What marketing genius it was! To convince consumers that they needed to drink bottled water to be safe and yes, hip.
Bottled water costs more than Coca Cola and gas. Yet, until recently, everyone had one; a plastic bottle of water. In the car, at a meeting, at the gym, in the backpack, even at the office just feet away from the water cooler and more importantly...the faucet. The water in this country is in most cases, the best in the world. Tap water is better regulated than bottled water and a lot of bottled water is...tap water. We drink water flown all the way from Fiji, or Italy or France. Talk about carbon footprint! The life of that bottle? How fast does it take you to polish off its contents? The plastic bottle came all that way to be tossed away in a matter of minutes.
Most water bottles are made of plastic that cannot be recycled. #1 and #2 have high-end recycling markets. #3 -#7 do not. Anyway, most end up in the trash and then on our beaches, in our oceans and waterways. They will be here long after we are gone. I'm sorry, next generation, that my few gulps of water are one of the causes of your polluted world.
I went to a meeting tonight and was generously offered a bottle of water. I didn't want to make a scene so I didn't say anything at that point and I certainly didn't accept, even though I was kind of thirsty. Next month I will go early and fill a pitcher and bring glasses from the kitchen and put them on the table. Maybe I will email the chair of the committee and respectfully tell her my thoughts on this issue. I don't want to alienate, but I've also reached my limit on this one.
When I was in Florence, Italy a few years ago, I bought lunch from a walk up sandwich stall. I ordered water to drink and much to my surprise, was given a glass filled with water along with my sandwich. I walked across the piazza, sat on the steps of the Duomo, ate my sandwich, drank my water and then returned the glass to the sandwich place. So civilized. But that is Italy. You would never see someone walking with a paper cup full of coffee either. But that is another subject.
Thanks for reading my rant on bottled water. There is a growing drumbeat on this issue. I wonder if the Obama White House will do away with the throw away option in their highly visible meetings. People notice these things. Change is in the air. We can always hope.
4 comments:
Habits are hard to break! I remember when a pitcher of water was on the table at conferences.
We're now at the Hyatt in Irvine, CA. All bottled. Law firm....all bottled. Cold or room temperature? Choice.
It's in need of a national movement...same as solar etc. Bottled water needs to be more expensive...same as energy. Americans are all about price...at least that's what it seems like. Good thoughts, Barb.
I well remember the first time I saw bottles of Evian lining the sideboard of a Johnson & Higgins board room. What is that??!! I wondered.
Several years later I remember a hip young employee entering a meeting in DC with a bottle of Evian. I tried to imagine what mum would have thought.
My most lasting image of drinking water is mum standing at the Potton sink after a long stint in the garden drinking several glasses of cool spring water from the tap. That was among her happiest moments - several times every day.
thanks for your comments, guys. Always appreciated and thought provoking.
I do remember mom taking those long drinks of water, looking out over the orchard after a day in the garden. She really loved their spring, going out often to check it with Dad. (I'm going out....)
True about price. Stores that have started charging for plastic bags have seen a big increase in people bringing their own. As for gas prices, the whole alternative energy field is made or broken by prices at the pump. Remember the 70's? If only initiatives started then had continued to be funded. But as soon as gas prices went down, they fizzled.
OK, so now that the laundry essays and pictures have faded, shall we bring on the water stories? How about hauling water from the spring at David Douglas's?
How about pumping it into Granny's sink at The Cabin?
Boiling it in Mexico?
Hauling it hiking on the dessert?
Best city for good tasting water? Worst?
Silverton well frozen for ten days while 30 lactating ewes needed water?
10 minutes...Go!
Thanks, Barb. You make us think!
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