The Future of Bottled Water
Perhaps it's selective perception, but I feel that I'm seeing a growing number of articles on bottled water these days - and a growing tension.
The footprint of bottled water on society is growing rapidly, drawing critiques like this Fast Company article (actually, quite a balanced and thoughtful article), and policy reaction like the St. Louis school mentioned here. We've also seen Pepsi recently admit that it's Aquafina water comes from the Missouri River... the same source as local tap water.
At the same time, we see Bottled Water manufacturers ramping up production, and unveiling new packaging, as in this Evian bottle.
Is there an emerging backlash against bottled water? We've changed our habits to consume bottled water, will the environmental impact drive us to return to the tap? What trend do you see here... and is the ground-swell strong enough to have any impact in the short-term?
The footprint of bottled water on society is growing rapidly, drawing critiques like this Fast Company article (actually, quite a balanced and thoughtful article), and policy reaction like the St. Louis school mentioned here. We've also seen Pepsi recently admit that it's Aquafina water comes from the Missouri River... the same source as local tap water.
At the same time, we see Bottled Water manufacturers ramping up production, and unveiling new packaging, as in this Evian bottle.
Is there an emerging backlash against bottled water? We've changed our habits to consume bottled water, will the environmental impact drive us to return to the tap? What trend do you see here... and is the ground-swell strong enough to have any impact in the short-term?
posted by ROInnovation at 9:05 AM
3 Comments:
I was actually thinking about this yeterday...
Apparently there has been a backlash against bottled water in San Francisco so much so that some restaurants aren't serving it at all and are rather giving customers jugs of water...
I know in Australia every restaurant you go into has a fridge or an cooler that you can easily access.
Makes sense not only for the environment but also for our pockets!
(Adam) I think that there are some interesting developments though in the bottled water industry for example: http://www.onewater.org.uk/which donates profits to fund clean water in Africa. Also the move towards pro-active health and wellbeing waters e.g. http://www.glaceau.com/ which produces Vitamin Water which helps you keep up your vitamin levels.
I think it all comes down to convenience, personally filling up a bottle of water to take on the train in the morning is just too much hassle for me. But then I also wouldn't pay the price for Fiji water for example. Which also having been shipped most of the way around the world is hardly eco friendly.
It's about convenience, and maybe also about measuring. The health messages specifcy the AMOUNT of water we are meant to drink per day. I think a lot of people - especially women - use the bottle to make sure they are reaching their quota...
just a thought...
Post a Comment
<< Home