Message in a Bottle: Water for thought?

Parent Cafe
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<p>From <a href=“http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/117/features-message-in-a-bottle.html[/url]”>http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/117/features-message-in-a-bottle.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Americans spent more money last year on bottled water than on ipods or movie tickets: $15 Billion. A journey into the economics–and psychology–of an unlikely business boom. And what it says about our culture of indulgence.</p>

<p>Bottled water has become the indispensable prop in our lives and our culture. It starts the day in lunch boxes; it goes to every meeting, lecture hall, and soccer match; it’s in our cubicles at work; in the cup holder of the treadmill at the gym; and it’s rattling around half-finished on the floor of every minivan in America. Fiji Water shows up on the ABC show Brothers & Sisters; Poland Spring cameos routinely on NBC’s The Office. Every hotel room offers bottled water for sale, alongside the increasingly ignored ice bucket and drinking glasses. At Whole Foods (NASDAQ:WFMI), the upscale emporium of the organic and exotic, bottled water is the number-one item by units sold.</p>

<p>Thirty years ago, bottled water barely existed as a business in the United States. Last year, we spent more on Poland Spring, Fiji Water, Evian, Aquafina, and Dasani than we spent on iPods or movie tickets–$15 billion. It will be $16 billion this year.</p>

<p>Bottled water is the food phenomenon of our times. We’re moving 1 billion bottles of water around a week in ships, trains, and trucks in the United States alone. That’s a weekly convoy equivalent to 37,800 18-wheelers delivering water. (Water weighs 81/3 pounds a gallon. It’s so heavy you can’t fill an 18-wheeler with bottled water–you have to leave empty space.)</p>

<p>Meanwhile, one out of six people in the world has no dependable, safe drinking water. The global economy has contrived to deny the most fundamental element of life to 1 billion people, while delivering to us an array of water “varieties” from around the globe, not one of which we actually need. And in Fiji, a state-of-the-art factory spins out more than a million bottles a day of the hippest bottled water on the U.S. market today, while more than half the people in Fiji do not have safe, reliable drinking water.</p>

<p>Worldwide, 1 billion people have no reliable source of drinking water; 3,000 children a day die from diseases caught from tainted water.</p>

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<p>I sent an email to the Fiji company just now through their web site. Asked them what they’re doing to help this situation, as an upstanding water company in the world. I wonder if they’ll get back to me.</p>

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<p>Xiggi:</p>

<p>I was raised on Vichy and Evian. It did not occur to us back in the 1950s, to drink Paris tap water. I think it became okay some time in the 1970s.</p>

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<p>Most places in the US have safe drinking water. Save the earth. Drink local.</p>

<p>And donate your savings to charities that help provide safe water in the third-world.</p>

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<p>My husband got some terrible stomach bugs until he decided maybe there was a reason Germans didn’t drink the tap water. We got a water dispenser in our house because of lead pipes. We’ve since moved and kept the dispenser as we own it and it’s nice having cold water. I think the mania for bottled water is dumb. We just fill smaller bottles ourselves. </p>

<p>On another note - I really wish there were deposits on water the way there is for soda.</p>

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<p>Counterpoint and counter-revolution</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=9083544[/url]”>At Chez Panisse, It's Time for Tap Water : NPR;

<p>The Chez Panisse restaurant in Berkeley, Calif., has decided to drop bottled water from its menu. Robert Siegel talks with the restaurant’s general manager, Mike Kossa-Rienzi.</p>

<p><a href=“http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/chronicle/archive/2007/03/21/FDGU1OMMT61.DTL[/url]”>http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/chronicle/archive/2007/03/21/FDGU1OMMT61.DTL&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>*At a small but growing number of sustainably inclined Bay Area restaurants, bottled water has become as much of an outcast as farmed salmon and out-of-season tomatoes. Instead of bottled water, diners now are served free carafes of – gasp! – tap water. It’s filtered and comes still or sparkling, fizzed up by a soda-fountain-style carbonating machine. *</p>

<p>Marite, I tried the Vichy water a little while ago. It does require a bit of an acquired taste. I have to admit being very partial and preferring Perrier and especially San Pellegrino. </p>

<p>A few weeks ago, I made the mistake of drinking two small bottles of water that were placed in the hotel bathroom. Turns out that those mini bottles of Voss were more than $9 … each. </p>

<p>Isn’t it funny that people find the cost of a gallon of gasoline to be repulsively high when passing the three dollars mark, but would not worry about the price PER GALLON of the water they buy as a matter of daily routine. I think that the Voss nectar cost me about $126 per gallon. :)</p>

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<p>I agree with your assessment of Vicy vs. Perrier or San Pellegrino. But in postwar France, it was either Vichy (fizzy) or Evian (flat).
I would not buy most flat bottled water in the US, as they are nothing more than filtered tap water. But I’m addicted to fizzy water. Our unfiltered tap water, by the way, leaves a brown residue.</p>

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<p>The first single-sized bottled water I ever tried was in August 1984 on my first day in Paris (on a senior college year abroad). We were at a Paris cafe, tucked away around the corner from the youth hostel, and we could hardly speak French at all. When the waitress asked if we would like something to drink, I stuttered out “l’eau,” thinking it would come in a glass and be free. She brought me a bottle of Evian. I still remember thinking it was funny to have to pay for water. When I got back to the states the next year, I started seeing bottled water, including Evian more frequently. </p>

