I love bottled water, but does my love hurt the planet?

Part 1

To drink, or not to drink bottled water—that is a question that plagues some people who are concerned about their personal environmental footprint.

But it shouldn’t.

If you rely on research and facts (and not online gossip), you can feel 100% confident in your choice to drink the most healthy, refreshing beverage on the shelf: bottled water. Here are three reasons why.

1. Stewards of the source. If you prefer spring water, you can enjoy it guilt free with the knowledge that no one is taking those precious natural resources for granted. A lot of time and money are spent to make sure water sources for bottled water continue to be able to offer up refreshing spring water for years to come. We got a sneak peek at a checklist that’s used to verify the sustainability of a spring, and here’s what bottlers do before investing millions of dollars in a spring water source:
   • Test the water quality.
   • Make sure the spring is protected from a pollution source (and yep, that includes making sure cow poop and farm pesticides aren’t making their way into the water).
   • Test to ensure the water output is viable and will last for years to come. (Companies would go broke investing millions in a source only for that source to dry up in a couple of years.)
   • Monitor to ensure the environment around the spring won’t be negatively impacted.
     
     There’s a book that talks all about all this, which you can purchase online.
     
2. Plastic is better packaging. Hear me out on this one because you’ve probably read the opposite. . . a lot. McKinsey & Company, a consulting firm with no ties to the bottled water industry, reported in 2023 that because PET plastic is lighter than aluminum cans and glass bottles it takes less energy to produce them. Thus, PET plastic bottles have the lowest greenhouse gas emissions. Interesting fact: McKinsey researched PET soda bottles—but PET soda bottles weigh a lot more (22.2 grams) than PET water bottles (8.3 grams). Because PET water bottles weigh less, that means they use less materials, ergo—fewer greenhouse gas emissions than any other drink packaging.
   
3. Plastic can be reused—if you remember to recycle. Have you heard that only 9% of plastic bottled water containers get recycled? Well, that’s a lie—or at least a misunderstanding of the facts. The truth is, the 9% number represents the overall amount of plastic that gets recycled in the United States. The recycling rates for specific types of plastic containers tell a more detailed story. For example, the recycling rate of PET bottled water containers was 28.6% in 2021 (latest number available from the National Association of PET Container Resources). Additional stat fact: PET bottled water bottles make up about 49% of the PET plastic in curbside recycling programs.

Of course, those numbers should—and could—be higher. That’s something we can all work on together because all bottled water containers, and their caps, are 100% recyclable.

Come back again and learn more facts in Part 2.