Bottled Water and The Environment What we’re going to talk about today: Become an informed consumer: 1. Composition of bottled water 2. Environmental impacts 3. Social implications

Why do people drink bottled water? Ask class: why do you suppose people drink bottled water? Possible answers: safety, replacement for other beverages, convenience, taste. http://blogs.sfweekly.com/thesnitch/bottledwater.JPG http://promotehealth.info

Bottled water benefits Easy delivery of potable water: Disaster relief Contaminated public/private water supply No access to any other supply Healthier than soda!

How did we get here??? Bottled water has been popular in Europe for many decades due to poor quality tap water and fondness for sparkling water Bottled water got a huge break in 1993 with the Milwaukee cryptosporidium outbreak The outbreak in 1993 resulted in 54 deaths in the Milwaukee area and triggered fear throughout the U.S. about the safety of tap. The bottled water industry really capitalized on this.

1. Composition & health implications http://media.readersdigest.com.au/dynamic

Regulations Tap Water (EPA) Bottled Water (FDA) Detailed Consumer Reports (water source, contaminant test violations) to consumers Microbial tests several times per day Tests 4 times the number of chemical contaminants as required by the SDWA No reports to consumers are required Microbial Tests once per week Tests for only ¼ of the chemical contaminants listed by SDWA Different agencies – bottled water regulated as a food product, tap water is actually regulated as water by the Safe Drinking Water Act. FDA has less stringent standards; also, less regulatory oversight at plants.

Corvallis Water & SDWA Effect: cancer Effect: death & liver damage This is the City of Corvallis’ test list. The FDA only tests for one quarter of these contaminants. It’s hard to see, but basically you’ve got your bacterial contaminants, household chemicals, agricultural chemicals, as well as inorganic chemicals like arsenic and other poisons. Effect: cancer

Research on Bottled Water Contaminants (2008) Environmental Working Group (EWG) found 38 pollutants in 10 major brands Average of 8 contaminants per brand Disinfection byproducts, fertilizer residue, and pain medication Walmart's Sam’s Choice and Giant's Acadia store brands bore the chemical signature of standard municipal water treatment… EWG study: 2008

Research on Bottled Water Contaminants (2008) In other words, it was tap water. The only differences: the price tag (bottled water is 1900x more) the contaminants (the bottled water exceeded CA state standards for cancer-causing disinfectant pollutants) *Environmental Working Group

Environmental Working Group: Bottled Water Scorecard (2011) Survey of 173 unique bottled water products 18% fail to list the source and 32% disclose nothing about the treatment or purity of the water Only two of 188 bottled water brands listed source, treatment and purity Close to half of all bottled water is sourced from municipal tap water It takes approximately 2000 times more energy to produce an equivalent amount of tap water** *Water Watch 2010 and BMC 2010 **Gleick 2009 EWG Bottled Water Scorecard

2. Environmental Impacts of the bottles

Path To Market (International Bottled Water Association) “Tap water comes from underground pipes, while the manufacture, distribution and disposal of bottled water requires much more energy and fuel.”* (International Bottled Water Association)

What is a basin/aquifer, and why does it matter if we pump water out of it? Once you move it out of that basin, it cannot replenish the source. If you suck ground water out of an aquifer faster than it can “recharge” (refill), you end up with dried up rivers, sinkholes, and desertification. If you pull water from a confined aquifer, you can eventually empty it (and it will not refill). http://www.cleanwateroxford.org/watershed.htm http://www.sciencemadesimple.co.uk/page72g.html http://ga.water.usgs.gov/edu/earthgwaquifer.html

Life Cycle Impacts: Production It takes 72 billion gallons of water per year just to produce the empty bottles used for bottled water. ~109,000 Olympic Swimming Pools **Emily Gersema, Associated Press (2003) ***FAO and Earth Policy Institute (2006) So from oil extraction to the actual making of the bottles, 72 billion gals of water is consumed for global production.

Life Cycle Impacts: Production It takes ~900 million gallons of oil to make empty PET (Polyethylene terephthalate) bottles for bottled water. This is how much oil goes into making that same number of bottles

Life Cycle Impacts: Shipping “We're moving 1 billion bottles of water around each week in ships, trains, and trucks in the United States alone… That's a weekly convoy equivalent to 37,800 18-wheelers delivering water.” - Message in a bottle by Chris Fishman for www.fastcompany.com (2007) “A British study has found that drinking a bottle of water has the same impact on the environment as driving a car a kilometer. Bottled water production generates 600 times more CO2 than drinking tap water.” - http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,23238015-1248,00.html# “For every one million bottles of water that are manufactured and shipped to consumers, 18.2 tons of carbon dioxide emissions are pumped into the air.” - The Live Earth Global Warming Survival Handbook by David de Rothschild

Life Cycle Impacts: Disposal Many plastic bottles are NOT being recycled. Recycling rate has fallen from 54% in 1994 to 47.5% in 2009. US consumes 50 Billion 16-ounce Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles (167 bottles per person) Fall in recycling rates largely due to increased consumption, leading to increased trash. Water Follies (2002), www.designinsite.dk, msnbc, 2005; fast company.com (2007)

Life Cycle Impacts: Disposal Plastics do not biodegrade, they photodegrade (They break into smaller and smaller pieces of plastic that are often still very difficult to reincorporate into ecological systems.) Anyone ever heard of the Pacific garbage patch???

