According to the Earth Policy Institute (www.earth-policy.org/): “Annual consumption in the United States in 1976 was less than 2 gallons for every man, woman, and child; some 30 years later, Americans on average each now drink about 30 gallons of bottled water a year.”
According to the institute, compared with tap water, which is delivered through an energy-efficient infrastructure, bottled water is an “incredibly wasteful” product.
It is usually packaged in single-serving plastic bottles that are made with fossil fuels. Another fact from the institute: Just manufacturing the 29 billion plastic bottles used for water in the United States each year requires the equivalent of more than 17 million barrels of crude oil.
And the use of fossil fuels doesn’t stop there: After the bottles are filled, they may travel a great distance to reach the consumer. According to the Earth Policy Institute, nearly a quarter of bottled water crosses national borders before reaching consumers.
If you include the energy that’s used on pumping, processing, transportation and refrigeration, the annual fossil fuel footprint of bottled water consumption in the United States is over 50 million barrels of oil equivalent, or enough to run 3 million cars for one year.
The institute adds: “If everyone drank as much bottled water as Americans do, the world would need the equivalent of more than 1 billion barrels of oil to produce close to 650 billion individual bottles.”
So one way to live more sustainably is to cut down on bottled water.
Some tips:
• Buy a large, washable, preferably stainless steel water bottle, such as the kind hikers use, and take it with you to work or on car trips.
• If you’re worried about your tap or well water, have it tested or buy a filtration system. Those range from portable pitchers with replaceable filters to systems installed under the sink.
Links:
[1] http://www.earth-policy.org/