Marketing and Distribution of Packaged Drinking Water Industry

Another way bottled water is the way to go is because it helps aid in healthy choices. In the article, “Grab the Bottle”, it states that “bottled water has helped consumers choose to drink more water because it presents it in a convenient way (Giroux). In many cases, consumers buy more objects that appeal to the eyes. Bottled water comes in different sizes and shapes. What is trending in society, the public wants automatically. In the article, “Comment-Soft Drinks and Water- The Future of Bottled Water”, he told that “attractive packages alone can make us feel that what we are drinking is beneficial” (Rowlands). Trendy shapes, sizes, and colors are what the public is drawn to. If a consumer sees a unique water bottle in the store, he or she will buy that because it’s trendy and popular in society.

One of the biggest harms to the world is pollution caused by people. Most of the plastic materials used by people are left to pollute. Bottled water is one of the biggest plastic materials produced. Some people say that bottled water is safer, convenient, and provide jobs to workers in many ways. The reasons for buying bottled water differ. Some people buy bottled water because they don’t like the taste or smell of tap water, while others on the other hand buy it because of health concerns with water contamination. Pollution is one of the biggest problems hurting the environment today, and water bottles that are thrown out after each one-time use, contribute greatly to its increasing buildup. Bottled water is not only expensive to us, but also to the environment. Bottled water is hurting the economy, harming human lives, and damaging the environment.

Billions of gallons of bottled water are consumed in the United States every year. Many Americans choose bottled water for its convenience and say that the taste is much better than tap water. They say tap water is flat and tasteless. Some argue that the cost of bottled water far exceeds the cost of tap water. One study showed that one bottled water per day would cost the consumer $365 per year while the same amount of tap water would cost ten cents. While bottled water is more expensive, it provides over 130,000 jobs resulting in over six billion dollars in salaries for american workers “Bottled Water Matters.” In the article, “ Bad To The Last Drop,” Tom Standage says that bottled water is too expensive and encourages people to stop buying bottled water and give the money to charity. In the article “ In Defense of Bottled Water,” Thomas J. Lauria says that eliminating bottled water would have the unintended consequence of driving people to choose more unhealthy beverages which have thicker plastic bottles and would be worse on the environment. He also says that bottled water is an important choice in situations where there is a lack of tap water or concern about water

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.

Tom Standage’s essay “Bad to the Last Drop” first appeared in the New York Times on the first of August, 2005. And it appears on pages 662-664 in the textbook; Practical Argument, compiled by Laurie G. Kirszner and Stephen R. Mandell. In his essay, Standage argues that we, as a society, should do away with bottled water. He justifies his stance with several points including the shear monetary cost to the consumer, the lack of any nutritional benefit in bottled water, and even his results in a “water tasting”, a parody of a wine tasting which he partook in with the help of a few of his friends (Standage). By far, one of Tom’s strongest points, though, is the plight of impoverished nations around the world and their lack of clean water. One can almost feel his contempt for the seeming hypocrisy of first-world countries and their rejection of their perfectly adequate tap water, especially in the face of such global need. He demonizes the “illogical enthusiasm” with which wealthy nations turn up their noses at tap water (Standage). But in the midst of his tirade, he is certain to pardon developing countries, as bottled water is often times the cleanest water available to them. As his final point, Standage concludes that the most reasonable course of action is that the populace of developed nations, in light of the deficiency of water in other countries, ought to cease consumption of bottled water and send that money to water charities instead.

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

According to The Water Project, “Bottles used to package water take over 1,000 years to bio-degrade and if incinerated, they produce toxic fumes. It is estimated that over 80% of all single-use water bottles used in the U.S. simply become ‘litter’” (“Bottled Water is Wasteful”). This fact is not the only reason I believe that bottled water does not outweigh its costs. Although statistics show that bottled water is efficient, there are many reasons to believe otherwise.

