Why plastic water bottles are bad for the environment and silly to buy.

1. Disposable Water Bottles –
Throw away convenience with
long term consequences

2. Manufactured Demand
 We have been duped!
 Bottled water is a huge marketing success story – one that we
have bought in to and are now paying the price.
 Bottled water is a serious problem, but one that we can solve!

3. Water bottle companies have used aggressive advertising to convince consumers
that bottled water is safer and purer than tap water.
In reality, the US Federal Government has much more rigorous testing and
compliance standards for tap water than it does for bottled water.
http://documents.foodandwaterwatch.org/doc/Take_Back_the_Tap_Factsheet_2013.pdf#_ga=1.99433629.2074844649.14134892
48

4. 40% of bottled water is taken from municipal water
supplies – in other words, tap water.
http://www.infographic-designer.nl/the-facts-about-bottled-water/

5. Americans buy half a billion bottles of water every
week – enough to circle the globe 5 times

6. Water bottles companies take a resource that should be free
and readily available to everyone and exploit it for a profit.
 They pump water from aquifers and steams and often
bottle regular tap water.
 In both cases, they are taking a free resource and
turning it into a product that not everyone can afford.
 The pumping operations, bottling operations, and
transportation of bottled water all contribute to both
ground water and air pollution.
http://documents.foodandwaterwatch.org/doc/Take_Back_the_Tap_Factsheet_2013.pdf#_ga=1.99433629.20748
44649.1413489248

7. Bottled water is not natural!

8. Disposable water bottles contribute to the over
32 million tons of plastic waste generated each year.
www.epa.gov/osw/conserve/materials/plastics.htm

10. In 2006, American bought 31.2 billion liters of water.
Producing that many bottles of water required:
 900,000 tons of PET plastic, produced from fossil fuels
like natural gas and petroleum and
 17 million barrels of oil – enough to fuel 1 million cars for
a year.
 It generated more than 2.5 million tons of carbon
dioxide.
 And that’s not even including shipping those water
bottles to the store.
And our thirst for bottled water has only grown.
http://pacinst.org/publication/bottled-water-and-energy-a-fact-sheet/

11. www.cellonline.org

12. Only 1 in 5 water bottles is recycled.
http://www.infographic-designer.nl/the-facts-about-bottled-water/

13. 80% of water bottles are never recycled
 Many of the water bottles end up on landfills,
often in Third World countries, or incinerators
 PET plastics can take thousands of years to
decompose.
 Of the 20% sent to be recycled, many are down
cycled - turned into products of lesser quality
with some parts thrown away.
http://www.mnn.com/food/healthy-eating/stories/5-reasons-not-to-drink-bottled-water#ixzz3GLZEaLJv

14. bottledwaterx2.blogspot.com

15. Bottled water is big business –
$61 billion dollars annually
http://www.mahalo.com/

16. Blue Gold
 Safe, clean drinking water is a precious
resource, increasingly threatened by
urbanization, climate change, and pollution.
 Multinational corporations are purchasing
ground water rights in many parts of the
world and the multi-billion dollar bottled
water industry is helping drive this
commodification of a natural resource.

http://www.mnn.com/food/healthy-eating/stories/5-reasons-not-to-drink-bottled-water#ixzz3GLZNi8Dq

17. Clean drinking water is a basic human right.
 Disposable water bottle use perpetuates the idea that
clean water is only for those who can afford it.
 It diminishes the perceived need for federal support
for clean water. The U.S. federal government’s
investment in water infrastructure system has
decreased significantly in the last 30 years.
 It distracts the public and diverts funding from the
real water issue: providing water infrastructures
worldwide that will provide safe, free drinking water.

18. The water bottling companies have stiff
competition – US!
 We need to act with our wallets and let them know
that we believe access to clean drinking water is a
basic human right.
 Over a Billion people don’t have access to drinking
water world wide.
 Investments should not be made in bottled water,
but in public water infrastructure worldwide.
worldwatercouncil.org/index.php?id=25

19. What can you do?
 Contact your local water company to ensure your tap
water is safe – El Paso Water Utilities provides lots of info:
www.epwu.org
 Let politicians know you want investment in clean water
and tighter regulations for water bottling companies.
 Demand that tap water is used at events with which you
are involved.
 Use reusable water bottles as give aways instead of disposable water
bottles.
 Rent glassware or provide compostable cups for water if necessary.
 Make water stations with pitchers of water, water jugs or other water
dispensers available.

20. Carry a reusable water bottle with you
every where every day!