The environmental impact of bottled water

Every minute, more than one million bottles of water are sold globally. The industry is one of the fastest growing in the world, with a 73% increase in sales from between 2010 and 2020. But in a world of increased drought events and plastic-related pollution, the UN has raised concerns ahead of World Water Day on Wednesday. While agriculture remains the largest consumer of groundwater, many bottled water companies also use this as a source across Europe, adding pressure to this supply, the UN argues. European groundwater supplies have remained low since 2019, due to repeated drought events, with one Austrian study concluding that "the water situation has become very precarious". Bottled water represents a vital source for people where reliable local supplies are lacking. But in the US and Europe, which account for 40% of consumption, bottled water is often seen as a luxury item that is healthier than mains supply, the UN suggests. In Europe, Germany consumes the most bottled water, spending between €4.6bn and €18.6bn on it annually. France, Spain and Italy all consume between €1.8bn and €4.6bn worth of bottled water annually. But consumption data is unavailable for much of Europe, including the Baltic and many Balkan states, Austria, Czech Republic and Slovakia. Around 600m plastic bottles are made each year, and about 25m tonnes of this plastic waste goes to landfill or is dumped. Single-use water bottles account for 5.5% of all plastic produced, according to the UN. A widely used alternative has not yet emerged, and so this level of plastic pollution is likely to continue, the report concluded. Scientists argue that the perception in the global north, re-enforced through marketing, that bottled water is a luxury and safer than most mains supplies should be challenged. In the global south, where water supplies may be lacking, they call on governments to establish safe water protocols, with the hope of reducing reliance on bottled water. Do you drink bottled water? Is it a necessity, or should consumers in Europe rely on it less? Tell us in the comments below. ?:?Polly Dennison ??:?Getty Images Sources: CNN: https://lnkd.in/gV6cYeY8? The United Nations University Institute for Water, Environment and Health (UNU-INWEH): https://lnkd.in/gzEUcpNz? ScienceDaily: https://lnkd.in/diYDD62j?

Every minute, more than one million bottles of water are sold globally. The industry is one of the fastest growing in the world, with a 73% increase in sales from between 2010 and 2020. But in a world of increased drought events and plastic-related pollution, the UN has raised concerns ahead of World Water Day on Wednesday. While agriculture remains the largest consumer of groundwater, many bottled water companies also use this as a source across Europe, adding pressure to this supply, the UN argues. European groundwater supplies have remained low since 2019, due to repeated drought events, with one Austrian study concluding that "the water situation has become very precarious". Bottled water represents a vital source for people where reliable local supplies are lacking. But in the US and Europe, which account for 40% of consumption, bottled water is often seen as a luxury item that is healthier than mains supply, the UN suggests. In Europe, Germany consumes the most bottled water, spending between €4.6bn and €18.6bn on it annually. France, Spain and Italy all consume between €1.8bn and €4.6bn worth of bottled water annually. But consumption data is unavailable for much of Europe, including the Baltic and many Balkan states, Austria, Czech Republic and Slovakia. Around 600m plastic bottles are made each year, and about 25m tonnes of this plastic waste goes to landfill or is dumped. Single-use water bottles account for 5.5% of all plastic produced, according to the UN. A widely used alternative has not yet emerged, and so this level of plastic pollution is likely to continue, the report concluded. Scientists argue that the perception in the global north, re-enforced through marketing, that bottled water is a luxury and safer than most mains supplies should be challenged. In the global south, where water supplies may be lacking, they call on governments to establish safe water protocols, with the hope of reducing reliance on bottled water. Do you drink bottled water? Is it a necessity, or should consumers in Europe rely on it less? Tell us in the comments below. ?:?Polly Dennison ??:?Getty Images Sources: CNN: https://lnkd.in/gV6cYeY8? The United Nations University Institute for Water, Environment and Health (UNU-INWEH): https://lnkd.in/gzEUcpNz? ScienceDaily: https://lnkd.in/diYDD62j?

