the tap initiative

TAKE AWAY PLASTIC

The problem?

bottled water.

Every year, over 30 billion plastic water bottles are sold in the United States alone. This industry generates an incredible amount of waste with the manufacture and disposal of a product whose production was unnecessary to begin with. The following pages illustrate the environ-mental impact created by plastic water bottles, and why we should support the movement to take away plastic.

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It takes liters of water

to produce one-liter bottle.

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The production of bottled water uses resources including water and oil to create disposable plastic containers. Unnecessary energy goes into the manufacture and transportation of these bottles across oceans and continents, usually towards first world countries that already have safe and clean water available from the public tap.

The plastic needed to make bottles for America alone uses 17 million barrels of crude oil annually. This is equivalent to the fuel needed to keep 1 million vehicles on the road for 12 months.

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Beverage companies manufacture demand for an unnecessary product by advertising that bottled

water is cleaner and tastier than tap water, even though scientific analyzation and blind taste tests consistently

disprove these claims. Through expensive advertising, they generate a sense of unease about the quality

of tap water in order to increase profit.

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15of the cost of bottled water is spent on advertising.

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Bottled water consumption more than over the course of one decade.

1997

2007

doubled

13.4 gallons per person

29.3 gallons per person

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Over the last twenty years, bottled water has exploded as a commodity that is being commercialized and sold for profit. Before the 1990s, the concept of spending money on a resource as readily available as water seemed absurd. Now, we don’t think twice about buying water from a vending machine.


If Americans drank the recommended eight glasses of water per day from the tap, it would cost a total of 49 cents per year. Drinking this

amount of bottled water would cost $1,400 annually. Every day people are throwing away their money on a product that isn’t cleaner or

safer than water that comes from the tap.

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A sip of bottled water costs times as much as a sip of tap water.

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Only of water bottles are recycled each year.13

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The majority of plastic bottles are discarded after one-time use, and only a very small portion of them are recycled. Even when the bottles are recycled, the plastic created from the process can only be used in non-food items. No matter what happens to the bottles after we use them, they are creating a negative environmental impact.

The energy conserved from recycling a single plastic bottle can light a 60-watt light bulb for six hours.

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The disposal of a bottle of water is just as environ-mentally destructive as the manufacturing process.

Many of the discarded bottles are shipped out of the United States and into poorer countries. There,

the bottles either pile up and create enormous garbage mountains, or are burned and emit

harmful chemicals into the atmosphere.

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of plastic water bottles end up in landfills or incinerators.

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27 hours Americans consume enough bottles to circle the equator...

Every

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Americans are now drinking more bottled water than milk or beer. The waste generated from this unsus-tainable habit is shocking, and the environmental impact of plastic bottles cannot be ignored for much longer. It takes up to 1,000 years for a bottle to degrade in a landfill, and we are running out of space on the planet to store them.

Plastic water bottles are the fastest growing form of municipal waste in the United States.


The sale of bottled water in the United States is growing at a rate of 5.4% per year. We are

buying and discarding plastic at an alarming speed, and our planet cannot sustain our

wasteful lifestyle. The single most effective way we can decrease our plastic trash is by

eliminating our reliance on bottled water.

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2 weeksthey could stretch to the moon.

...and in


40%of bottled water comes from municipal sources.

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22%

Almost half of all bottled water actually comes right from the tap. Advertising techniques make us believe that the expensive water we purchase is coming from faraway mountain streams and waterfalls, when in reality it’s the same water that comes straight from our kitchen sink. We are paying for a product we can get almost free at home.

of bottled water tested by the Natural Resources Defense Council in a 2008 study contained contaminant levels that exceeded strict state health limits.


By carrying reusable bottles and filling them with water from the tap, you

can reduce your impact on the environment and your use of precious natural resources.

Breaking the habit of buying bottled water is also healthier and will save you a substantial amount of money every year.

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The solution?

tap water.21www.takeawayplastic.com

sourcespage fact source

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30 billion bottles sold in the U.S. per year

3 liters needed to produce 1 bottle

Fuel used to power 1 million vehicles

Scientific analyzation and blind taste tests

15% of cost goes towards advertising

Consumption doubled in one decade

Cost of drinking tap vs. bottled water per year

Bottled water costs 1000 times as much as tap

13% of plastic bottles are recycled

Energy to light a 60w light bulb for six hours

Didier, Suzanna. “Water Bottle Pollution Facts.” Green Living. National Geographic. May, 2012.

Goldschein, Eric. “15 Outrageous Facts About the Bottled Water Industry.” Business Insider. October, 2011.

Catherine Clarke Fox. “Drinking Water: Bottled or From the Tap?” National Geographic. March, 2011.

Chamberlain, Gary L. Troubled Waters: Religion, Ethics and the Global Water Crisis. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield, 2008.

Ferrier, Catherine. “Bottled Water, Understanding a Social Phenomenon.” World Wildlife Fund. April, 2001.

“Bottled Water.” U.S. Government Accountability Office. June, 2009.

Tomás Bosque. “7 Bottled Water Myths — Busted.” Ban the Bottle. March, 2012.

“Corporate Water Privatization.” Corporate Accountability Committee Water Privatization Task Force. Sierra Club. April, 2008.

“Bottled Water: Pure Drink or Pure Hype?” National Resources Defense Council. April, 2008.

“Plastics: Sustainability and Recycling.” American Chemistry Council. January, 2012.

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page fact source

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80% end up in landfills or incinerators

27 hours to circle the equator with bottles

More bottled water than milk or beer

1000 years for a bottle to degrade in a landfill

Fastest growing form of municipal waste

5.4% annual growth rate of water bottle sales

2 weeks to stretch to the moon

40% of water comes from municipal sources

22% contains high contaminant levels

“Corporate Water Privatization.” Corporate Accountability Committee Water Privatization Task Force. Sierra Club. April, 2008.

“How Much Do We Drink?” Environmental Working Group. January, 2011.

Goldschein, Eric. “15 Outrageous Facts About the Bottled Water Industry.” Business Insider. October, 2011.

Arnold, Emily. “Bottled Water: Pouring Resources Down the Drain.” Container Recycling Institute. August, 2006.

“Think Outside the Bottle.” Corporate Accountability International. June, 2010.

Theen, Andrew. “Ivy Colleges Shunning Bottled Water.” Bloomberg. March, 2012.

“How Much Do We Drink?” Environmental Working Group. January, 2011.

“Bottled Water Debate Splashes Congress.” CBSNews. September, 2008.

“Bottled Water: Pure Drink or Pure Hype?” National Resources Defense Council. April, 2008.


TAKE AWAY PLASTIC

the tap initiative

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