Plastic bottles dilute natural benefits of water

Alyssa Roush Guest Writer

Over the past few years Americans have adopted a new favorite beverage, which according to The Wall Street Journal is more popular than beer or coffee: bottled water. This “chic” drink, however, is extremely harmful to the environment. Sure, it seems to make sense to grab a bottle as you exit the door or go to the gym, but does convenience trump morality?

According to the World Wildlife Fund 2001 report, Americans seem to be under the impression that bottled water is not only handier, but also cleaner. In fact, tap water is generally healthier than bottled water. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) found that 25 percent of bottled water, including the popular Dasani and Aquafina, is merely re-processed municipal or city water.

Moreover, bottled water is not regulated by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), but rather by the FDA, which only requires bottled water to lack E. coli and fecal coliform presence. The EPA, however, requires that tap water be disinfected and screened for a host of bacteria. In addition to lacking standards, bottled water also faces another danger: plastic. If a bottle of water is stored in cool and dark places for too long, harmful chemicals such as phthalates or Bisphenol A could leak into the water. Still think that bottled water is healthier?

Clearly, bottled water is a marketing scheme. So why has Vassar succumbed to this economic ploy? At The Retreat there are vast amounts of Aquafina for sale. Sounds refreshing, but it is simply municipal water with less minerals, such as fluoride. Last September, The Retreat sold 4,706 bottles of water.

Well, if the minimal regulations and capitalist promotion of bottled water do not impress you, the facts of consumption should. In 2004, according to the Pacific Institute, Americans reportedly consumed 25.8 billion liters of bottled water, the most out of any country that year. Although the bottles may seem small, think about how much plastic went into 25.8 billion liters. As reported by the Earth Policy Institute, the plastic bottle construction for water alone uses 1.5 million barrels of oil annually; that’s enough to fuel 100,000 cars for a year! This, combined with the reported 22 million tons of liquid that has to be transported locally, nationally and internationally, is ridiculous.

According to Director of Campus Dining Maureen King, Vassar sold 61,500 bottled of water last year. A bottle of water uses 0.41 gallons of oil for plastic manufacturing alone. This means that last year at Vassar 25,215 gallons of oil were purchased by students through bottled water sales. Now, factor in the oil consumption of transportation costs, and the overall oil use is outrageous. Why, when oil is such a scarce resource, would Vassar want to fund such an wasteful enterprise?

Now consider this: In The United States the Container Recycling Institute reported that only 14 percent of the bottles of water are recycled. That’s 30 million bottles a day! On top of that, each one of those bottles takes 1,000 years to biodegrade if buried. Is it really worth sacrificing the environment out of pure convenience?

Granted, Vassar is not the rest of the world. Many would call our campus liberal and progressive. We have recycling bins all over campus and an environmental table in our bookstore that sells Nalgene and Sigg bottles. Then why do I see so many people drinking bottled water every day? Moreover, why is it that I still see bottles of water that never make it to the recycling bin? Is Vassar, unlike the rest of America, too thirsty for convenience?

Not only is the plastic dangerous to the environment, but the water extraction process is also harmful. Companies such as Nestle remove up to 260 million gallons of water each year from single plants in rural areas, according to the Organic Consumers Organization. Often, damage to particular watersheds endangers the local residential, agricultural and fishery resources.

At Vassar, we hold a local farmer’s market every Thursday on the Alumnae Lawn in the fall. Also, the College and the students are making more of an effort than ever to reach out to the community, so why are we supporting bottled water? This entire enterprise of unnecessary consumption, waste of natural resources, and harm to local communities goes against many moral values of Vassar. Why is it, then, that when the Vassar Greens had a table at Earth Week displaying 120 empty water bottles to represent how much water Vassar goes through every day, that Vassar did not pay more attention? Clearly, this wasteful nature is rooted in the lazy attitudes of Americans, but Vassar is beyond this mind-set. We need to make a change. Maybe Campus Dining should sell less bottled water, or there should be signs of bottled water facts around the areas where bottled water is for sale. Ignorance is not an excuse for Vassar students and faculty.

In the end, though, the most important measure that needs to be taken is by you. If you really must buy a bottle of water, make sure that you recycle. Most importantly, just stop using bottled water altogether. Buy a Nalgene or a Sigg—it’s certainly cheaper than buying bottled water all of the time. Sure, you have to clean them every once in a while, but what is five minutes in comparison to the 1,000 years that it takes for a buried bottle of water to biodegrade?