“In Canada, bottled water consumption was estimated at 24.4 litres per person in 1999. By 2005, that had increased to about 60 litres per person, with sales worth $652.7 million” (CBC News, 2008). This dramatic increase in bottled water consumption does not come without severe repercussions and has caused a chain reaction of unfortunate events. Although easily available and terribly convenient, bottled water negatively effects the environment, is extremely costly, and is composed of contaminants that are unhealthy to consume. The importance of discussing this issue is advantageous because the public is unaware that tap water is more favourable than bottled water. Choosing tap water over

Bottled water is one of products popularly consumed back to a few decades. Result from the production of bottled water, people likely prefer to drink bottled water than tap water while some researches find out the fact that water in bottle are not as safe as water provided by state companies. Why people choose to drink bottled water and whether bottled water is pure as advertisement are the crucial concerns, together with the effect of bottled water on human being’s health and the natural environment.

Water bottles are a staple in today’s society. In his article, “Costly water: Bottled and Sold: The History Behind Our Obsession with Bottled Water,” author Martin W. Lewis quotes Peter H. Gleick when he says that, “Consumers buy bottled water for four main reasons: safety, taste, style, and convenience,” and he’s absolutely right (Par. 9). Bottled water is cleaner, healthier, and more convenient than tap water. More people are more apt to grab a bottle of water on the go, rather than fill a reusable bottle from the sink. It’s just easy. At least, that’s what we are led to believe. Bottled water is constantly in battle with its not-so-lavish counterpart, tap water. Some will even argue that the benefits of bottled water alone outweigh the cost. They, however, do not. The fact is, water bottles have plagued society for years and have become a growing menace to our environment and our people.

Tom Standage’s essay “Bad to the Last Drop first appeared in the New York Times” (pages 662-664) on the first of August, 2005. In his essay, Standage argues that we, as a society, should do away with bottled water. He justifies his stance with several points including the shear monetary cost to the consumer, the lack of any nutritional benefit in bottled water, and even his results in a “water tasting”, a parody of a wine tasting which he partook in with the help of a few of his friends. By far, one of Tom’s strongest points, though, is the plight of impoverished nations around the world and their lack of clean water. One can almost feel his contempt for the seeming hypocrisy of first-world countries and their rejection of their perfectly adequate tap water, especially in the face of such global need. He demonizes the “illogical enthusiasm” with which wealthy nations turn up their noses at tap water. But in the midst of his tirade, he makes sure to pardon developing countries as bottled water is often times the cleanest water available to them. As his final point, Standage concludes that the most reasonable thing for the populace of developed nations to do, in light of the deficiency of water in other countries, is to cease consumption of bottled water and send that money to water charities instead.

“One of the biggest challenges facing the bottled water industry is how to respond to the environmental claims levelled against it” (Grocer). Every time someone throws a bottle away, they have taken up more space in a landfill for the next four hundred fifty to one thousand years. Besides the long decomposition rate, water bottles are the cause of several more environmental issues. Overfilling landfills, health hazards caused by refilling, and the economic stresses due to the constant and inconvenient repurchasing are just a few of the negatives water bottles have on us. These plastic pollutants are doing more harm to both the environment and their users than good.

Have you ever had any concerns about bottled water? Do you think that bottled water consumption should be banned? Bottled water is water packed in plastic containers and sold for human consumption (Health Canada, 2013). Currently, the amount of bottled water consumed has increased considerably since many people feel it is safer drinking bottled water than tap water (Parent and Wrong, 2014). According to The Statistics Portal, the global sale of bottled water took a leap from 161, 589 to 181, 608 liters from 2009 to 2011. Only in the United States, each American citizen consumed around 32 gallons of bottled water in 2013, thus meaning an equivalent growth of 15, 94% over 2009 (The Statistics Portal, 2014). In fact, due to good portability, bottled water has been helpful in both simple and complex situations such as daily exercises and natural disasters. Even though having those few considerable advantages, bottled water still have been less beneficial; especially due to the negative impacts in the socio-economic, health and environmental fields.

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.

Arnold, E 2006, ‘Bottled water drains natural resources’, Earth Policy Institute, 1 April , viewed 22 Octobe