I just read that in the USA, Water became the most consumed bottled product in 2017. Here is Oz I am pretty certain it is still the various offerings of Coke. Not sure which I find most disturbing.
Perhaps even more disturbing, here in Australia at least, is the fact that the bottled water is often no better at all than the local tap water, and that the same multinational companies that sell the soft drinks also sell the bottled water, ripping it out of the ground under license or not and in places significantly affecting the local ecology.
Nestles
@hankster Never Nestleanything. The Swiss company urges 3rd world women to use tainted water & dilute formula instead of breast feeding infants. The idea is to make them feel modern so they will buy formula. Diluted there is less nutrition, with tainted water there are diseases & as we all know nothing is better than mother's milk.Nothing Nestle
ever.
Whats sad is the plastic left behind.
Not only does it leave plastic trash, it's a waste of money in times when people have little.
Capitalism pollutes our water then charges us for clean water.
I don't buy water in plastic bottles... but then, I don't have any use for water as I only drink wine
There's an old folk song "Stewball":
Old Stewball was a racehorse, and I wish he were mine
He never drank water, he always drank wine
@Akfishlady I have my coffee so strong there's no room left in the cup for water!
Anything in a plastic bottle is disturbing. Recycling is becoming overburdened and the Chinese market for our recyclables is drying up. We really are a wasteful people.
Here the plastic bottles are shredded. The plastic used is ideal for 3D printers and there is a much larger return for shredded plastic than the raw form. My question is that the plastic is still there and in a new form which may be even harder to recycle. Have you seen the latest National Geographic? [nationalgeographic.com]
@JackPedigo, as long as the high graded plastics (1 & 2) don't get mixed with grades 3, 4, 5 etc. - which happens where i live - it is possible to recycle the material, creating (though inferior) products from it. but eventually there's nothing the increasingly inferior stuff can be turned into.
@walklightly It is a hard issue. Here we have an independent recycling, trash transfer and take-it-or-leave-it facility. Volunteers run the recycling section (and all the other sections - there are only 3 paid positions) and everything is strictly controlled. I also just heard that a neighboring town on the mainland passed an ordnance banning single use plastic bags. Here is a snapshot of the town which is a tourist mecca. Hold the view and it will change. [lovelaconner.com]
@JackPedigo, la conner appears to be a precious place to live. i used to be really happy living in the little bubble of byron that is a holiday destination. until developers kept coming, & from a certain point i couldn't afford to live there any more. now it's more like this.
It's the same problem everywhere. Desirable places get large influxes of people. As places are hit with bad weather due to Climate Change or growth people are pushed out. Overpopulation is always at the root of all our issues. La Conner is one side of the Skagit river (3rd biggest in the state). On the other side is a large native reservation which is poor. Jobs are scarce and many residents are artists or retirees or small farmers. Zero Population Growth is what is critical for the whole world.
I know this is true and find the basic fact disturbing. When my late partner's daughter would visit us both in Seattle and on island she would buy a case of bottled water. Seattle has some of the best and cleanest water in the country ( [seattle.gov] watch the slide show). Better yet
Thought in Oz beer was ? Lol The offerings of sugary drinks is problem world wide. here in SA we now have the first sugar tax and it hits people like coke big time. We also learned to use 25 ltr of water per day per person because of the drought. Humans in 1st world countries like America waste a lot of water !
I don't drink but id rather buy beer than fucking water for that money.
@LeighShelton
Why do you think there are so many drinkers ? LOL
@VAL3941 of course
@LeighShelton
In SA beer us cheaper than petrol too !
Many of the bottling companies have been found to be bottling water from the same source as homes. They filter it (maybe), then bottle it, and sell it to those foolish enough to believe it's "better", or more pure somehow. Then there's the other companies that are pumping down aquifers worldwide , as much as they want - all for the price of an occasional pumping permit. And people pay stupid prices for the privilege of drinking it out of plastic-damn-bottles !
Coke & other hydration companies are pumping the ground water out of the aquifer in Michigan. Resulting in huge profits for the poor overly taxed multi billion dollar corporations & sink holes developing where there should be none. All at tax payers expense as we learn to purchase water instead of demanding clean water for all via our government.
While watering the garden yesterday I had a drink out of the hose which is from my well, still alive this morning. This is what Canadians drink, you just drive right up and get some Tims, too bad they don't serve beer .
I don't understand the bottled water craze when my taps full of the stuff.
I have never bought bottled water, lots of other stuff in bottles, never water.
Probably full of fluoride and chlorine.
@Ellatynemouth I've managed just fine for 57 years
It's not just Flint that has contaminated water. Many cities in Michigan have a lead issue. Not to mention hundreds of cities across the United States. Jordan Chariton always does a lot of reporting on this issue. It's pretty horrifying. I can't blame people for wanting to buy bottled water.
We are the last generation to have safely drank from streams (Rocky Mtns). Then giardia came and the glacier feeding Boulder had to be chemicalized. Control the water, control the masses.
Same here, as a kid we went bush walking in the mountains, only rule was to drink running not stagnant water. The when I was 30, had a property in the mountains, waterfall, clear, over rock, and I got giardia.
I never drink soda and haven't for years. Almost no bottled water, usually tap. I will sometimes buy mineral or carbonated water.
The greatest consumption of anything here in the USA isn't of what comes out of faucets OR bottles. It is consumption of the toxic products of television; 'news' in particular. Our whole population is afflicted with Bovis Scatagenetic Syndrome. It is a form of acquired immune deficiency of the ability to reason. Theological fanaticism and Social Democrat Fantasyism are its most lethal and terminal stages.
I have a filtered container in my fridge. There is most definitely a difference in the amount of metals in unfiltered water as opposed to the water from the filters I use. I have a metal detecting pen and the ppm is much higher and less safe in unfiltered tap water whereas newly filtered water reads 000 ppm. I buy enough filters for a little bit over a year for about $100. Bottled water would cost much more and I don't know the source of that water or if they are just giving us marketing fluff about it being "pure" etc. I get kidney stones and I am not willing to roll the dice on unfiltered water damaging my kidneys any more.