Bottled water is not only convenient when on the go but it’s also a healthy drink option — but many people have vowed to boycott it in favour of tap water after learning how it’s made
It’s something we can’t live without — but many people are now turning their backs on bottled water to instead drink directly from the tap.
Not only are empty bottled water containers clogging up our planet — with around 60 million ending up in landfills every single day — but it also seems they’re not the best option to seek out when you need a drink. According to a new PNAS study, the average litre of bottled water contains almost a quarter of a million nanoplastic fragments.
Researchers at Columbia and Rutgers University, both in America, analysed five samples of three common bottled water brands and found nanoplastic levels ranging from 110,000 to 400,000 per litre, with an average of around 240,000.
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The scientists discovered much of the plastic came from the bottles themselves — but say it’s not currently known whether the ingestion of plastic poses a serious health risk. However, the process of making water bottles has also come under criticism due to the huge amount of waste it creates.
Chris Hogan, a spokesman for the International Bottled Water Association, says while “bottled water products are extremely efficient in terms of water use compared to some other packaged beverages”, the amount of water going into making the bottle could be up to six or seven times what’s inside the bottle.
YouTube channel Mashed shared another insight into how water bottles are actually made in their video titled ‘Foods you’ll definitely avoid after you know how they are made’. A statement reads: “Business Insider suggests that the general rule of thumb is that, however much water is in the bottle, you can estimate it took about three times that much to make the container.
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“And it’s not just water they use, either, it takes about 17 million barrels of oil to make all the bottles for the bottled water sold in a year; the same amount that would have kept one million cars running for that same year.
“Don’t go thinking the water you’re drinking is much better than tap water, either. Food and Water Watch found that 52 per cent of bottled water in 2009 came from the same public sources that feed your tap. By 2018, that figure had risen to 64 per cent. Worse still, bottled water isn’t even subject to the same water safety processes and standards that have to be met by public water sources. It’s just more wasteful.”
Commenting on this video, one user said: “I’m more disturbed by the bottled water than anything else.” Another user added: “I think the bottled water is more devastating to the environment than cheese.”
A third user said: “The bottled water stuff was horrible, true – but I think the real horror is that someone actually agreed to a contract that must have read something like ‘We take as much water as we want, you get a few shiny beads. Deal?’ Instead of going after the company, I’d go after the person who signed this. Even if it’s just to find out what else has been signed, but doesn’t get as much public recognition…”
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