Bottled water, the world's fastest growing beverage, carries a heavy environmental cost, adding plastic to landfills and putting pressure on natural springs, the author of a new report said Thursday. "Bottled water is really expensive, in terms of environmental costs and economically," said Ling Li, who wrote the report for the Washington-based Worldwatch Institute. While many in developed countries thirst for safety, cleanliness, taste and social cachet when they buy bottled water, more than 1 billion of the world's poorest lack access to clean drinking water, bottled or not. And in developed countries, bottled water may be scrutinized using lower standards than plain tap water, the report said. The environmental impact can start at the source, where some local streams and underground aquifers become depleted when there is "excessive withdrawal" for bottled water, according to the report. In addition to the energy cost of producing, bottling, packaging, storing and shipping bottled water, there is also the environmental cost of the millions of tons of oil-derived plastic needed to make the bottles. "The beverage industry benefits the most from our bottled water obsession," Ling said in a statement. "But this does nothing for the staggering number of the world's poor who see safe drinking water as at best a luxury and at worst an unattainable goal." Worldwatch estimated 35 to 50 percent of urban dwellers in Africa and Asia lack adequate access to safe potable water. Most water is bottled in polyethylene terephthalate, or PET, which requires less energy to recycle and does not release chlorine into the atmosphere when burned. But recycling rates have declined: about 23.1 percent of PET water bottles were recycled in the United States in 2005, compared with 39.7 percent 10 years earlier, the report said. [img:08472c338a]http://en.epochtimes.com/news_images/2007-5-12-botdump72619196.jpg[/img:08472c338a] Bottled water costs from 240 to 10,000 times as much as water straight from the tap. In dollars, that means such water sold in most industrialized countries costs $500 to $1,000 per 1 cubic metre (35.3 cu ft), compared with 50 cents per cubic metre in California, where the quality of tap water is high. World consumption of bottled water more than doubled between 1997 and 2005, with the United States being the largest consumer. U.S. residents drank nearly 6.3 billion gallons in 2005, the report found. Among the countries that use bottled water, India's consumption nearly tripled for the period, and China's more than doubled between 2000 and 2005. Mexico, Brazil, Italy, Germany, France, Indonesia and Spain round out the top 10.

Not to mention all the people losing teeth because bottled water doesn't contain fluoride. (not including the brands that are just Tap water) And it costs more per liter than petrol ..... Why would you bother.

Pipe her and bottle her. I think it has to do with that 'health/spirituality' kick that people are getting on. People are more conscious of 'needing to drink x number of glasses a day.' Yah! for Oprah. That and perhaps the degrading state of ignorance towards our abuse of our ecosystem. Bottled water is really appealing though - the look and taste of it. I know I love water from those drinking jug dispensers. Marketed well perhaps?

[quotee10b7c659="DeadLizard"]Not to mention all the people losing teeth because bottled water doesn't contain fluoride. [/quotee10b7c659] [size=18e10b7c659]Fluoride: Protected Pollutant or Panacea?[/sizee10b7c659]

hey everyone, just thought i'd post a thought or two. in fact it's crazy that i happened to come across this topic here because i actually devoted a great deal of time in the recent past (several months) to researching how to produce, promote, and distribute bottled water. I gathered a great deal of data, as one can imagine, in the process. A few fascinating things i though i could note for my friends here: For every two liters of bottled water that make it to your hands, a half a liter of pure crude oil was squandered. not only that, but 13.5 liters of freshwater are also lost during that same process, only to be further refined yet again at the cost of yet more resources, etc. etc. ad nauseum. on another topic that you touched briefly- flouride- just a thought here- flouride, while it does serve to further fortify the teeth, has been shown to be highly carcinogenic at a level that the majority of municipalities currently exhibit. and get this- there are over a dozen different classifications of bottled water- each with it's own strict criteria that must be met before a type is able to be determined (i.e. mineral water has to have this and this, spring water has to have this and that, etc. etc.)- none of which allow for flouride (as it is only naturally occurring in more than trivial, or non-existent amounts in a very few locations).......yet a great many of bottled waters that have been tested independently of the producer have displayed levels remarkably consistent with the municipalities from which they are based......mother fucking tap water- at 2 bucks a liter currently where i live. anyway, like the op pointed out; bottled water is rather costly..... imho, the best and most efficient, cost-effective alternative is to get some sort of a tap filter- the ones that attach directly to the faucet, but a brita and the like would work well- that's what i currently use. and while i do not currently use one, many people and sources that i consulted during the period of research suggested a similar filter for the shower as well, as many carcinogens are not only left behind but at times concentrated due to water evaporation during certain parts of municipal filtration processes. i guess the idea is that the skin absorbs a great deal o f what it is exposed to as well- it's not limited to oral consumption. we're fortunate enough to have access not only to pretty clean cheap water, but it fucking runs 24 hours a day without the threat of interruption. drink and be merry

