Is Bottled Water Good For the Environment or Not?

April 2, 2007 (Press Release) -- There has been much recent press (http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/03/21/FDGU1OMMT61.DTL) about the ban on bottled water by some Bay Area restaurants in the name of conservation and environmental protection. A small but growing number of businesses have recently expelled bottled water from their establishments, and in lieu of it, filtered and carbonated tap water is to take the place fine H2o. The very idea gives me the chills, but not because I have an interest in bottled water, but because this new concept doesn’t really address the issues about real conservation and environmental protection. Additionally, I cringe at the fact that the public no longer have a choice and tap water isn’t always so safe for you to drink given the recent outbreaks of E-coli and contaminated municipal water across the nation. Hot spots like Chez Panisse, Incanto and Nopa in San Francisco are all starting the trend, but is this a valid and worthwhile trend or a scare tactic that has been escalated by officials and corporations with special interests and environmental agendas? Is this going to become the next political pastime while the true issues drown in what is surely to be the most talk about thing for 2007…WATER!

“World Water Day” started by one of the biggest polluters…Starbucks Coffee with their partner Ethos Water, who have been in my eyesight, less than magnanimous in their recent business dealings. But you don’t see any huge outrage over the shipment of coffee or other beverage products like soda. Also coming soon to a charity near you…www.dot! “Save The Poor People and Give Them Clean Water” dot! org. I don’t mean to make light of what is yet another serious and growing issue which brings me to tears, but shipping millions of bottles of plastic water bottles to regions that are underdeveloped and are not yet capable of properly disposing of these empty water bottles is probably not the best idea for the environment either. We are trading one “source” or vice and simply switching to another instead of tackling the real issue…conservation. The truth of the matter is, tap or bottled, water cost money! If the public wants safe, clean drinking water, then they have to pay for it. It doesn’t matter if your prefer tap or if you’re a bottled water snob. In fact, tap water costs more per gallon than bottled water due to the fact it costs money to build an infrastructure of millions of miles of piping, transport, management, safety, filtration systems and all the other numerous things that comes along with the management of a clean water supply. Just because it comes out of the facet doesn’t make it free.