Photo by jillclardy (Creative Commons)
Everyone knows that the world’s landfills are piled high with empty bottles of Dasani, Evian, Aquafina, and the rest.
But there’s more to the impact of our bottled water obsession than the heaps of plastic empties.
The good folks at Environmental Graffiti break down the true cost of bottled water – factoring in everything from the bottle manufacturing process to the oil burned in transport.
Of course, in many parts of the world the tap water isn’t safe – for travelers or locals. Matador member Josh Kearns is on the case: check out his ground-breaking research into safe and affordable water filtration systems at Aqueous Solutions.
How do you handle water concerns when you travel? Let us know in the comments!
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4 Comments... join the discussion!
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correction, (can't seem to do this with link)…environmentally friendly packaging is meant as scarcasim and travelling Canada in Ontario Parks…where we've started. I advocate for proper waste disposal because of the amount of exporting of harm our North American society does and with so many people unaware of these issues they continue to purchase and not hold companies making the profits responsible for their end product. Recycling is a caveat word most times and consumers need to be aware of this. As we travel through Ontario Parks right now we are located at one where there is a boil water advisory because the government will not fund the money to this park to change the filtration system. It's up to individual parks to fund raise their own money, it's outragous. At the moment we are volunteering, my husband and three kids in cleaning up the park before the summer and I will be trying to raise money to help fund them better. The government needs to do their part in this vast problem. We boil water opposed to buying it. We buy reusable containers to fill the water with when hiking and biking.
Again great article.
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This is a great way to show consumers what the true cost of wetting their lips is. I feel companies like the bottle water companies need to start taking action into spending more profit into proper waste disposal management of their products. Cost of proper waste management can be extremely costly to the consumer who pays the tax to purchase and tax to dispose of while companies use their profits in producing more environmentally friendly packaging. As we travel through Canada in our RV staying in Ontario Provincial Parks it’s unbelievable how many plastic water bottles with these companies names on it I pick up off the ground, around the lakes, wetlands and in beaver ponds. Although it is consumers who need to be responsible for finding the proper disposal it’s up to these companies to give incentives. Like Tim Hortons I wrote about when they spend millions in advertising and packaging for Roll up the Rim they should also be advertising and giving incentives to Roll up the Bin.
Great Article
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correction, (can’t seem to do this with link)…environmentally friendly packaging is meant as scarcasim and travelling Canada in Ontario Parks…where we’ve started. I advocate for proper waste disposal because of the amount of exporting of harm our North American society does and with so many people unaware of these issues they continue to purchase and not hold companies making the profits responsible for their end product. Recycling is a caveat word most times and consumers need to be aware of this. As we travel through Ontario Parks right now we are located at one where there is a boil water advisory because the government will not fund the money to this park to change the filtration system. It’s up to individual parks to fund raise their own money, it’s outragous. At the moment we are volunteering, my husband and three kids in cleaning up the park before the summer and I will be trying to raise money to help fund them better. The government needs to do their part in this vast problem. We boil water opposed to buying it. We buy reusable containers to fill the water with when hiking and biking.
Again great article.
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