Catskills) was chosen as the heavy favorite over several leading brands of bottled water.
And as for health, it's good to know that up to 40 percent of bottled water is tap water anyway, though some of it is indeed filtered after that. The top-selling brands of bottled water are Dasani (owned by Coca-Cola) and Aquafina (Pepsi). Both are from municipal water sources. U.S. News & World Report indicates that Dasani is "from the taps of Queens, New York, Jacksonville, Florida, and elsewhere," while Aquafina is "from spots like Wichita, Kansas."
The EPA has strict guidelines for tap water, guidelines that largely don't exist for bottled water. Municipal water systems have to pay a certified independent lab to test their water frequently and must make their lab results public. For example, New York City tap water was tested 430,600 times during 2004. Bottlers can choose any lab they like, test much less frequently, and they don't have to divulge their findings, even to inquiring customers—and the results can be destroyed after two years.
But worst of all is that on top of all that, the things they have to test for and what is permitted are much more lax than tap water. Municipal systems can have no confirmed E. coli or bacteria that indicate possible contamination by fecal matter. Bottled water is allowed to contain certain amounts of these. And bottlers don't have to test at all for certain toxic chemicals such as phthalate (a carcinogen that can leach from plastic) or the pathogens Cryptosporidium and Giardia.
Given these lax regulations, we probably should not be surprised at the dismaying results of some independent testing. In a four-year study, the National Resources Defense Council tested 103 brands of bottled water. A third of the brands contained contaminants such as arsenic and carcinogens exceeding state or industry standards. Another study by the Kansas Department of Health and Environment found that all 80 of the samples they tested had detectable levels of chlorine, fluoride, and sodium. Among other things, 53 also had chloroform, 25 had arsenic, and 15 tested positive for lead.
The NRDC even found that one brand of "spring water," which features a graphic of mountains and a lake on the label, was actually taken from a well in Massachusetts in the parking lot of an industrial facility. The well, which is no longer used for bottled water, was near hazardous waste and had experienced contamination by industrial chemicals. And a recent lawsuit against Poland Spring, one of 14 brands of bottled water in the US owned by Nestle, alleges that its "natural spring water" is from regular wells, at least one of which is in a parking lot along a busy road.
The International Bottled Water Association guidelines prevent members from directly advertising that their products are more pure than municipal water. I respect that, and in that same spirit I should note that the NRDC, who after all of their research revealing contaminated bottled water concluded by writing that, overall, bottled water is probably not inferior to average tap water, which definitely has its own recurring problems. And if your home is on a well, that water isn't regulated at all.
So What's a Thirsty Body to Do? Filters for Your Home
After you've called your politicians' office to express your outrage that the EPA is failing to keep all these crazy contaminants out of the environment, perhaps you'll want to consider a filter for your home. Filters provide safe drinking water at a tiny fraction of the cost, and environmental damage, of bottled water.
There are three main types: the pitcher/filter combo, faucet and under-sink filters, and whole-house filters. If you know for sure there's something in your water that you need to filter out—either through your municipal water provider's reports or through tests of your well water—you will want to select a specific filter for that contaminant. Otherwise, all these filters will get at the most common contaminants. Just be sure whatever brand you get is NSF certified.
Pitchers ($15–$60) can be a little slow, and you're limited to using however much water the pitcher can hold at any one time, unless you pour it into a larger container for storage. But they sure are easy. You just run water from the tap and let it filter into the pitcher.
Attaching a filter to the faucet ($20–$60) or under the counter ($50–$300) allows you to switch between filtered and unfiltered water. It's kind of slow filtering water, but it's faster than a pitcher. The filters do not fit all faucets, so you may need to get an attachment at the hardware store. The under-counter filters (and their relatives, the countertop filters), are faster still than the faucet filters and tend to filter better than both them and the pitchers. They do require some plumbing work, though, and you'll need a hole punched in the counter.
Then there are whole-house filters. At $35 to $80 they are not too expensive considering they are fast and cover your whole house, though you would probably want to hire a plumber to install one.
You should be prepared to spend $50 to $100 a year on replacement filters for most models, but you'll still be saving tons compared to buying bottled water.
(Reverse osmosis filters are generally not a good bet. They are the most expensive, at $160 to $450, and are extremely slow. They also create three to five gallons of waste water for every gallon filtered, and they must be periodically sanitized with bleach. They do, however, get at some things the others do not, like arsenic and excess iron, while also pulling minerals that can be beneficial, like calcium and smaller quantities of iron.)
For a fairly thorough guide to filters and contaminants to watch out for, visit www.thegreenguide.com/products/kitchen/water%20filters.
Healthy Bottles to Take With You
The final hurdle between you and everywhere-you-go refreshment is that question of how to take that water with you.
The ideal seems to be to use a stainless-steel bottle. They definitely look the coolest. They're lightweight, durable, and can be had for under $20 (and they don't leech contaminants like those otherwise handy plastic Nalgene bottles). You can find them easily online, at health food stores, sporting goods stores, and more.
The winner of the "cool new stuff" award is a biodegradable bottle/filter combo made by New Wave called The Better Water Bottle Filter. The bottle looks and feels like plastic but it's corn based, as is the label. It's durable and can be used about 90 times. You then throw it out or compost it and it biodegrades in about 80 days. Unfortunately, the filter itself is made of regular plastic and is just thrown away. You can find them in a lot of health food stores.
So, to summarize, tap water is just as safe, better for the environment, and a heck of a lot cheaper. The winner, for the 200,000th year in a row since humans first emerged on the planet, is...your local water supply!
Sorry, Jennifer.
http://www.upstatehouse.com/article.php?issue=53&dept=81
|
