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Aquafina to label its source - tap water
July 28, 2007

Under the growing environmental and political opposition to the bottled water industry, Aquafina (from Pepsi) label will include the words “Public Water Source”. Ummm, that is tap water. Tap water also flows into millions of Dasani bottles (from Coco-Cola).

According to Beverage Digest, in 2006, 2.6 billion cases of bottled water were sold. It is estimated that U.S. consumers spent about $15 billion on bottled water last year. Will people still shell out $1 for Aquafina, knowing it is really tap water? We will have to wait and see. It is often strange to me how finace works in some people’s minds. Take my friend Lenny. He has a family of 3. They consume about 10 bottles of water a day. With volume discount, that is $5 a day on tap water in a bottle. That is $150 a month. But when we talk about organic food, he always rejects the concept because it is “too expensive” for his family.

Do a little math, Lenny. One pound of conventional peach is $2.0 (from our local farmer’s market) and one pound of organic peach is $3.0 (also from our local farmer’s market). The difference is $1 a pound. With the $150 not spent on bottled water, he can easily upgrade many pounds of produce to organic produce. (150 lbs of organic peach if he so desires).

Okay, Lenny is a meat lover. The difference between the same grade grass-fed ground beef and conventional ground beef is about $2 per pound. Again with the $150 not spent on bottled water, he can easily upgrade to 75 lbs of grass-fed ground beef (or other types of meat).

Or just put it in his son’s college fund - $1,800 a year! His son is 5 years old now. When he is 19, ready to go to college, he will have $50,000 in his college fund. Drink tap water with $50k in the bank or drink bottled tap water with $0 in the bank. Seems to be a total no-brainer.

Not buying bottled water makes both financial and environmental sense.

See related entries:
The Myth and Reality of Bottled Water
Chez Panisse does not carry bottled water

CindyW at Organicpicks

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