I was traveling in Whistler about a week ago when the topic of bottled water came up. Bottled water has become a fashion accessory and was quickly adopted by many people. There are so many different types of bottled water out there, they appeal to our personalities and our lifestyle, they are advertised by famous people (see ad featuring Lance Armstrong at the end) and they come in cute colored bottles. Some people choose a “type” of bottled water that fits with their image and their lifestyle (or with the image that they want to convey to the world) Not to mention that all these bottles come with a nice price tag, which is usually another way of defining your lifestyle.
The Japanese seemed to have figured out how to work the “Bottled Water” system. A brand of water called Hamakko Doshi became the best seller at convenience stores in Yokohama City. Another brand of water calle
d Sapporo No Mizu became a hit in convenience stores in Sapporo; Tokyosui was an overnight success in the city of Tokyo. North Americans have Aquafina, PepsiCo’s branded water. So what do all these brands of water have in common? That they are all taken from the same sources as public water; yeah they are all tap water.
So maybe you do not buy water because of lifestyle choices. Maybe you are like me; when I buy water, I usually look for the cheapest one I can find. Why do we buy water then? One of the reasons is convenience. It is so easy to pick up a bottle of water when we need it. They are inexpensive and very accessible. This convenient access to bottled water is hurting the planet; we are disposing millions of plastic bottles all over the world. Companies are shipping heavy containers of water across the world; this is wasting energy and resources. And well, who wants to piss off our friend Al Gore.
According to the World Health Organization some types of bottled waters contain so many minerals that they are not classified for consumption as water but as food. These types of bottled mineral waters should be consumed carefully, especially when giving them to kids and babies. This is more accurate when referring to some of the European mineral waters. Furthermore, we need to consider that the majority of the world does not consume bottled water because of taste, lifestyle or convenience. A large portion of the world consumes bottled water because there are no clean water sources in the region or because there is no infrastructure in place to provide clean water.
Just for fun: Which are the three countries with the highest consumption of bottled water in the world? 1) United States 2) Mexico 3) China (source: National Geographic)
And now: Mr. Lance Armstrong promoting water. He is also doing a little product placement; please note the yellow livestrong wristband on his hand, which also happens to be holding the bottle of water. What a coincidence Mr. Armstrong.
The Japanese seemed to have figured out how to work the “Bottled Water” system. A brand of water called Hamakko Doshi became the best seller at convenience stores in Yokohama City. Another brand of water calle
d Sapporo No Mizu became a hit in convenience stores in Sapporo; Tokyosui was an overnight success in the city of Tokyo. North Americans have Aquafina, PepsiCo’s branded water. So what do all these brands of water have in common? That they are all taken from the same sources as public water; yeah they are all tap water.So maybe you do not buy water because of lifestyle choices. Maybe you are like me; when I buy water, I usually look for the cheapest one I can find. Why do we buy water then? One of the reasons is convenience. It is so easy to pick up a bottle of water when we need it. They are inexpensive and very accessible. This convenient access to bottled water is hurting the planet; we are disposing millions of plastic bottles all over the world. Companies are shipping heavy containers of water across the world; this is wasting energy and resources. And well, who wants to piss off our friend Al Gore.
According to the World Health Organization some types of bottled waters contain so many minerals that they are not classified for consumption as water but as food. These types of bottled mineral waters should be consumed carefully, especially when giving them to kids and babies. This is more accurate when referring to some of the European mineral waters. Furthermore, we need to consider that the majority of the world does not consume bottled water because of taste, lifestyle or convenience. A large portion of the world consumes bottled water because there are no clean water sources in the region or because there is no infrastructure in place to provide clean water.
Just for fun: Which are the three countries with the highest consumption of bottled water in the world? 1) United States 2) Mexico 3) China (source: National Geographic)
And now: Mr. Lance Armstrong promoting water. He is also doing a little product placement; please note the yellow livestrong wristband on his hand, which also happens to be holding the bottle of water. What a coincidence Mr. Armstrong.
3 comments:
Hey, I didn't know you're all environmental! Awesome ;) hehe, and ya I agree about the water and I've thought about it often myself. I even heard a discuss about this on the radio the other day.
hey Raluca,
well I am not necessarily an environmentalist, I just thought people need to be aware of the impact our lifestyle might have on the planet.
How are you?
And of course there's the old profit motive. A friend used to work the door at a club in Jersey that would offer Rave Nights. Management would charge $4 for a 250ml water bottle, and of course thirsty kids high on ecstacy would pay it. In the spirit of recycling, the club staff would scoop the empties off the floor, refill them from a tap in the kitchen, and resell them.
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