3. The Business of Water Focus in this section on big business profits, gouging consumers, resources going toward bottling water instead of providing clean water to those who need it. http://images01.tzimg.com/

Sources of Bottled Water Briefly describe types of aquifers and define water table and spring. Bottled water tends to come from geologic sources – this is a major marketing point (the idea that water from underground is somehow cleaner and therefore healthier). www.fda.gov

Types of Bottled Water Artesian Water/Artesian Well Water - Water from a well that taps an aquifer in which the water level stands at some height above the top of the aquifer. Not as valuable as Spring Water, but may be the same water. Drinking Water - Water that is bottled sanitarily without added sweetners or chemical additives. Flavors, extracts, or essences may be added. Mineral Water - Water containing no less than 250 parts per million total dissolved solids. Many times from a geothermal well or spring. Purified Water - Water from which all minerals and any other solids have been removed. May also be called distilled, deionized, or reverse osmosis. Sparkling Water - Water that after treatment, and possible replacement with carbon dioxide, contains the same amount of carbon dioxide that it had as it emerged from the source. Spring Water - Water derived from an underground formation from which water flows naturally to the surface of the earth. It must be collected only at the spring or through a bore hole tapping the underground formation. Well Water - Water from a hole drilled in the ground which taps the water of an aquifer.  Artesian water is less “valuable” than spring water, but it is the purest untreated water available. http://www.soc.duke.edu/~s142tm16/glossary.htm

Bottled Water vs. Tap Water Bottled water is a lot more expensive than tap water. Corvallis Tap Water = $0.003 per gallon Brita Filter Pitcher ($25.00) and filter ($8.00) = tap water with the filter gets us to $0.10 to $0.12 /gal. Bottled Waters: Mt. Shasta = $2.56/gal to Perrier = $5.03/gal Aquafina = $3.77/gal Dasani = $3.38/gal Park City “Ice” Water = $18.00/gal

Bottled Water vs. Tap Water “It struck me…that all you had to do is take the water out of the ground and then sell it for more than the price of wine, milk, or, for that matter, oil.” –Perrier Chairman (1988) If the water we use at home cost what even “cheap” bottled water costs, our monthly water bill in Mt. Shasta prices would be over $21,000.

Bottled Water is Big Business REVENUES (2007) $10 to $15 Billion in U.S $47.5 to $100 Billion Worldwide (Beverage Marketing Corp. World Water Forum 2006; 2007) In 2002, bottled water corporations spent $93.8 million for advertising. (Boston Globe, September 25, 2005) Profit Margins range from 15% for small bottlers to 600% for large bottlers (NRDC, Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works)

Who Dominates Market In Oregon? Nestle = 29% Crystal Geyser (currently with Dannon)= 20% Pepsi = 20% Coca-Cola = 18% Others = EartH20 and other smaller bottlers who are our neighbors = 6% Check 2010 Market Share

Oregon bottled water facilities…this is a good section to discuss the ethics of privatizing a public resource needed for life—is it ethical? The water from these co’s is shipped nationwide or globally—but it comes from Oregon waters. How do they (the students) feel about it?

Recent Backlash in US An Estimated 20 universities have banned the sale of bottled water on campus- not OSU (the Register Guard Oct 20, 2010) Should OSU? Why or why not? If bottled water companies can lie, why can’t we? Also discuss here OSU’s bottled water vote (2010?)—failed, but why? Would it fail now? http://takebackthetap.org/

Rethink water! Take home messages Actions Rethink Tap water is better regulated than bottled water, plus more environmentally and socially responsible (lower carbon footprint, less plastic pollution, not supporting mega corporations) Actions Carry your own water in a reusable BPA-free bottle, or just drink from a glass or fountain If you have to buy a drink that comes in a plastic bottle, read the label (look for the water source and how it was treated), look for environmentally friendly bottles, and then REUSE the bottle several times before you recycle it! Rethink Water is essential to life… Should it be for sale?

These are filtered, chilled water locations These are filtered, chilled water locations. Also mention OSU’s initiative to offer filtered water to students with refillable bottles.