Should Plastic Water Bottles be Banned?

In today’s society, plastic water bottles are ubiquitous. To name just a few places, they are prevalent at supermarkets, cafes, and amusement parks. For obvious reasons, they are convenient for many people. Instead of logging around their own refillable water bottle the whole day, people can just purchase bottled water and then throw it away once they are done drinking it. Therefore, it is no wonder the water bottle business is going strong. Bottled water businesses such as Poland Springs, Deer Park, Dasani, and Nestle bring in millions of dollars each year. In the time being, it doesn’t seem like these companies will stop bringing in revenue: bottled water continues to be a popular choice for many consumers in the busy world that we live in today.

So what are other positives of having bottled water besides the convenience aspect? First of all, it can be argued that they provide a health choice for consumers. In today’s food supply, sugary drinks are filling the shelves at supermarkets more than ever before. When I go to a supermarket, it is hard to find healthy options that are available in the drink aisle. Soda, energy drinks, and sugary juices are pushed before us. Because bottled water is usually always an option, more people are easily able to choose this over other an unhealthy drink. There have been statistics to back up this claim. In August 2017, the National Park Service banned bottled water from its park. The result was more sales of sweetened drinks and the removal of the healthiest option. The Service eventually had to to reinstate the policy to allow the sale of bottled water. Additionally in 2013, the University of Vermont found that banning the sale of bottled water led to greater sales in higher calorie, sweeter drinks. The sale of juices increased by 11% and the sale of sweetened beverages also increased by 10%. Therefore, it could be argued that America would be an unintentionally encouraging unhealthy habits with the ban of bottled water.

Perhaps an even stronger point in favor of the sale of bottled water is its ability to serve as a practical emergency water supply. If for some reason, tap water becomes unsafe to drink, bottled water becomes a reliable alternative for many people. In the case of Flint, MI, bottled water became a necessity due to the high iron and lead levels present in tap water. Those who bathed or drank this water were effected quite negatively by this “poisonous water.” Therefore, a safer alternative was the use of bottled water. Between early 2016 and mid 2018, bottles of water were given to residents so that they could avoid using tap water for their day-to-day actives. A similar action was taken when it was discovered that tap water in Louisiana had high lead concentrations. Once again, bottled water served as a suitable replacement for the people within the area.

This brings up an interesting perspective about bottled water. Without its sale, many people would struggle to survive during times of crisis. How would people survive without bottled water during a hurricane for example? During Hurricane Katrina, the role of bottle water was surely a positive one. People lost their homes and essentially their water supply, so they had no choice but to turn to bottled water. Even during long power outages, bottled water serves as an effective way to obtain drinkable water. When there was a 3 day power outage in my area, I had no choice but to drink several Poland Springs bottled water.

Now as expected, plastic bottled water also has drawbacks. As you may know, bottled water creates many environmental problems. It is estimated that about 70% of plastic water bottles are not recycled. Considering the fact that more than 300 million people live in the U.S., this statistic means that millions off water bottles are not properly disposed of. So where do these water bottles end up? Unfortunately, they occupy space in landfills and even fill up the Earth’s oceans, contaminating many animals’ living spaces. These bottles contribute the most waste in oceans along with cigarette buds and plastic food wrappers. An alarming estimate predicts that by 2050, the weight of plastic waste will surpass the number of fish in the ocean (and bottled water be a heavy contributor to this). Therefore, banning plastic bottled water would significantly have positive effects on the environment. About 68 billion fewer plastic water bottles would be manufactured if there was a ban in the U.S.

Also, a ban on bottled water would result in better health for many Americans. Although there is strict regulation and testing for tap water, the same cannot be said about bottled water. In a study conducted by the University of New York and Orb Media, it was found that plastic bottled water had twice as much micro-plastics than tap water. Furthermore, the manufacturing of bottled water releases dangerous chemicals, such as PET. People who live close by to the manufacturing plants are at a higher risk for experiencing birth defects and illness.

Overall, plastic water bottles do have their pros and cons. The revenue generated by many companies make it hard for a firm ban to be in place. Many people rely on getting their water in the form of bottled water as well. However, as more plastic water bottles contaminate our oceans, it will be interesting to see how humans make efforts to clean this mess up. Although there are actions in place, more plastic water bottles are being manufactured than ever before and causing harm to the places we inhabit today.

 

Sources:

https://www.procon.org/headline.php?headlineID=005401