[quote:94686c6a07="The Purple Man"][quote:94686c6a07="DeadLizard"]Not to mention all the people losing teeth because bottled water doesn't contain fluoride. [/quote:94686c6a07] [size=18:94686c6a07]Fluoride: Protected Pollutant or Panacea?[/size:94686c6a07][/quote:94686c6a07] I agree lol Ive started drinking a lot of bottled water recently but think ill switch to using my water filter, they put fluoride in the water here and gawd knows what else !

[quote:082557b981="DeadLizard"]Not to mention all the people losing teeth because bottled water doesn't contain fluoride. (not including the brands that are just Tap water) And it costs more per liter than petrol ..... Why would you bother.[/quote:082557b981] From what I have heard, fluoride isn't good for you...well, good for your teeth maybe, but not good for the inside of you. I am trying to cut fluoride out of my diet, there are other ways to promote good teeth...like brushing and flossing and eating right. Cosmo is now telling people to make sure they drink fluoride in their bottled water - don't buy water without it they say. I don't know about that. Peace, Zen.

[quote:b45726fbd8="DeadLizard"]Not to mention all the people losing teeth because bottled water doesn't contain fluoride. (not including the brands that are just Tap water) And it costs more per liter than petrol ..... Why would you bother.[/quote:b45726fbd8] You do realize that constant intake of flouride into your body is actually unhealthy for you? For one thing, it reduces the age at which girls start to experience puberty, which is due to the fact that flouride salts build up in your pineal gland and alter your hormonal cycles, messing with secondary sex characteristics and the reward/motivation system of your brain. Besides, there is flouridated bottled water nowadays. "Some opponents of fluoridation have expressed concern that fluoride damages body function. One of the key concerns is that fluoride can weaken bone strength, leading to an increase in hip and wrist fracture [10]. Additional concerns of fluoridation opponents include the potential for fluoride to damage the brain[11], reduce thyroid function[12], and cause bone cancer in adolescent boys[13]. While a recent review from the US National Research Council supports concerns that fluoride may cause some of these effects, at least at high doses[14], however, more than 100 national and international health service agencies and professional organizations continue to accept that there are benefits of community water fluoridation in preventing dental decay.[15]"

As for the problem with water bottles, they have an alternative to plastic now, its a resin made from corn! Its awesome because it decomposes very very quickly and is actually safe to eat, that is, if you really felt like eating something that has the consistency of plastic. http://www.biotaspringwater.com/ That's a bottle water company that uses the corn resin. Its pretty neat, very eco-friendly!

but deer park tastes soooo good ;-)

i think people should be happy they have clean drinking water from the tap. i had friend from somewhere once say to me he was always boiling his water before drinking or doing anything with it because he saw so many people drinking bottled water that he thought that the tap water wasn't normally drinkable. i think that stressed to me how people who can afford bottled water are so worried about little things that they forget how lucky they really are.

but yes people that want to manage their water reasonably well also deserve clean water and by clean i mean with minimal chemicals additives. you don't need flouride in the water to keep it clean. or your teeth clean thats what toothpaste is for. however you do need proper sewage and water shed management. i think people should stop wasting all their money on an overall wasteful process i mean bottled water and focus their money on better management of their water sheds.