Article Archive >> Environment EarthTalk: Bottled water: a
ridiculous waste? Photo courtesy Ryan McVay, Thinkstock Bottled
water: a ridiculous waste? Dear EarthTalk: Isn't it a waste that
we buy water in plastic bottles when it is basically free out of
our taps? Even health food stores, which should know better,
sell it like crazy. When did Earth's most abundant and free
natural resource become a commercial 'beverage'? -- A. Jacobs,
via e-mail Bottled water has been a big-selling commercial
beverage around the world since the late 1980s. According to the
Worldwatch Institute, global bottled water consumption has more
than quadrupled since 1990. Today Americans consume over 30
billion liters of water out of some 50 billion (mostly plastic)
bottles every year. The Beverage Marketing Association reports
that in 2008 bottled water comprised over 28 percent of the U.S.
liquid refreshment beverage market. The only bottled drinks
Americans consume more of are carbonated sodas like Coke and
Pepsi. And frankly, yes, i