The water bottle is not as innocent as it looks in your hands

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Every single day, we have millions upon millions of people spending money on fancy water bottles. There are custom designer ones now, some are glass, some are metal, and most are good old plastics, some have logos or designs that make them look very special. I saw one person last week enter a meeting with a water bottle that has the same color matching with her outfit, it was quite a scene.

A lot of people love them, they're affordable, they feel clean, safe and even stylish. There's the idea that they're helping the planet by avoiding tap water, more like portable water to reduce their water use and preserve water, that's so true but there's more of a hidden problem behind all these bottles you see around.

When people buy a lot of bottled water, it creates more plastic and aluminum waste, it's a causality. As the demand of the bottles go up so will the waste when it's finally disposed of which is inevitable because most people don't keep the same water bottle for that long a time.

Even with the metal and glass bottles, the manufacturers use energy and water to produce them. To make them, the factories need electricity, raw materials and don't forget about the chemicals too.

The factories themselves are already creating pollution to manufacture the bottles and the waste after a consumer disposes of it also has its problem, so we are really making matters worse when we produce more of these bottles.

This is a very quiet kind of overuse that only few people notice. Portability is a solution and looks like better management but it might be creating more cost than we thought.

While this is going on, the real water systems in your city or town is not going great at all. Local water systems have to supply homes, schools and hospitals but in a lot of places, water is being used faster than it can be cleaned or replaced.

Some of the rivers and lakes are constantly getting polluted by the same water bottle factories, some farms and cities. People buy bottled water, and I agree it does look like it would be healthier than the tap water but our local water is still there and still important.

The real problem we have is that these fancy water bottles do a great job of hiding the stress we put on local water systems.

We have another issue too and it's transport. Bottled water is usually shipped from far away, of course I don't necessarily mean importing, I'm sure your nation has a ton of local bottled water industries but it still needs to travel in trucks, ships or planes to get to you the consumer. All of which use fuel and ends up contributing to greenhouse gases in our atmosphere.

So you see that the water itself is just a small part of the impact, the packaging, transport and storage creates an environmental cost you usually overlook. So people will see a clean bottle, but the process to get it to their hands is bad for the planet.

But let's ask an obvious question, should we do away with bottled water? I'll be honest, we can't, I can't, you probably can't. Many will say, they like their bottle, it keeps them healthy and you can't expect them to drink tap water. That is true, very true, a truth I'll be a hypocrite to overlook.

It's no secret that some of the local water systems are not as safe for drinking as bottled water would be. Some people live in places where tap water smells bad or has chemicals that could make them very sick.

So indeed, the luxury water bottles meet a need. The problem however is not the bottle itself, it is the massive scale of production and the hidden cost that comes with making and shipping millions of them every day.

So that raises another obvious question, what can be done without giving up bottles completely?

An obvious answer to an obvious question, we can start by buying fewer bottles, but choose the better ones. A sturdy metal or glass bottle can probably last years instead of weeks, that'll reduces the waste it create dramatically.

Another idea is to refill bottles at home or from safe public fountains, this is something quite a number of people already do but a lot will probably just get bottled water on their way to work and dump it in a trash can when they're done. The manufacturing company is thankful no doubt because they know you'll buy another one of their product tomorrow but the cost to our environment is a very heavy one.

Some cities have water stations that give clean water for free, some people don't like it but it's a great way to reduce the need for bottled water. That way, people still drink safely but use less energy and material overall.

Now let's talk about you out there, who uses the imported disposal water bottles, don't worry I'm not coming for you, all I'm going to say is, they flew a plane just so you could dump it right after drinking. That's rich, very rich, but please think about us while you do it ok. Choosing local water sources over imported bottled water also lowers transport emissions so it's a great contribution to reducing the carbon footprint of the entire earth.

I guess the main point I'm trying to make is for us to notice the hidden problem these consumer behaviors come with. Every bottle made and shipped uses resources that do not come back quickly, every bottle ends up in a landfill or recycling plant which takes more energy just to handle. Millions of these bottles keep creating a cycle of overuse that is very quiet, almost invisible but is constantly growing. People see the luxury product and forget about the rivers, water plants and pollution happening far away. It's a convenience for us to have all these bottles but the environment is paying the price.

No, we should not stop drinking water, it's not possible and we can't stop using bottles, but we can pay more attention and limit it. Consumption is not over consumption, we're not saying stop, we're saying limit it to the best so it favors everyone.

When more people understand the real impact of their daily consumption decisions, they can make better choices that keep them safe and hydrated while reducing waste. The planet will thank us if we notice the hidden cost behind the clean bottle in our hand, and the way it'll thank us is by not showing us what it does when we push it to its limits.

Screenshot from this website