?? More information about the power of water and health is coming this week with World Water Day! Let’s start this #MondayMotivation with a themed and appropriate quote: “The earth, the air, the land, and the water are not an inheritance from our forefathers but on loan from our children. So we have to handover to them at least as it was handed over to us.” – Gandhi ?? Will we change our situation with climate change and issues with sustaining clean water for all in order to handover to the next generations better than what we have? What daily actions do you do to help ????? ?? I’d love to hear about your water conservation efforts in your daily routines in comments below. #sustainability #health #motivation

BLIND INSANITY - BOTTLED WATER Why do we focus on a market-based illusion for a few when it detracts from fixing water infrastructure and conservation for all? More than ?? ?????????????? ?????????????? ???? ?????????? ?????? ???????? ?????????? ???????????? around the world and the industry shows no sign of slowing down, according to a new report. ???????????? ?????????? ???? ?????????????? ?????????? ?????? ???????????????? ???? ???????????? ???????????? ???? ????????. the bottled water industry saw a 73% growth in sales from 2010 to 2020: 5 companies take 25% of the market share: The Coca-Cola Company PepsiCo Nestlé Danone Primo Water Corporation "“It is deeply concerning that we continue to be locked into a system that is so dependent on delivering water through plastic bottles, which ?????????????? ?????? ?????????? ?????????? ??????????????????,” Therese M. Karlsson Karlsson, science and technical advisor for the IPEN (International Pollutants Elimination Network) who was not involved with the study, told CNN." Vladimir Smakhtin, co-author of the report and the former director of the UN water thinktank, told CNN that the industry’s expansion, and its potential to draw focus away from expanding public water infrastructure, may further worsen global inequities when it comes to water access, especially as the climate crisis intensifies. Howard Dryden Diane Duncan https://lnkd.in/dV9ETMAg

??22 March is #worldwaterday-we are officially in a?#water #crisis?? "Demand is expected to outstrip fresh water supply by 40%, by 2030" just 7 years away ??"No person, place, economy or ecosystem will be spared" ??“The scientific evidence is that we have a water crisis.?We are misusing?water, polluting water, and changing the whole global hydrological cycle, through what we are doing to the #climate. It’s a triple crisis.”Oh wow, a triple crisis?? ??"The world’s current neglect of water resources is leading to disaster"said Prof. Johan Rockstrom, co-author of the OECD report?on "the #economics of water" ??Sewage systems need radical overhauls?“we use safe, fresh water to carry excreta, urine, nitrogen, phosphorus – and then need to have inefficient wastewater treatment plants that leak 30% of all the nutrients into downstream aquatic ecosystems and destroy them and cause dead zones. We’re really cheating ourselves in terms of this linear system" ?So, what can we do about this "triple crisis" of water? Well, we urgently need system change from our government policymakers, who need to act at lightning speed after decades of inaction. Remember: "Human survival depends on a sustainable water cycle" ? How can they ensure water security for their citizenry, I hear you ask? ?"Governments must urgently stop subsidising the extraction and overuse of water through misdirected agricultural subsidies, and industries from mining to manufacturing must be made to overhaul their wasteful practices." Now. The time is now. ??Did you know? "More than $1tn of subsidies globally go to agriculture and water each year and these often fuel excessive water consumption."That's $125 per person in a world of 8bn.?? ??Without clean water how can we have food security? "Water is?fundamental to the climate crisis?and the global food crisis." ?? Key recommended solutions: ??Reshaping policymaking and act immediately - "Water?leakage must be urgently addressed and restoring freshwater systems such as wetlands." ?? Scaling up investment in water management through public-private partnerships ??Pricing water properly and establishing “just water partnerships” to raise finance for water projects in developing and middle-income countries ????Reform the governance of water at an international level - include water in trade agreements. Women, farmers, indigenous people and others in the frontline of water conservation must be taken into account ???"1 child under 5 dies every 80 seconds from diseases caused by polluted water." (OECD,2023) “We need a much more proactive, and ambitious, common good approach. We have to put justice and equity at the centre.”Mariana Mazzucato, UCL professor of economics & lead author. ?? "Human survival depends on a sustainable water cycle." So, maybe a good time for sponge cities approaches?And water harvesting systems for all buildings?What else do you think we can do to help lessen the water crises? https://lnkd.in/d8waERJN

World Water Day: These innovators are improving access to clean water On World Water Day 2023, let's discuss these innovators who are helping us towards the UN goal of clean water and sanitation for all, through technology. https://lnkd.in/e7HaACFP