A plunge in bottled water sales has the industry asking "why?" After decades of growth, the huge, estimated at $11 billion, industry is drying up.
U.S. per capita bottled water consumption grew from less than two gallons a year to a peak of 29 gallons a year in 2007. in 2008, however, bottled water sales dropped 3.2 percent. In 2009, sales are projected to flag another 2 percent. These figures come from the Beverage Marketing Corporation, a New York research and consulting firm.
Bottled water companies are still trying to determine what has caused the drop in sales. There are four obvious culprits, however.
A possible first reason would be the recession. Tap water is far cheaper than bottled water. In these tough economic times, many consumers are pulling back on extra expenses.
That brings up possibility two. In fact, many critics of bottled water have noted that frequently bottled water is just treated tap water. Additionally, many taste tests have shown little difference, or if there is a difference it can be eliminated by water filters you use in pitchers or on your faucets, which are still far cheaper than bottled water.
Environmental groups have been also been making a case against bottled water based on safety. In 2008, the Environmental Working Group examined 10 brands of bottled water and discovered that some contained mixtures of industrial chemicals that have never tested for safety.
The final "obvious" possibility is that bottled water has become known as a liquid SUV. Environmentally, it is very unsound. The bottles are made of plastic. The bottling process is environmentally bad, and sometimes bottling companies take water upstream of townships, depriving them of water they have been used to getting for decades.
The anti-bottled water movement has a lot of momentum now, as well. There are web sites like Web sites like TakeBackTheTap.org, InsidetheBottle.org and ThinkOutsideTheBottle.org that encourage consumers to stop drinking bottled water. The publicity over the huge garbage patch in the Pacific that was recently located (but previously known about) hasn't helped as well. The area is twice the size of Texas and is awash with garbage, much of it non-degraded plastic water bottles.
Some manufacturers are already attempting to address the issue, with bottles with less plastic, and by working on biodegradable bottles. It is unclear if this will make a difference in the long run, however.
Besides the above reasons, many point out that water should not be privatized. Water has always been considered an essential resource, and that people shouldn't be charged for water itself. In terms of public water utilities, people consider they are paying for water delivery. However, when thinking of drinking water, people get extremely angry when they think that what they need to survive is being privatized.
With drought hitting some areas of the country, attributed at least somewhat to global climate change, drinking water has become a major issue. As population continues to increase worldwide, some have asked: can we afford the luxury of bottled water?
Written by Michael Santo
HULIQ.com
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