By Linda Patterson | Observer Contributor
There needs to be more education about the ill effects of bottled water, not only for health reasons but for the environmental issues linked with plastic.
This seven-billion-dollar-a-year industry acquires the water for free (sometimes from areas suffering from major droughts), spends on the average nine cents a gallon to bottle it and then sells it back to us for six dollars a gallon. 40% of bottled water is nothing more than filtered tap water.
Public drinking water must be tested hundreds of times a month in every city. Whereas bottled water is not regulated by the FDA and any testing is performed by the companies producing the water. These test results are not submitted to the FDA and are not accessible to the public.
When private companies have tested the different bottled waters some of their findings included:
- Arsenic
- Bacteria
- BPA – carcinogen
- Stylene – carcinogen
- Toluene – neurotoxin
- 3 types of phthalates – dysfunction within the fetus
Of all these BPA (bisphelol A) is the worse and is considered the most potent toxic chemical known to man. This byproduct of plastic bottles has been linked to:
- Breast cancer
- Prostate cancer
- Impaired immune system
- Obesity
- Diabetes
- ADHD/ADD
- Liver disease
- Low sperm count
This is not the entire list of maladies linked to BPA. BPA also mimics estrogen in the system which poses a problem for those suffering from estrogen-based cancer. So why so we buy so much of it, certainly not because it’s safe or good for us.
Now take a moment to consider the impact on our environment. We consume over 80 million bottles of water a day. 2.5 million bottles are discarded (not recycled) in the U.S. every hour, where do they end up, in land fills and the ocean. In 1999 there was found to be 6% more plastic in the ocean than plankton. In 2008 that number jumped up to 46%. What will it be in 2020? Environmentalists’ believe these bottles to be the biggest problem our environment faces.
This does not even take into consideration the petro chemical refineries that make the bottles, their pollutants and the greenhouse gas emissions created. It takes 17 million barrels of oil annually to produce the plastic bottles we use.
These seemingly harmless bottles of water we’ve all come to believe are so good for us are killing us. The big corporations that profit from our free and dwindling resources are not going to stop production for ethical reasons. The only way we can save our selves and our planet is to STOP buying bottled water.
If you want to drink filtered water (which is what bottled water is) save your self the dollar and visit the bottle filling station out side the common area. Bring your own bottle and save the planet! If you need one the Green Society is selling BPA free water bottles at a bargain for $5.00.
As consumers we all take responsibility for the damage being caused by bottled water. I can no longer purchase bottled water with a clear conscious knowing I am part of the problem. Make a difference, make a better choice!
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