Marketers are notorious in making us consumers feel like some product is essential to our lives when it is ultimately completely unnecessary. Bottled water is one such ploy that came into its popularity in the late 80s. Within only a few decades, it has developed into an industry that wastes global resources and poses health risks to many others. All this while earning a hefty profit by charging consumers an arm and a leg.
Need more convincing? Here are 4 outrageous reasons that will persuade you to stay away from bottled water:
#1 – Can You Say Rip-Off?
According to Business Insider, the price of bottled water is double the price of gasoline. If that wasn’t shocking to you, consider this: bottled water costs 2,000 times more than tap water does. To put that in perspective, let’s say you went out and bought a single bottle of water every day for an entire year. In the end, you would have spent $546.77 more than if you had just drunk the water that came from the tap. You could buy 7 fluoride filters for said tap water with that amount of money!
But wait, you must be thinking the higher cost is worth it because “I’m getting clean water from fresh springs, right?”. That makes it all worth it, doesn’t it? Well, not really. Sorry to break it to you, but that’s not how it works. 47.8% of all bottled water, including major players in the bottled water market such as Nestle and Aquafina, source their water from the same place that the water in your tap comes from!
The bottled water industry manages to rake in an annual profit of a massive $86 billion, and now you know why! Because they are managing to rip you off quite efficiently.
#2 – Bottled Water Companies are Unethical
Coca-Cola and Nestle, two of the largest companies of the world are also key players in the bottled water industry. When you dig a little deeper, you can uncover the plethora of unethical practices these companies partake in. Coca-Cola spends millions year after year, fighting to keep their customers uninformed by trying to prevent GMO labelling. The company is also said to mine resources from third world countries to ensure that profit margins remain high. Nestle has been accused time and time again due to its reliance on child labor, pollution and mislabeling to again, keep their customers uninformed.
#3 – Water Bottles Cause Unimaginable Harm to The Environment
Climate change is a serious issue faced by citizens around the globe today. Fossil fuels are one of the earth’s largest environmental problems. Imagine a situation where you kept a million automobiles running continuously all year. That’s same amount of fossil fuel that is used up by the bottled water industry every year in America alone.
Furthermore, only 20% of plastic bottles get recycled around the world. The rest is disposed incorrectly into landfills where they might take up to some 1,000 years to decompose. And as they do so they seep harmful chemicals and toxins into the land and water that cause even more environmental issues as well as being injurious to innocent animals and sea creatures.
#4 – Water Bottles Cause Damage to Your Health
Your regular bottle of water usually comes in a plastic bottle. This plastic is more accurately referred to as polyethylene terephthalate, or PET for short. A chemical called antimony, which is said to cause dizziness and depression, is a common component of the PET bottle.
Another dangerous compound found in plastic water bottle is BPA. BPA is linked to causing an increase in obesity, birth defects and behavioural issues. Canada has currently banned the use of BPA, but it’s still freely allowed in the US and UK.
