This month's fast company has an article about the $50 billion bottled water business. Here are some of the highlights (low lights) and quotes.
-24% of bottled water we buy is tap water repackaged by Coke and Pepsi
-Fiji Water produces more than a million bottles a day, while more than half the people in Fiji do not have reliable drinking water.
-We pitch into landfills 38 billion water bottles a year--in excess of $1 billion worth of plastic.
-Worldwide, 1 billion people have no reliable source of drinking water; 3000 children a day die from diseases caught from tainted water.
"Bottled water isn't healthier, or safer, than tap water. Indeed, while the United States is the single biggest consumer in the world's $50 billion bottled water market, it is the only one of the top four- the others are Brazil, China, and Mexico--that has universally reliable tap water. Tap water in this country, with rare exceptions, is impressively safe. It is monitored constantly, and the test results made public."
-24% of bottled water we buy is tap water repackaged by Coke and Pepsi
-Fiji Water produces more than a million bottles a day, while more than half the people in Fiji do not have reliable drinking water.
-We pitch into landfills 38 billion water bottles a year--in excess of $1 billion worth of plastic.
-Worldwide, 1 billion people have no reliable source of drinking water; 3000 children a day die from diseases caught from tainted water.
"Bottled water isn't healthier, or safer, than tap water. Indeed, while the United States is the single biggest consumer in the world's $50 billion bottled water market, it is the only one of the top four- the others are Brazil, China, and Mexico--that has universally reliable tap water. Tap water in this country, with rare exceptions, is impressively safe. It is monitored constantly, and the test results made public."
The article closes, "once you understand the resources mustered to deliver the bottle of water, it's reasonable to ask as you reach for the next bottle, not just 'does the value to me equal the 99 cents I'm about to spend?' but 'does the value equal the impact I'm about to leave behind?' Simply asking the question takes the carelessness out of the transaction. And once you understand where the water comes from, and how it got here, it's hard to look at that bottle in the same way again."
I figure 50 Billion dollars could solve the world's water problems. What do you think?
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