Persuasive Essay - Bottled vs. Tap Water

Bottled vs. Tap Water
Essay by Kathryn

Ask yourself, why do you buy bottled water? If your answer is the fact that it's portable, that would be a good reason! Oh and don't forget about how stylish and slim it makes you feel. But do you want the real facts? The truth is, most bottled water comes from a tap, and there's nothing fun about plastic waste. Actually, about 4 billion bottles end up in the waste stream and around 70 million dollars is the outcome for cleanup and landfill costs each year. Save yourself, save the planet, and save the plastic. Don’t buy bottled water.


Did you know that about 70 percent of bottled water never crosses statelines for sale? While people correctly point out many water systems are aging and there still are hundreds of chemical contaminants, there's very little evidence that says bottled water is any healthier than tap right out of the sink. Coca Cola's Dasani and Pepsi's Aquafina are tap water coming from places like Queens, NY and Jacksonville, FL. Many other companies fill from the tap as well. And did you know that the FDA regulations don't prevent bottled water companies from taking water from spots next to underground storage tanks and dumps?


Bottled water produces 1.5 million tons of plastic waste per year. And where did all our oil go? The plastic that creates the bottle in "bottled water" requires up to 47 million gallons of oil per year to produce. I know you'll just love this little fact: over 80 percent of the plastic bottles are then thrown away for good. Plastic waste is now so deeply out of control, that it flows into the world's most major oceans, creating a really high risk to marine life, killing birds and fish who sadly mistake our garbage for food. Most of the bottles then end up in landfills, and thanks to their slow decay rate (hundreds of years), almost every piece of plastic ever produced is still around today. When you drink out of the plastic bottle, you could be swallowing a chemical called bisphenoal A which forms the polycarbonate plastic used to make plastic bottles. For women, it raises a risk of certain cancers, decreases fertility, and could contribute to childhood behavioral problems like hyperactivity. If mice, frogs, snails, fish and various insects are exposed to bisphenoal A, it can change their behavior, sperm count and possibly their gender.


It's a great new success -- bottled water has become a must have.
In 2002, we paid 7.7 billion dollars for bottled water and we continue to build on
that number. Bottled water can cost 1,000 times more than tap water-- that's just like saying a sip of bottled water costs 1,000 times a sip of water from the tap. Tap water costs $.0015 per gallon, filtered water costs $.13 per gallon, and bottled water costs $1.27 per gallon! Take Aquafina and Dasani bottled water for instance, both are sold as 20 ounce bottles and can be bought from vending machines, right next to soda pop. Most tap water costs less than 1 cent per gallon. Let's say you manage to find a $1 bottle of water in the vending machine. That works out to 5 cents an ounce. The average price per gallon of gasoline is around $3. There are 128 ounces in a gallon, which means the current price of gasoline is over 2 cents an ounce. Therefore, gasoline actually costs less than bottled water.


Take charge and start using your home tap water. If you don't like the taste of your tap water, use inexpensive carbon filters that will turn most tap water fresh and healthy at a fraction of bottled water's cost. Buy a stainless steel thermos that you can use endlessly. Always remember to drink from water fountains when provided.