We've been really busy at Earth Essentials over the last few months.
A new brochure is on it's way very soon with some great new products - including our popular Dog Poo Wormery - It's perfect for all breeds of dogs and solves the pesky problem of what to do with dog waste - it even has it's own website: www.dogpoowormery.com - dog owners, vets, kennels, breeders should have a look!
So it's a new year, maybe you've joined a gym? Drinking bottled water at the gym or at home just to keep healthy? Read on for our bottled water article:
When thirst hits you where is your first port of call? Is it your tap, which as we are extremely fortunate supplies us with clean, palatable and fresh water? Or do you reach in your fridge and pull out a bottle of water purchased from a store? If you are someone who does the latter then you are not alone; the bottled water sector in Britain alone is worth a staggering £2bn a year.
So what is it that entices the UK population to spend their hard earned money on bottled water when studies show that the tap water in the United Kingdom is among the safest and purest in the world? The answer not only lies with the tastes of the general public, but also with the advertising moguls who sell bottled water as the key to health and wellbeing.
Buying bottled water is not only about taste, but also about status. As consumers we are sold an image that relates to those people who are buying bottled water and also, due to the elevated cost of this product, it also signifies that those who buy it have a high level of disposable income. When asked people also stated that they purchased bottled water as they believed the health benefits outweigh, and greatly exceed, those of the water available direct in to their homes.
Not only are approximately two billion litres of bottled water sold every year in the UK, this figure is also growing at an alarming rate of nine percent every year; making it one of the fastest growing industries in the United Kingdom with bottled water accounting for sixteen percent of all soft drinks sold. This is ridiculous when, at a pound a litre, this product is nearly as expensive as petrol and the same amount of money could buy thousands of litres of tap water.
People, though, are free to make informed choices about how they spend their money and if bottled water is a luxury they can afford and choose to buy then surely there is no harm in that? Well, this is not the case. Bottled water has a significant negative impact on the environment, and people’s choices on this matter affect the world in which we all live.
The issues that make bottled water so detrimental to the environment are manifold; it is not a case that the bottles in which the water is stored but extra strain on our already overloaded landfill infrastructure. Although this is an issue, there are also issues regarding where the water is sourced, how it is transported as well as the materials and processes involved in packaging the water itself.
In order to meet demand for the vast quantity of bottled water drunk by British consumers billions of plastic bottles are needed; these are plastic bottles that are produced from by-products of crude oil, otherwise known as PET (polyethylene terephthalate) of which during the manufacturing of these products toxic greenhouse gases are released in to the atmosphere significantly contributing to global warming.
The manufacturing of these products is not the only negative aspect from an environmental perspective with regards to the packaging of water. Once the water within the bottles has been drunk there are then billions of empty containers that need to be disposed of. Whilst the vast majority of the vestibules used to carry the water are, in fact, recyclable whether or not people choose to recycle the used bottles is a different issue entirely, as it is estimated only ten percent of these bottles are recycled. If these bottles are not recycled they are yet another unnecessary item that is put in to the ever diminishing landfill sites around the country, where they take approximately four hundred and fifty years to break down.
With devastating consequences for the environment, Britain imports approximately twenty five per cent of its bottled water, the majority of which comes from France. The transportation itself of this vast quantity of bottled water comes with its own environmental penalty; a figure that has recently been attributed to this is 33,200 tons of Carbon Dioxide emissions, which is equivalent to that generated by 6,000 homes. This transportation of bottled water around the globe requires the burning of copious amounts of fossil fuel which releases vast amounts of pollutants and greenhouse gases in to the atmosphere, as well as using up a resource that is becoming increasingly scarce.
All these negative environmental consequences are entirely avoidable if only more people chose to drink the safe, fresh and clean water that is readily available to them within their homes; provided to them through an energy efficient infrastructure for a fraction of the cost of the high carbon footprint bottled water. Yet people still make the choice to buy bottled water at an inflated price for reasons such as supposed health benefits as well as personal preferences when it comes to the taste of the water that they are drinking.
The Chartered Institute of Water and Environmental Management states on its website that “the branding and bottling of water where there already exists a wholesome and safe supply cannot be seen as a sustainable use of natural resources, and adds to the overall levels of waste and pollution to be managed in modern society”, in other words the bottling of something of which we already have perfectly well on tap is a waste of resources and is completely unnecessary. The website also maintains that the perception that bottled waters are purer and healthier than water from the tap is completely unfounded, and urges people to choose tap over the hyped up, heavily marketed, bottled water that is available.
When trying to persuade people to choose tap water we are fighting huge commercial giants and it is an uphill struggle to get people to realise that there is actually very little difference between water that comes from bottles or the tap. Changing mindsets that have been created through years of clever marketing exercises is an extremely difficult task.
It would seem that all we can do is provide people with the relevant information about the questionable health benefits and the stringent tests that tap water goes through before reaching our homes, as well as the devastating environmental damage that bottle water causes. Once people have all the real facts and information it is up to them to decide if the benefits of drinking bottled water outweigh the damage it does to the world around us. I, for one, would much rather pour my money down the drain than in to the pockets of a giant corporation who is telling me to drink their product despite them knowing the environmental damage it causes.
We will also be exhibiting at Crufts 2011. Don't forget to visit www.earth-essentials.co.uk for some great new products.
Many thanks,
The Earth Essentials Team
