The Cost of Watering "Plants"

In fifteen years, it is expected that almost 3 billion people in 48 countries will suffer from a scarcity of water, according to waterfootprint.org.

The country with the biggest water foot print is, of course, the United States. The reasons are many, among them our “thirst” for water-intensive food and products like beef, rice, and cotton. Additionally, we have turned the world’s greatest (virtually) free product – tap water - and turned it into an elitist product – bottled water.

The Clean Air Council reports that Americans throw away 2.5 million plastic water bottles an hour. That is 60 million a day; 22 billion a year.

While more than 1 in 6 people worldwide have no access to clean water, Americans have access to clean, healthy, free water everywhere they go. Yet, we spend more money on bottled water each year than we do on iPods – an amount somewhere around $16 billion dollars a year.

Bottled water is indeed expensive. Whereas tap water costs about 1/10th of 1 cent per gallon, bottled water can be up to 10,000 times that cost. In cities, it isn’t unusual to pay $15 or more for a gallon of bottled water.

People claim that they drink bottled water because it is convenient, it is healthier, it tastes better, and it is often chilled.

Convenience: $15 for water is not convenient. For the majority of Americans it would take 1-2 hours of work to pay for that water (CEOs of bottled water firms not included).

Health: Bottled water is not healthier. In fact, at least 40% of the time, it is simply tap water with additives. One of the sources of Aquafina’s water is the Detroit River… which hardly calls to mind pure, glacial mountain springs. Ugggh! (Many bottled water plants are far removed from the picture they show on their label. Check out the image for Everrest Premium Water, which is bottled in the less-than-glacial area known as Corpus Christi, Texas.)

Bottled water may be less healthy, in fact. The FDA for bottled water regulations are far less strict than the EPA regulations for tap water. It is tested less frequently and for fewer contagions. And whereas tap water is always moving, bottled water is still… so minute traces of bacteria from the bottling plant can fester inside a water bottle.

Another recent trend that dentists are seeing (much to their delight) is a return of cavities in bottled-water sipping kids. Flouridation in tap water nearly eliminated cavities in Americans, and with the majority of bottled water companies not adding fluoride to their product, children who don’t drink tap water aren’t getting the protection they need.

Finally, a chemical compound in plastic called phthalates can easily leach into the water, and is known to cause liver problems, reproductive difficulties, and even cancer.

Bottled water is not healthier.

Taste: In blind taste tests, people who swear they only drink bottled water have often rated tap water as tasting better than the ultra-expensive Evian (here is a non-scientific example from ABC News)

All water tastes better cold – so keep a reusable container of water in your fridge.

The Environment

Another factor in all of this is the environment. According to FoodAndWaterWatch.org, it takes 47 million gallons of oil to produce water bottles for Americans each year. That doesn’t include the amount of oil needed to transport all these bottles across the country. This is no small amount, considering that 60 million bottles are thrown out every day. Of these, somewhere between 70-86% are simply thrown away instead of being recycled. Not only does this add to our growing problem with garbage disposal, but plastic doesn’t degrade very well. It can take hundreds of years to degrade, and as it does it leaches dozens of dangerous chemicals into the water supply (that is a vicious water cycle!).

The Economy
Privatized water claims that it helps communities. In reality, bottled water plants provide few jobs (usually from outside the community that they are taking water from), the jobs they provide are low-wage and dangerous, and the benefits go to the corporation – not the local community.

What you can do

1. Stop buying and drinking bottled water
2. Buy a stainless steel reusable container for convenience
3. Buy a water filter for taste
4. Buy a pitcher for storing water in the fridge if you like your water cold
5. Support water charities that fight to keep our water clean, fight the commodification of water, and work to provide safe water access to needy people around the world.

One of these companies is water.org. To learn more about what they do, check out their really cool website at www.water.org

OneTribe.com is proud to support socially responsible organizations such as Water.org. Through sales of our own “water” shirts, we provide a steady and lasting revenue stream for this worthy cause. Whenever a shirt is purchased ($39) through our website, we donate 50% of the price ($19.50) directly to this non-profit. That single donation is enough to provide one youth access to clean water for life.

To buy one of these organic shirts for you or a friend, click here: OneTribe.com/Water