<p>I grew up and continue to live in an area of California that uses local source water (deep underground, natural reservoirs), and while it tastes okay and is good for the many crops in our area, it is the “hardest” water measurable, so full of calcium and magnesium that it leaves white powdery streaks on dishes, glass shower partitions, etc… It’s so hard that you would need to use triple the laundry detergent and shampoo just to work up a small lather. So we choose to soften it (replacing the calcium and mag. with sodium), which also leaves it undrinkable. We buy bottled water in five gallon jugs. It’s all very expensive and from an environmental perspective, I hate it. But using the hard water for cleaning is even worse. I try to make up for it by being very good about recycling, conserving energy, driving a hybrid, etc… but it still bugs me.</p>

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<p>I stay away from drinking water from a bottle for the past few years, particularly freezing the bottle and then drink it, something my kids used to do. </p>

<p>Sheryl Crow has the following in her blog:</p>

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<p>I don’t see how stopping buying bottled water will build water systems in some Third World country. Just another false liberal BS connection. I am sure the local Fiji Water workers enjoy the job opportunities the plant brought. Beats begging from the tourists.</p>

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<p>I do agree with barrons about that, but on the other hand, bottled water is (generally) pointless. As some here have pointed out, it can be necessary, but I don’t honestly feel comfortable paying two dollars for a bottle of water when I could be spending it on something useful. A bottle of water a day could equal four-hundred dollars in a year at the very least. It seems such money would be better used for college funds… or even something as mundane as the cell phone bill.</p>

<p>Edit: Hey, Fiji Water replied to my email-</p>

<p>Thank you for your inquiry. FIJI Water has had a long-standing commitment to Fiji since the company’s inception in 1996. Over the years, FIJI Water has made a measurable impact in supporting the economy, infrastructure and people of Fiji. In fact, FIJI Water received the U.S. Secretary of State’s Award for Corporate Excellence in 2004 for “doing good in the global marketplace.”</p>

<p>FIJI Water is locally operated, providing more than 200 direct full time jobs in Fiji. Among its numerous contributions, the company provides FIJI Water to several hospitals, has constructed kindergartens at Togovere, Naseyani/Nananu, Rabulu, Drauniivi and Rabulu villages as well and provdies financial support and FIJI Water through the Red Cross in response to natural disasters in Fiji.</p>

<p>One current project funded exclusively by FIJI Water is the creation of a facility that will bring water to Drauniivi village. This project is 75% complete and has provided water collection, storage and distribution facilities throughout the village. The project uses Fijian companies, which provides training to people from the village, thereby providing them with skills for the future. </p>

<p>Another FIJI Water project is a partnership with the Fiji Electricity Authority, which is striving to provide power for the first time to the remote villages of Naseyani and Nananu.</p>

<p>FIJI Water is a natural artesian water bottled at its source in Fiji. Rainfall filters through volcanic rock over hundreds of years, adding vital minerals that give FIJI Water its unique and refreshing taste. Refer to our website <a href=“http://www.fijiwater.com%5B/url%5D”>www.fijiwater.com</a> to learn more about FIJI Water’s attributes. If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to write again.</p>

<p>Sincerely,</p>

<p>Customer Service</p>

<p>FIJI Water Company, LLC</p>

<p>1.888.426.FIJI</p>

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<p>Here in southern Maine (Greater Portland area), our tap water is absolutely wonderful and delicious. Now, when I travel to places such as Washington, DC area, San Diego area, Northern California etc. etc. etc., I find the water thoroughly distasteful. </p>

<p>My S uses one of those filter pitchers at school in Baltimore, rather than buying bottled water. I guess that’s a responsible choice?</p>

<p>But what to do when I travel to where the water tastes awful? Suck it up?</p>

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<p>Our tap water tastes and smells like chlorine! :frowning: Oh well, it’s probably clean anyway. lol</p>

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<p>^^So does ours at our place in Mexico. No one drinks the tap water there, even the locals.</p>

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<p>I live in the DC area and the water here is pretty much mostly safe (there have been some problems I guess, trying to remember, but I can’t). I always drink tap water and always have my entire life here and I’m fine anyway :slight_smile: </p>

<p>But when I go to Va Beach, I notice the water has a different taste. It doesn’t really bother me. I know it bothers some people. It just has a little more earthy taste if that makes sense, probably deposits or something, you can see how much I know about science here. But anyway one thing you can do if water is safe but you just don’t like the taste of it is ask for a few lemons and put some lemon juice in it, that may make it more appealing.</p>

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<p>Here’s one solution: portable water filters</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.purewater2go.com/bottles.html[/url]”>http://www.purewater2go.com/bottles.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>Buying bottled water is no more self-indulgent than purchasing movie tickets or iPods. It’s a whole lot less self-indulgent than standing in line to buy an iPhone. It’s just something else you don’t need to feel guilty about.</p>

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<p>We buy bottled water by the case and usually pay about $5.00 or less for 24 bottles. That’s far from $2.00/bottle–more like $0.20. That’s OK for the better taste and convenience.</p>

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<p>I was recently informed (by a friend) that bottled water is no longer politically correct. I am supposed to filter my tap water. The main issue is the energy and oil that is consumed to produce the plastic bottles, and the waste of the used bottles. Several cities have already banned bottled water. (Well, at least San Franciso) This will be a growing trend. (I think the big reuseable bottles that fit into dispensers are ok).</p>

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<p>I never seen a costs-benefits analysis done of the relative merits, but it’s always bothered me to see people waste clean water rinsing cans so they can save them for the recycle bin.</p>