Is the bottled water industry dead? $16 billion in annual sales says no

The blog Triple Pundit has a really thought-provoking article about the future of the bottled water industry.

One salient point that the author makes is that the so-called "refill revolution" is still in its nascent phase. While campaigns such as Break Free have raised awareness of plastic bottle waste and converted people from single-serve bottled water to alternative such as water coolers, tap and filters, the bottled water industry is still billions of dollars strong.

Sales of reusable aluminum and stainless steal water bottles are up. Companies like Sigg and Klean Kanteen have grown tremendously over the past few years; Nalgene has experienced slower sales due to the BPA scare. Sigg increased production by more than 90 percent last year and expects it to increase to be about seven million this year (though a recent scandal regarding lack of transparency could change that).

But the bottled water industry is enormous, estimated at about $16 billion, and reusable water bottles are a mere drop in the bucket. It would take a mass exodus of people using refillable water bottles to take away the significant market share of the bottled water industry.

Those of us who are concerned about the environment and plastic bottle waste should let this reality motivate us to do more to cut into the bottled water industry's profit: It would take a mass exodus of people using refillable water bottles to take away the significant market share of the bottled water industry.

If you haven't already signed the Break Free pledge, do it now. Then, encourage your friends, family and coworkers to do the same. But don't just take the pledge. Live it.

Remember:

The benefits of using reusable water bottles far outweigh the costs. Among these benefits are: energy savings and reduced emissions (processing, packaging, distribution) and reduced waste (less plastic in landfills equals less pollution).