landfills are overflowing with 2 million tons of water bottles alone. It takes over 1.5 million barrels of oil to keep up with the demand of U.S. water bottle manufacturing. It is estimated that actually 3 liters of water is used to package 1 liter of bottled water. "In the United States, bottled water costs between $0.25 and $2 per bottle while tap water costs less than a penny. According to Bottledwaterblues.com, about 90% of manufacturer's costs is from making the bottle, label, and cap." Dr. Michael Warhurst, Friends of the Earth's senior waste campaigner, stated, "It is another product we do not need. Bottled water companies are wasting resources and exacerbating climate change. Transport is the fastest growing source of greenhouse gas emissions, and transporting water adds to that. We could help reduce these damaging effects if we all simply drank water straight from the tap."
Key environmental issues with bottled water, as stated by environmentalist David Suzuki, are waste and uncertainty over the long-term health effects created by plastic. Plastic can contaminate your water by wearing down from repeated uses and leading to growth of bacteria in surface cracks located inside the bottle. This is a big safety issue that would not be faced if we just used tap