Bottled Water is not only dangerous to your environment, but to you and your body as well. There are many myths that accompany this topic, but the purpose of this paper is to give the clear cut facts on an important issue. Aside from it’s dangers to your wallet, its affects on your body and environment are astonishing. For years bottled water has been viewed as a convenient and “safe” alternative to lugging around a big thermos or drinking the water from your tap. In reality, actual safe alternatives to bottled water include a refillable water bottle, a distiller, or a filter. All of these options not only can save you future health problems due to dangerous chemicals in the packaging of bottled water, but also help to save a lot of money. …show more content…
At least 25% of bottled is actually tap water that has been bottled near the distribution point. The reality is that tap water is being packaged into water bottles and sold as being “purified” or straight from serene mountains and icecaps. Approximately 2.5 million gallons of municipal tap water each year are bottled and sold throughout the United States (Shapley). Ironically, the most highly monitored supply of water is the municipal tap water system. The reason it’s monitored so closely is because of the threatening effects that untreated bacteria can have on the body. For example, city tap water can’t have any trace amounts of E.Coli or fecal coliform. E. Coli is a dangerous strain of bacteria found in the intestines of humans and animals, that can cause severe food poisoning. Fecal coliform is another bacteria found in the digestive tracks of humans and animals that can cause harmful ear infections and hepatitis, just to name a couple. On the other hand the FDA does not require bottled water companies to adhere to these standards. Bottled water is allowed to have a certain amount of these harmful bacteria present. In addition to that shocking standard, much is not done by water companies to prevent the spread of this harmful bacteria. Water plants must test for coliform just once a week, while big-city tap water must be tested over 100 times a month (Olson, 1999). This ratio is truly outstanding. Bottled water companies are feeding its customers lies that its water is as pure as the “rivers” and “mountains” it comes
Johnson tries to convince that although bottled water is convenient to use and sometimes even becomes a life savior, it should be avoided at any cost and tap water should only be preferred. This claim allows The Shorthorn readers to be sure that the author is taking account of both positives as well as negatives of bottled water but includes comparatively lots of negative factors to persuade readers that bottled water should be avoided. She supports this claim by reasons such as bottled water has a negative impact on human health, plastic has a negative impact on the environment, and the plastic bottle is just a waste of money and energy. She also supports her claim of convenience of bottled water by talking about reusable water bottles ' convenience. These reasons are important to those readers who prefer bottled water and are not aware of its negative
Zhang, J. (2009, July 13). More Scrutiny Urged for Bottled Water . Retrieved April 19, 2014, from http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052970203577304574276473594279310?mg=reno64-wsj&url=http%3A%2F%2Fonline.wsj.com%2Farticle%2FSB10001424052970203577304574276473594279310.html
Both Barnett’s claim that bottled water is not better than tap water (139-141) and Gleick’s claim that specialized water is not better than tap water (118-120) demonstrate that companies’ claims are unreasonable. Furthermore, consumers assume bottled water is better than tap water because they have the impression that tap water is dangerous because of the tap water incident in “2003 [where] 400,000 people [got] sick” from drinking tap water. One may wonder whether companies use this incident to remind consumers how dangerous tap water is with the way Gleick presents bottled water companies even after the tap water is taken care of. Because Gleick portrays the deception of advertisement from bottled water businesses, he makes it clear that Barnett hints that they are taking advantage of the case by informing consumers that their water is safer than tap water in an indirect, subtle way. However, Barnett ensures readers that tap water are safe to drink again after the incident by proving that both bottled water and tap water are equally safe to drink with a study she provides: The testing from Florida Trend (magazine brand) concludes that Publix brand bottled water and tap water both contains “0.020milligrams per liter [of] THMs (trihalomethanes)”, a “common byproduct…linked to increased risk of cancer” (139-140). Although other bottled water brands may not have
Thesis Statement: The purchase of bottled water may be completely unnecessary as tap water in most municipalities of the United States is safe to drink. The limit of purchase of bottled water, would not only save consumers money but limit the amount of non-renewable resources spent in making and transporting the bottles, and therefore limit their negative impact on our environment. When reading through the list of options for our essay topic, I was interested by the impact of bottled water as I am a regular consumer of the product and rarely ever think of it's environmental impact. Therefore, I was intrigued to see what statistic showed, and what the different points of view were in regards to the product.
