Saturday, February 28, 2009

*gulp*


  • Bottled water consumes between 1100 and 2000 times more energy on average than does tap water

  • Global demand for bottle production alone uses 50 million barrels of oil a year, or 2 1/2 days of U.S. oil consumption

  • Drinking an imported bottle of water is about two-and-a-half to four times more energy intensive than getting it locally

  • U.S. bottled-water consumption in 2007 required an energy input equivalent to 32 million to 54 million barrels of oil

  • Although the energy for purifying and delivering tap water varies, even in the most expensive cases it is hundreds of times less than for bottled water


The research findings of environmental scientists Peter Gleick and Heather Cooley of the Pacific Institute as reported in Drink Up, Energy Hogs in the 26 February issue of ScienceNOW.

The article continues: "To put that energy use into perspective, Gleick says to imagine that each bottle is up to one-quarter full of oil."

2 comments:

anniemcq said...

I think it is completely amazing that we have so bought in to "bottled water". Those marketing it have done truly a masterful job convincing us that we should buy something that comes out of our tap. It's one step up from bottled air. Crazy.

I, Rodius said...

Yikes. I finally lost my Brita bottle, for which I can no longer find filters anyway, so I guess it's time to quit whining about the price and get me one of them fancy aluminum jobs.

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