click photo to enlargeeneur or a venture capitalist. If someone came to me and said, "Hey, I've got this great idea. We could put water in a plastic bottle, sell it for more than the price of petrol, maybe, 5,000 to 10,000 times the cost of tap water, and people won't be able to get enough of it!" Well, I'd laugh them out of the door. I'd consider the idea utterly preposterous! But, that's what happens, and I just can't understand it.
People say, "Ah, but it's spring water with minerals, it's better than tap water, and it's a lifestyle accessory!" Rubbish! It's water, H2O! Often it's not as pure as tap water, usually it's indistinguishable in terms of taste, and its beneficial effect is identical. Coca Cola gave the game away in the UK when they tried to sell their version of bottled water, Dasani. It turned out to be from a tap in a factory in Slough!
But the problem only starts with price and equivalence. There's the environmental cost of moving bottles of water around the world. In 2004 Finland shipped 1.4 million bottles to Saudi Arabia! Market forces mean European countries swap lorry loads of water every day as consumers express their preference for French or German or British. The 1.5 million barrels of oil required annually for the bottles that hold water in the U.S. could power 100,000 cars for a year, and 86% of those bottles become garbage or litter. Whichever way you look at it bottled water costs too much.
"OK", I hear you say, "have you never bought a bottle of water?" Of course I have, when I've run out of the tap water I'm carrying, or if I've needed a drink when I'm out and about. I'm not saying that it shouldn't exist, or that there's no legitimate demand, but is there any real need, in places where pure water is readily on tap, to buy shrink-wraps of multiple 2 litre bottles a couple of times a week? Whilst we may be able to afford it in terms of cash, can we really afford the true cost?
My photograph above shows one of the ubiquitous bottles. It was on a window sill at my place of work, with a small orange ball next to it. The late evening light made it catch my eye. I moved the ball to increase its effect, then used a macro lens to emphasise the horizontal pattern and the way the plastic deformed the colour.
photograph & text (c) T. Boughen
5 comments:
Tony,
You really hit a "nerve" here for me. My 2nd ex-wife, who I commonly refer to as "Plaintiff #2," way back in the early 80s suggested to me that water "Bars" or, in your case, "Pubs" would become common in the future. I find all of this quite amusing.
As I live in an area that's susceptible to Hurricanes, bottled water becomes very relevant from June 1 through November 30. Rather than purchasing "designer water" I save my 1 gallon jugs from previous generic water purchases and fill them with tap water. My current preparation for the upcoming season has me storing about 100 of these jugs.
When I see these bottles of "designer" water, I reflect on why I didn't pay closer attention to what Plaintiff #2 had to offer.
BTW, if one reverses "Evian" it spells naive. 'Nuff said!
Nice image.
You're right, bottled water is an unneccessary luxury in most parts of the developed world. I grew up in a town in Canada where the water from the tap was often purer than the water in the bottles.
However I also succumb, I use bottled water when exercising rather than buying and maintaining a canteen or reusable water bottle. Convenience is king....
I've also noted a trend towards the demise of public drinking fountains; I have a couple pegged on my exercise routes, but they only work half the time, like nobody really cares whether they're there or not; and there were several more only a few years ago that have since been removed.
Thanks for the comments. I've travelled extensively in France, Bill, and two of my favourite places are the spa towns of Vittel and Contrexeville, which are fairly close to one another. Both have massive bottled water plants. I remember, several years ago, looking at a train in Contrexeville which consisted of nothing but wagon after wagon of stacked pallettes of water. I thought at the time that it was ludicrous to ship water by any means. It seems to happen even more today!
Anonymous, you're right about public drinking fountains. They are fast disappearing in the UK too. Perhaps they are not being replaced or repaired because public toilets are also disappearing as well!!
Give me wine any day
I second Chris r's comment
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