to increase rapidly, particularly in countries where clean potable tap water is available at very
many ways to get water. You can buy water bottles from a store or get tap water from your
First of all Americans need to stop buying bottled water and just get it from your tap. It is going to be cleaner and healthier than the water these large companies are selling. When it comes to our health and the environment it should be separate from the government and not regulated by the same organizations who are benefiting from the profits of selling tapped water. Bottled water is not the only thing that needs to be closely watched, the containers the water comes in has just as much negative effects on the environment. If the government put a ban on plastic bottles contains chemical that are known to cause cancer could seriously improve the health of all species on the
Some people may think that bottled water just goes through filters that get rid of the chemicals that are contained within it, and while they are not wrong they are, however, still uniformed. Bottled water is not only taken from streams and filter but “40% of all bottled water is taken from municipal water sources [a.k.a tap water]” (Bottled Water Pros and Cons. 2014. Para. 9). People drink bottled water so that they do not have to drink tap water when in reality they most likely are drinking some tap water that is mixed into their bottled water. On top of that not only has the bottled water been filtered but it has been found that “22% of tested bottled water brands contained chemical contaminants at levels above strict state health” (Bottled Water Pros and Cons. 2014. Para. 9). In other words, though the water may not have the same weird taste as tap water is does have chemicals in it that are at levels that are not safe to be consuming. When it comes to tap water which contains normal amounts of chemicals, bottled water is not safer to be
Plastic water bottles have been the new trend in ECMS lately. But are they worth the costs? No not in my opinion. One time use plastic water bottles should not be allowed at ECMS. Plastic water bottles are unnecessarily expensive, negative to the environment, and not very healthy for our bodies.
Likewise, bottled water is not subjected to the rigorous testing that tap water endures. Thus, bottled water is more likely to be contaminated or a source of infection. Tap water is subjected to daily safety testing, whereas bottled water is only tested monthly at the source. Twenty-two percent of the water tested contained contaminant levels that exceeded strict health limits. The safety of people could be secured by banning water bottles.
The sky is turning a dark gray, clouds rolling in with a loud thunderous sound, and the raindrops began to fall. The rain falls from the sky, rolls off the roof of a building structure, and into a cistern. Collection of rain into either a cistern or holding tank is known as rainwater harvesting. By harvesting the water, it can then be used for irrigation and plumbing. Since purchasing 15 acres of land, I learned of this process simply by word of mouth. Then, one day I see an article on social media about how harvesting rainwater may be illegal. Legalization of this process is now being talked about in our state legislatures. Because rainwater is a beneficial natural resource, it should not be illegal to capture it from your own rooftop.
According to the “Competition in the Bottled Water Industry in 2006 Case,” bottled water industry became the one of the world’s most attractive beverage categories, as more and more people began to focus on health and fitness. Consumers start realizing the need of proper hydration, and they began purchasing bottled water instead of drinking tap water, because they were worried about safety of tap water, which tasted like chemicals. Actually, tap water contained chemicals, such as chlorine and fluoride, which are harmful for human body; however, this problem was solved when the bottled water was brought to the market. Due to bottled water’s convenience, purity, and portability, and safety, bottled water industry began to rise rapidly. During
You'll find it at home, work, and school. It's in coolers and vending machines and on store shelves. You may have it with you right now. Bottled water is everywhere. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) reports, "Bottled water is the fastest growing drink choice in the United States." In some ways, this is good news. More people recognize the health benefits of drinking water. They are choosing water over sugary drinks like soda and juice. Unfortunately, bottled water has a dark side. It comes not only with a high environmental cost but also with a hefty price tag. Stop and think: Is the growing trend of drinking bottled water really worth it?
Consumerism. While watching “The Story of Bottled Water,” I thought to myself, “Is this all true, or is this really being blown out of proportion?” I simply couldn’t grasp the idea that we as consumers are that wasteful. So, I decided to watch the film again to really grasp the narrator’s message. Then it hit me: in high school AP History, we discussed how bottled water started and how it has become a multi-billion-dollar company.
In addition, according to a survey from the US National Library of Medicines, only 17% of the participants prefer to drink tap water exclusively. Compared to the bottled water which shines like a superstar, tap water is like a diligent worker in the shade, unpopular but useful. The extreme unbalance of bottled water consumption implies that a commonly held concept exists: bottle water is superior to tap water. In fact, scientific evidence proves that tap water is nothing different than bottled water. More importantly, the excessive consumption of bottled water is an irrational use of resources and creates severe environmental issues.