Selling Bottled Water By Peter Gleick

Bottled water has become a controversial topic as of late. There are always two sides to every argument, some think that bottled water is beneficial to society, whereas some people think that it is detrimental to society as a whole. Bottled water is detrimental to society because it costs the country an abundance of money. It is also harmful to society because it is damaging to the environment. A lack of sanitation in bottled water has also been connected to illnesses among people who drink it. Bottled water is in no way shape or form worth the price that one will spend financially, nor is it worth the gamble of becoming sick from all the harsh chemicals that come from the bottle itself.

In the article, the author makes multiple statements against bottled water and supports tap water. Leonard starts by stating advertising companies try to persuade people into thinking tap water is less regulated, does not come from an organic source, and is polluted, so more people would buy their overpriced tap water. The tactic of scaring people into buying bottled water became the bottled water company’s main marketing move. This marketing

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.

The Australian bottled water industry has been growing rapidly over the past decade. Many Australians drink bottled water on a regular basis, and on average consumed 21.2 litres per person (Australian Bureau of Statistics) in 2001. The boom in consumption of bottled water has moved the product beyond the niche market and into the mainstream as it has become a staple to many Australians. Many people drink bottled water today simply because they prefer the taste to that of tap water or perceive it to have more purity. Other reasons behind the explosion in bottled water consumption are: consumers' passion for fitness which guides them to fewer caloric beverages; increased accessibility of bottled water via convenience stores,

Companies using multiple advertising strategies to make people continue buying products. In the video “The Story of Bottled Water,” Annie Leonard addressed that companies need to sell more and more products to keep growing. Americans almost consume half a billion bottled water every week, and it is enough to circle the earth five times. Annie mentioned the term, “Manufacture demands” - the companies using advertising strategies to make people think they have to spend money on products they do not need, or they already have. Bottled water companies claim that the tap water is not sanitized and unhealthy for the human body. Therefore, people got scared to drink tap water at home. They are rather paying thousands of times more for a bottled water even it is free to drink tap water. Water bottle companies are seducing customers by putting images of mountains and rivers to convince the buyers that the water is safe and clean. They promote that it is an economical way for people to consume plastic bottled water because the water came from natural resources. In fact, tap water is the primary sources of most of the bottled water, and the bottles are not

From helping the daily jogger stay hydrated during a run to that mom and family trying to stay hydrated at the amusement park, bottled water has had a lot of good to it. However do those goods outweigh the bad? In “Bottled Water: Friend or Foe?” by Christopher Castillo, Diana Goettsch, Angela Reid, and Catherine Sterling argue bottled water are our worst enemy, reasons being the bottle itself has harming chemicals within it which we are drinking, bottled water damages our environment, and lastly we are spending more on bottled water when we have the same water coming from our sinks.

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

If it were not for water there would be no life on our planet. Water is a fundamental necessity for our race to thrive on. That is why water is such a relevant topic for so many people. With the water industry trading in the billions of dollars, its quite shocking that Americans have just recently begun to question what it is we’re drinking and why. The author of Bottlemania, Elizabeth Royte, succeeds at persuading through her use of eye-opening propositions and inquiry. The author however fails to support

The use of bottled water dates as far back as the year sixteen-hundred and twenty two in a town called Malvern in England. They would bottle and sell water from a site called the Holy Well because it was believed to having healing properties.() Nearly four hundred years later we still bottle water, but our reasons have changed from the superstitions of the seventeenth century. Yet despite the reason why being different, the idea is still rooted in superstition. In the modern day, instead of believing that bottled water has healing potential it has become the idea that only bottled water is safe to drink and that water from the tap is unclean and dangerous. These ideas were bred by companies looking to make money off a fear. The reality is that

Americans buy at least nine billion of plastic water bottle every year; this translates to millions of dollars spent on a commodity that is readily available in their homes (Lewis, page 1). The only reason that can justify this senseless behaviour is that Americans have been duped by the assertions of advertisers and marketers. According to Gleick, a good advertiser has the ability to make us buy something we may not need. These corporations spend many funds to denigrate public water supplies while flaunting their products.

times more than tap water. On the low end, this would be the equivalent of paying $1500

Americans live in a consumer society where majority of products are packaged ready for use. This is attributed to the availability of disposable merchandise that is favorable and efficient in delivering the various products that are on demand. Among the various favorably consumed packed products is bottled water. It does not however, make sense for people to buy bottled water and throw the container away after they have emptied it. This is because the plastic bottles have a number of defects to the environment as well as to the general welfare of the economy. For example, in 1976 an average American drank 1.6 gallons of bottled water and since then the quantity has increased to an average of 30

"We can’t change the bottled water industry, but we can change our own ignorance." –Paul W. Mason

Believed it to be of superior taste and some used it for daily activities like making food, brushing teeth, washing face, drinking water for their pets, etc.…