Bottled Water: Healthy Indulgence or Marketing Ploy?
“Bottled water is the fastest-growing major beverage category in the U.S.” — Forbes magazine
How much do you spend each month on bottled water? I have no idea really but I drink a bottle (1.5 Liters) everyday and although we buy in bulk, I suspect that our bottled water expenditure is between $20 and $30 per month.
Just about every media outlet has been doing their version of the bottled vs. tap water story the past month. Perhaps it started when The Consumerist pointing out this FAQ from the New York City 2006 Drinking Water Supply and Quality Report. They write, “Should I buy bottled water?”
Answer: “You do not need to buy bottled water for health reasons in New York City since our water meets all federal and State health-based drinking water standards. Also, bottled water costs up to 1,000 times more than the City’s drinking water.”
Soon after, NPR piped in and reported about the city of New York and their campaign to get people to rediscover the benefits of tap water. Jim Zarroli reports, “So the city recently kicked off a campaign called Get Your Fill, with ads extolling the virtues of tap water. The city recently dispatched a team of young men to Harlem to hand out empty blue plastic bottles. The idea was that instead of buying spring water, people could fill the bottles with tap water and carry them around all day.” Not everyone is buying the promotion… click over to hear more.
Fastcompany provided their interpretation on this topic in Message in a Bottle. Charles Fishman writes, “A chilled plastic bottle of water in the convenience-store cooler is the perfect symbol of this moment in American commerce and culture. It acknowledges our demand for instant gratification, our vanity, our token concern for health. Its packaging and transport depend entirely on cheap fossil fuel.”
“Yes, it’s just a bottle of water–modest compared with the indulgence of driving a Hummer. But when a whole industry grows up around supplying us with something we don’t need–when a whole industry is built on the packaging and the presentation”it’s worth asking how that happened, and what the impact is. And if you do ask, if you trace both the water and the business back to where they came from, you find a story more complicated, more bemusing, and ultimately more sobering than the bottles we tote everywhere suggest.”
In the meantime, Jennifer Aniston seems to always be caught by the paparazzi with bottle in hand. Why? In April she signed on as the new spokeswoman for Smartwater. The product contains electrolytes which are supposed to quench thirst quicker. “We were thrilled that Jennifer discovered Smartwater and realized what a difference it makes to her healthy lifestyle,” said Rohan Oza, Smartwater’s SVP of Marketing as quoted in US magazine. I bet they’re thrilled. But is the “healthy” just more marketing… Do I really need electrolytes in my water?
Chris Baskind at LighterFootstep.com asks, “Bottled water is healthy water — right?”
“That’s what the marketers would have us believe. Just look at the labels or the bottled water ads: deep, pristine pools of spring water; majestic alpine peaks; healthy, active people gulping down icy bottled water between biking in the park and a trip to the yoga studio.”
“Bottled water is big business. But in terms of sustainability, bottled water is a dry well. It’s costly, wasteful, and distracts from the brass ring of public health: the construction and maintenance of safe municipal water systems.”
Chris came up with a list of reasons to kick the bottle water habit. Click on the 5 Reasons to Not Drink Bottled Water for the expanded explanation. Here are the highlights:
- Bottled water isn’t a good value
- No healthier than tap water
- Bottled water means garbage
- Bottled water means less attention to public systems
- The corporatization of water
Finally, Chris writes, “What can you do? There’s a simple alternative to bottled water: buy a stainless steel thermos, and use it. Don’t like the way your local tap water tastes? Inexpensive carbon filters will turn most tap water sparking fresh at a fraction of bottled water’s cost.”
So what do you think? Is bottled water a waste of money? Weigh in below.
I am making the switch back to tap water for all the reasons you mention above. I think it’s an important political issue. If we are buying water, public utilities become privatized. Dasana and Aquafina are just tap water in bottles, but few people realize this! Carry a refillable container. If you want it cold, fill it up at night and throw it in the freezer. It will stay cold for hours.
Normally I’m fine with filtered tap water at home and at work. Recently in DC we’ve had some troubles with the water tasting and smelling a bit musty, but otherwise the only time I buy bottled water is when I want some Perrier!
The only time I would consider buying bottled water is if there was no other choice…like in the event of a Natural Disaster or if I wasn’t sure about the safety of the Tap Water.
But on a Side Note….When someone starts to complain to me about the price of Gasoline I ask them if they buy Bottled Water….If the answer is Yes I tell them I don’t want to hear any more complaints about the cost of Gas as they spend more to buy a a Gallon of Water and thus have NO Right to Complain.
~ Roland
I have made the switch , and just posted about it last week! I installed a water filter , no more bottled water for me, no more recycling the plastic bottles!
I grew up drinking well water, and it was amazing. Had a slight sulfuric taste, but the clarity of the water itself was awesome. Now, I’m in Atlanta, and the city water is terrible. Granted, I no longer have to brush my teeth with fluoride every day, but I can’t drink it without sending it through some major filtration. I have a Brita sink-mounted filter, which I use to fill a Pur filter pitcher, and that’s usually enough to get pretty much all the nasty out of the water. It’s much better than any bottled water out there, and even factoring in the filters it’s still cheaper than bottled water.
Hey, I was preaching this on my blog way back before last month 🙂
Tap water is just as good, cheaper and far better for the environment. If you really want to make it portable, buy a container. They’re cheap and hold more water than most bottled brands.
Gal
I say marketing ploy. What is wrong with the water fountain in the hallway? I believe 60 minutes did a piece on bottle water. It has been said that bottle water is just tap water that is boiled. Ha
The company with the most attractive bottle usually have the highest prices.
What about sparkling water? I don’t buy regular bottled water but I will sometimes get flavored sparkling water. Anyone have suggestions for ways to replace that particular indulgence, or should I just go ahead and indulge?
@Joe – if you like flavored sparkling water, try picking up store brand seltzer at the supermarket – even here in superexpensive NYC a 2-liter bottle of lemon-lime seltzer goes for $.69. And any place that has a soft drink fountain machine will have a ‘soda’ dispenser that just shoots out carbonated water. It’s so rarely used they’ll get confused and charge you the water price (around here, usually $.05 for the cup).
I buy bottled water just to get the bottles … I refill them with tap water and reuse them. They go to garbage recycling when they get worn out. I look so cool walking around everywhere with my bottle in hand … my it is great to be continually hydrated.
24 pack of bottled water cost me $3.50
1 month long filter for faucet filter cost average of $13.00 dollars.
It actually cost less to buy the bottled water than to buy a filter each month.