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Tap water vs bottled water essay
Water pollution environmental effects
Water pollution environmental effects
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The commotion revolving around bottled water has existed for some time now. Some people say that bottled water is the best option available, but have they submerged themselves in the facts about the other side? Have they submerged themselves into tap water? When people face the decision of drinking tap water or bottled water, most tend to turn to bottled water due to its convenience and taste, but there are deeper and more appealing motivations to desire tap water instead. Motivations such as a healthier choice, a fit environment, and stronger protection against harmful chemicals. Environmental gains are provided with the increased use of tap water. If Americans continue to further their consumption of tap water, the total number of plastic bottles contributing to pollution will drop drastically. We buy a grand total of 29 billion water bottles each year, but only 13 percent of the ones bought are being recycled. Unrecycled bottles, or bottles that are unqualified for recycling, end up in landfills, the ocean, or on the side of the road, taking centuries to decompose (Didier). Citizens taking advantage of tap water is only one of the helping factors in reducing …show more content…
Not only does EPA help reduce pollution, but also sets standards for tap water. Our drinking water is federally regulated, which means tap water from any location must meet specific requirements constantly. Few of many requirements consist of: protect drinking water sources, wells, and collection systems, treat water with qualified operators, publicly provide information, and check for cosmetic and aesthetic effects (“How EPA Regulates Drinking Water Contaminants”). These make it safe for us to guzzle down and utilize the plentiful H2O that comes out of our faucets from most areas of the United States, also making tap water
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
Together, the passages “Business in a Bottle”, by Cynthia Barnett and “Selling Bottled Water: The Modern Medicine Show”, by Peter Gleick, portray how bottled water has taken a superficial and deceptive image due to false advertising and pseudoscientific claims by greedy bottling companies, whose purpose is to take advantage of a free resource in order to make millions in profit; destroying the environment as they go. Both passages expose the bottling companies’ manipulative tricks, in order to bring awareness and open the populations’ eyes to the lies they have been fed for many years, however the authors utilize distinct styles to achieve their goal. Barnett focuses on specific bottling companies’ data and incorporates analysts for support,
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
Think about our health, saving money and giving a helping hand to earth by providing less landfill. Remember, almost all water bottles go un-recycled and eliminating these while convincing others to do so will put a stop to our precious ocean contamination. Stop providing money to random companies that bearly test their water systems. Thus help your community to use this money towards helping support a variety of different initiatives, such as improving the water projects in your local water department. Ultimately bottled water is known for causing health issues; so why risk our well-being? Needless to say, the damage these plastic bottles cause should not to be taken lightly in any manner. Lastly, although bottled water may get the job done if you are in a hurry, keep in mind that alternatively by selecting tap water you are doing yourself and the world a huge
The documentary titled Tapped released on May 2009 directed by Jason Lindsey and Stephanie Soechtig they talk about how tap water is unpurified and that bottle water is purified has always been the best and how water bottle plastic is made and what the plastic contains when water is left inside the plastic water bottle for a long period during that time they found toxic chemicals inside the bottled water and by that time they convinced me. The most effective persuasion techniques that this documentary had some good, credible Logos, Ethos, Pathos but felt that they should of talk more about what's happening inside the factors in bottle water industry's. This documentary is talking about how emotions are trying to convince us that tap water is better than the bottled water. Tap water is unpurified and bottled water is purified which is always making the best. In this documentary Adrianna Quintero stated that " there's this huge difference regulations with bottle water to put it simply tap water, drinking water is highly regulated and bottled water is virtually unregulated".
In today’s society it is uncommon to see people walking around without water. Those who carry water with them either have their water in a reusable bottle or have bought bottled water. Bottled water is the more commonly found type of water carried around, reason being that it is easy to just buy a huge pack so that a person can just grab a bottle a go. The problem with bottled water is that more often than not, the bottle does not get recycled, but instead gets thrown into the garbage. The problem with this is that the bottles end up in a landfill. However, in this past year alone American’s used “about 50 billion plastic water bottles” (Ban The Bottle, n.d., Para. 4). Most people do not see the big difference between bottled water and tap
For ever water bottle made, non-renewable resources are wasted to produce an unnecessary luxury. For the bottled water Americans enjoy, seventeen million barrels of oil are used (excluding transportation), which could fuel more than 1.3 million cars for a year. Most water is imported and exported from places that are thousands of miles away, like Fiji. Although oil is controversial in nature, for every one liter of water produced, three liters are used; the excess water wasted can supply clean water to the world’s poorest countries. Moreover, the energy used in bottle production can supply energy to over 190,000 homes. The resources that can be replaced by ceasing the production of water bottles can solve many global problems faced by a growing population.
