Entry #3: Effects of Bottled Water

Article: The Bottled Water Industry and Its Effect on the Environment

Published: 27 November 2006

Bottled water can make our life easier but have we ever think the bad effects that they can cause to us and the environment. From the article and other articles I’ve read, I can conclude that bottled water cause more bad effects than good effects. Those effects are:

Effect to human.

· By reusing plastic bottles further compromises the quality of the water, due to the fact that more and more phthalate leaches its way into the water as the bottle gets older.

Effects to environment.

· One obvious harm is that of water usage. To make the plastic, it takes at least twice the final amount of water produced (so, for instance, three liters of fresh water are needed to produce one liter of bottled water). That probably adds little to overall fresh-water usage, but the effect on local water sources can be significant (especially depleting groundwater levels and decreasing the downstream water supply).

· The effects on pollution, including greenhouse gas emissions, are decidedly harmful. Plastic is made from oil; an estimated 2.5 million tons of carbon dioxide were generated in 2006 for the production of plastic for bottled water. Then, too, a significant amount fossil fuels and more carbon dioxide is generated in transporting the bottles to the water source, and then transporting the bottled water to stores—especially if the water is obtained overseas. And of course, this further increases our country’s demand for fossil fuels.


· Bottled water produces an incredible amount of solid waste. According to one estimate, nearly 90% of bottles are not recycled. And plastic does not biodegrade, ending up in increasingly over-burdened landfills.

In short, the effects of bottled water should really make us think about what we're putting into our bodies. Finally, for those who wish to become more environmentally friendly or to fight global warming, eliminating bottled-water use is a relatively easy way to shrink one’s “carbon footprint” and other damage to the environment.

p/s: To Dr Amran, sorry for the late entry, i forgot...;)