'Bottlemania': A Book on Our Bottled Water Obsession and Eventual Disdain
We have seen bottled water snobbery peak—such as when diners feel pressured to order it to impress friends—then plummet, due to recent environmental awareness. Author Elizabeth Royte analyzes the commercialization of our basic human need in Bottlemania: How Water Went on Sale and Why We Bought It, published in May.
This week, The Economist reviewed Royte's book which investigates the $60 billion global bottled water industry and how it's swelled to include waters laced with sugar-free fruity flavors, caffeine, and appetite suppressants. While some are tickled by the concept of water sommeliers, others admonish the excess, and millions of people still lack access to clean water.
Have you downsized your water bottle consumption? Got a sleek (and pricey) new reusable aluminum bottle? Are you one of the conspiracy theorists convinced that public water fountains have mysteriously disappeared on purpose?
Previously
Tap Water Is All the Rage
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4 Comments:
aluminum bottle on the go and at work. at home i use a glass that i can clean and reuse.
ceforrester at 10:45PM on 07/18/08
I have to say, I don't think a Sigg or a Klean Kanteen bottle is "pricey." At less than $20 for most of their bottles that's less than 2 weeks worth of a bottle of water a day.
And yeah, just ordered some Klean Kanteen bottles to replace the Nalgene bottles we've been using for quite a while.
ccbweb at 11:33PM on 07/18/08
i stopped buying bottled water a long time ago. I've got a huge Britta pitcher i keep on my counter and pitchers i keep filled in the fridge for drinking water. SO and i both have staniless stell thermoses for nothing but water.
huneybumper at 8:22AM on 07/19/08
I think you are being a little hard on the bottled water companies. Well ... some of them deserve to be completely obliterated but there is some really special water out there.
However, I cannot see the point if it is bottled in anything other than glass, since I always seem to smell the plastic (I have a hideously sensitive sense of smell).
I think it should be glass and I also think the glass should be dark green, the source organic and the shelf life rigidly imposed.
There is most certainly a difference in the water if you go to the source. The Sederberg waters - directly from the water source is something to sing about. The waters of Tasmania is something I will never forget (and I was only 18 at the time) and so there will be others.
I have tasted exquisite water in Italy - where I discovered my obsession with food was never going to die and the water from the Helderberg mountain in Somerset West and Hout Bay near the Cape is completely different from the Water in the City or surrounds. The water on top of Table Mountain tastes different to the water on the bottom of the mountain. Guess where the best is to be had?
So, if the water is bottled in dark green glass, bring it on. I will be the sucker that buys it.
But, the masses and masses of water, many produced from dead ordinary water should be checked. Unfortunately there are some places in Europe where the tap water can not be consumed and bottled water is a must. Don't condemn them - or drink the water at your own risk. And then - bottled water is convenient. Have you ever tried finding water on a busy Clifton, Bondi, Nice etc etc Beach? On Clifton Fourth you wait for hours just for the ice-cream man or stand in a massive queue for the little shop - too much trouble. On all the other Clifton Beaches you bring your own or suffer. In fact, South African beaches are very unspoilt and commercialisation has not reached them yet - so just bring on the bottled water please.
In Rome there are public fountains - and believe me, you CAN drink that water.
Jacoba at 10:51AM on 07/19/08