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
Do you prefer drinking bottled water or tap water? I would prefer bottled and here is why. Tap water isn't really the same as bottled water. If you really pay attention to it, you can tell that there's a difference in the taste of it too. I hate tap water and here's why.Tap water and bottled water are very different. Like I said before, they even taste different. In source 1 it says that bottled water doesn't chave chlorine in it while tap water does. Also it says, "Water from natural springs ot public sources goes through a purification process and is then bottled and distributed to retail stores." for bottled water and for tap water it says "Water is delivered through a system of pipes, pumps and purification system to homes and buildings
According to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which oversees the bottled-water industry, Americans drink more than eight billiongallons of bottled water each year. Most of that water is packaged in plastic bottles.The EPA estimates that plastics such as those used to make water bottles make up nearly 13 percent of our trash. An industry watchdog group reports that it takes nearly eighteen million barrels of oil to make the amount of plastic needed to meet Americans'thirst for bottled water. That's about the same amount of oil that a million vehicles use in one year. Oil is a nonrenewable resource—once it's gone, it's gone. Worse yet, the vehicles used to move bottled water from place to place release harmful greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. Perhaps more alarming is that people recycle fewer than 20 percent of their empty bottles. Most emptybottles are tossed in the trash. From there, they end up in a landfill, where they cause further environmental damage.
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. From a business point of view, it seems so ignorantly deceptive, yet it was absolutely genius. With a little marketing, bottled water became a huge success. However, it is killing the environment and the water is usually comparable to tap water regardless. The “The Story of Bottled Water” is a very well-made short
Water is one of the most essential non-renewable natural resources on the Earth. Technically, an un-hydrated human being can live no more than three days. In the United States, people consume water mainly from tap water and bottle water. However, the consumption between these two sources is not even but lean to one side heavily. According to the Natural Resources Defense Council, people consume from 240 to over 10000 times more per gallon for bottled water than they usually do for tap water. (NRDC) In addition, according to a survey from US National Library of Medicines, only 17% of the participants prefer to drink tap water exclusively.(US National Library) Compared to the bottled water which is shining like a superstar, tap water is like a diligent worker in the shade, unpopular but useful. The extremely unbalance of bottled water consumption implies that a commonly hold conception exists: bottle water is superior to tap water. In fact, scientific evidence proves that tap water is nothing different than bottle water. More importantly, the excessive consumption of bottled water is an irrational use of resources and creates severe environmental issues.
It might be easier to live a healthy life for many people, but for others it can be very challenging. I have tried to be healthy so many times, but I always fell off the wagon. For many days I would “feel” healthy, but in reality I was not the healthiest person mentally or physically. I knew that I had to change my behavior, and become healthier (or at least almost healthy) if I wanted to live a longer life. I began my journey by drinking more water, balancing my eating with exerting, all while trying to stay mentally well.
Since those campaigns, more and more colleges are banning and limiting the sale of bottled water, and installing reusable-bottle filling stations (Carlson 9). Pennsylvania State University has been working with the drinking-fountain manufactures Elkay, Oasis, and Hawes to produce water-bottle filling stations (Carlson 9). Earlier this year, the university installed prototypes and swabbed them every so often; discovering that they had the potential to transmit bacteria from bottle to bottle after each student would fill up a bottle (Carlson 9). Elkay and Oasis produced new designs, and now 11 of them are installed around the campus, the university will then test those, too, even as it plans to install more (Carlson 9). This movement from bottle water to tap water filling stations doesn’t just affect the environment, but the many universities that are putting this idea in use are saving a lot of money than when they were buying water bottles to sell to their students. The bad thing for bottle water companies is that their sales will go down and might go out of business, however the good thing is this will help the environment tremendously and will keep water bottles out of the landfills in the