Learn about Bottled Water

The University of Washington, a school known for academic success, a beautiful campus, and many opportunities for ambitious students. We are optimistic about the future and our leaders in promoting difference, both locally and worldwide. But there is a problem that continues to be overlooked. Do you ever wonder where your water comes from? How it ends up when you are done? Water fills our daily lives, and from last couple of decades, the production and consumption of bottled water have become the fastest growing beverages industry in the world. We drink bottled water because we believe it's clean and convenient. But, this convenience comes at a cost. According to a research by the Environmental Working Group, bottled water isn't as clean as we think it is. The EWG tested 10 major brands of bottled water and found all sorts of things from fertilizer to disinfectant, their list had over 138 pollutants. All this is supposed to be clean purified water. Most of the time, it's just tap water from somewhere else. So why would you spend so much money on something you can virtually get for free. Just to produce this bottle, it takes three times amount of water that's typically in here. Most plastic bottles come from Polyethylene Terephthalate, commonly known as PET. If these bottles end up in a recycling bin, it take ample time and energy to break them down. In the US, 86% of all bottles end up in incinerators and landfills where it can take up to 1000 years for them to decompose. This process puts you to back into the environment which is detrimental to atmosphere. Two students from the University Jennifer Turk and Maggie McCain to the bottled beverages from the recycling bin, and found that 40% of them were just water bottles. In 2008, they found that University of Washington had 44% recycling. So where do we go from here? Fortunately, our city's tap water is safe to drink. The problem is we don't know where to drink it. In some places, the water fountains don't even work. It's a real shame because according to Seattle's Annual Drinking Water Quality Report, our waters among the best in any major city in North America. Seattle Public Utilities tested for 179 different compounds and none of them were found. That makes it the goal standard. Mayor Greg Nickels stated that makes little sense for Seattle like to waste their money on bottled water, which cost 2400 times as much as tap water and create thousands of tons of greenhouse gases. We need to take advantage of our goal standard and make cold tap water more accessible around campus. Ensuring accessible sources of drinking water is essential. Another option is completely ban PET bottles on campus. We can replace them with compostable water bottles that breaks down in 60-90 days. We already have compostable forks, knives, and spoons, why not have water bottles as well? We'll be one of the first universities to not only ban PET bottles but replace that with something that's even better. So that's definitely a problem. With 38 pollutants in our purified water, and not int our tap, the answer is pretty obvious as to which is better. On top of that, you don't have to pay for the superior one. What we need to do is stop buying bottled water, the companies will patch one when no one is buying their product. We need to carry a refillable water bottle and the demand that the water fountains be fit, and cold tap water be available on campus. If we do keep bottled water on campus, we need to switch to more efficient version of the ever lasting and accumulating PET bottle, and biodegradable bottles are a perfect solution. We are known for innovative ways of thinking and now it's a perfect time to prevent.