Essay about Dangers of Buying Bottled Water

However, in response to the previous paragraph there are plenty of people in the world who are for bottled water and think that it is worth the cost. “Bottled water has the lightest environmental footprint of all packaged beverages”. (Lauria, 665).

In my opinion, I believe water is a right that every human requires and should be able to have access to. Water is fundamental to humans and is essential for life. Coca Cola says it best about humans and water, they explain how they

The economy is hurt when people spend money on bottled water, which in fact tastes the same as tap water, but costs much more. Not only do people waste money on water that tastes the same as tap, but they waste money on water that helps destroy the environment. Not only does bottled water cost more, but it takes money away that could be used to help upgrade and provide cleaner tap water. People would like to save money, but they spend it on bottled water which tie in with tap water. “Nearly 40 percent of bottled water is simply filtered water filled in a bottle. Humans pay 1900 times

In research, we reviewed national laws and the constitutions of countries across the world, to determine how successful governments were in both acknowledging a human right to water, and enforcing it. Our findings varied, and rather than creating a comprehensive list of water laws by country, I will refer you to The Water Law and Standards Website — a joint

Water is essential to life, scientific fact, not debatable (Tracy). More than half of all Americans drink bottled water; about a third of the public consumes it regularly (Olsen). Many drink or buy bottled water simply because they believe it is of better quality, cleaner, and better tasting. On the contrary, several individuals do not know the cons of drinking bottled water. Today, there are many misconceptions and myths about bottled water. Many people are uneducated about what goes into our bottles and how it not only affects us but also our environment. In the article “The New Oil” by Jeneen Interlandi and Ryan Tracy they discuss the issues that have to do with water and the privatization of it. They believe there is a crisis and something has to be done. Due to the cost, pollution, shortage, and health issues, bottled water should be outlawed. Water should not be controlled by water bottle companies and should not be allowed to be sold in plastic bottles.

Whether water is a human commodity or basic human right has become a large problem around the world while dealing with the availability of clean drinking water in developing societies. If water is either recognized to be a right or a commodity, many complications come to these developing countries in several social and political aspects. A human right is a freedom and a right that belongs to everyone in the world. Water as a human right gives everyone the right to water as

The world revolves around water. Without it, organisms would cease to exist. With that being said, humans depend on it on a daily basis. In the documentary “Thirst”, it covers the controversy of water privatization in Bolivia, India, and Stockton. All of these regions are opposed to water privatization by the powerful corporations that operate in the area. The people living in these places believe that water privatization negatively affects their control of their water, because it a human right. On the other hand, the multinational corporations believe that water is an economic resource that should be bought and sold, for profit. I believe that water should not have the ability to be privatized.

In Peter Gleick’s “Selling Bottled Water: The Modern Medicine Show” and Cynthia Barnett’s “Business in a Bottle”, bottled water is argued to be an excessive commodity falsely advertised as healthier and more beneficial than tap water to society and the environment. Both authors discuss that bottled water is actually equivalent in quality to tap water and in some cases even more hazardous to the human body. Public water itself is a less expensive resource that is more accessible to the masses. However, due to fraudulent companies focused on profit and the lack of effective oversight, people are deterred from realizing that there does not need to be an alternative to municipal water. Gleick

In the United States not only does every state have tap water running through its veins but also varying brands of bottled water in every supermarket, corner store, and gas station.

Whilst watching the Tapped documentary I learned how important water is and how it has a bigger impact than I once expected. One thing that surprised me is how much freedom these water companies have. Many of the water companies can take water from an area and they do not have to ask for permission. At one point in the documentary, they discussed companies taking water from a lake even though there was a statewide drought. It makes me question the morals and ethics of these water companies.

Environmental Attorney Jim Olson said, “Water is a transient gift on earth for life” (Menzies, 2010). To me this means water was provided to us by God as a means of survival and ongoing life. Water belongs to no one person yet all of us at the same time. A better solution than House Bill 6443 would be a bill that instead imposes a high tax on the withdrawal of water for commercial use. Honestly I can’t believe there is no such law. Government should play a larger role in the preservation of our natural resources; however it is ultimately up to us as individuals to be conscious consumers. Without consumers there are no markets.

Water is one of the sought after natural resources in the world or even in the galaxy. So you would imagine that it is cherished and not wasted for self-gain. Coca-Cola has been at the top of the list when it comes to complaints for mistreatment of water all over the world. In recent year that company has been sited right here in the United States. In a town in the western district of New York called Tonawanda Coca-Cola had a major issue regarding regulations. On May 11, 2015 it was reported Coke, “will pay $2.75 million in civil penalties, spend approximately $7.9 million to reduce air pollution and enhance air and water quality and spend an additional $1.3 million for environmental projects in the area of Tonawanda, New York.”(Tonawanda,1).

Water should be treated as a human right due to the simple reason that it is a necessity for human survival. For water to be treated as a human right, it would have to be completely free, universal, and non-transferable. These characterizations are important to mention because this would mean that private institutions may not seize and distribute this necessity for their own profit. The belief behind this ideology is efficiency. The inefficiency of this human right is proven in today’s world by the 842,000 human deaths; all due to the lack of this commodity, according to, “Is Water A Human Right” by Now This World. This kind of inefficiency is also the result of negative externalities caused by major corporations like Nestle. As mentioned in

Life springs up around water sources. It is no coincidence that some of the greatest civilizations have been build need fertile bodies of water. Known life relies on water to sustain that life. So it is no surprise when a debate arose in 2013 around comments made by Nestlé Chairman Peter Brabeck regarding privatization of water and the fundamental human right to survive from dehydration and illness from non-portal water consumption. Although the context of Brabeck’s comment was taken out of context, issues surrounding the access companies like Nestlé have been given to bottle their water when people do not have access to clean water and droughts are threatening crop production. Adding a price tag is not the answer. The market, both these companies and their consumers have a major role to play in the management of water; a role that requires a change in mindset of privilege many citizen of the United States, and other countries that do not see the direct effects that serious clean water issue have on people that do not have it.

There are basically three ways that water is privatized; bottled water, municipal services and bulk water sales. As a consumer of bottled water I wanted to research further and find out the truth about it. What I discovered was that we as consumers have been fooled by these water corporations. To begin with the cost of bottled water is two thousand times more than tap water. I found it absolutely ludicrous that we are willing to pay such a high price for bottled water considering it costs close to nothing to drink water from the tap. In reality, as I found out, most bottled water which we believe comes from some exotic spring is actually filtered tap water from a U.S. city. According to Food & Water Watch one third of all bottled water comes from a public water source. #4