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).

Lessons of waste, redemption on the Plastiki

Next month, a yacht built entirely from reclaimed PET plastic bottles will set sail on an 11,000-mile voyage from San Francisco to Australia. We've written about the Plastiki before, and this week USA Today has a fascinating article about the high-profile trans-Pacific voyage.

Of course, crossing the Pacific is a secondary goal of eco-adventurer David de Rothschild and the crew of the Plastiki. The real point of this voyage to raise awareness about plastic waste and to force a sea change in the way consumers and manufacturers deal with such waste.

The Plastiki's voyage, which will be chronicled online by the crew and which and is already garnering worldwide media attention, will focus attention on one of the most damning environmental threats: how plastic is choking the planet. The Plastiki's message is one of reduce, reuse and recycle. It takes solid aim at the throwaway nature of our society.

Their point: If the world continues to create 260 million tons of plastic products each year, it's critical to find ways to reuse the non-biodegradable material.

The vessel itself is a clever example of how plastic can be reused. At the same time, the ship is a study in excess; thousands of plastic bottles comprise the pontoons that will keep the Plastiki afloat. And in that imagery, we have cautionary tale of how many plastic bottles are needlessly produced and consumed every year. And then there is the recycling message. The Plastiki will sail through the Pacific's Great Garbage Patch, "a massive, floating plastic junkyard in the middle of the ocean that is the direct result of mankind's polluting ways," as USA Today describes it.

We'll be watching along with the world, as the Plastiki undertakes it three-month voyage/environmental mission. Many eyes will be on the strange-looking boat. But in this post "Balloon Boy" climate, many people may view de Rothschild's adventure as a nothing more than an attention-grabbing, publicity stunt when really they should be heeding his message:

[Said] Jo Royle, who signed on to skipper Plastiki after a sailing trip through Antarctica revealed garbage in that icy paradise: "David can help people see we're all environmentalists and should make do with less."

Royle has just nailed Plastiki's mission. Much like [Thor] Heyerdahl's bold Kon-Tiki voyage made people rethink historical tenets, so de Rothschild has a chance to capture hearts and headlines with his crusade to reassess the way we deal with plastic waste.

"Our boat is just one giant floating water bottle," he says.

This simple image, de Rothschild adds, could be enough to shift people's attitudes toward recycling and the environment.

Single-serve packaging is an eco-travesty

New data compiled by the Container Recycling Institute shows how recycling rates for #1 PET plastic bottles stacks up against those of other beverage containers.

Or rather, how many plastic water, soda and juice bottles wind up as waste instead of being recycled.

The number is staggering: more than 40 billion annually.


Only soda and beer cans have a worse record -- more than 50 billion annually are trashed, compared with more than 20 billion glass bottles.

What these numbers tell us is that American consumers need to do a better job not only at recycling but also reducing our consumption of plastic bottles, cans and glass bottles. We need to break free from single-serve packaging in all its forms. We're paying a huge environmental cost for the convenience of single-serve packaging.

Switch from bottled water to Primo Water in 5-gallon reusable bottles. Buy sodas in 2 liter bottles or replace them with healthier iced tea or lemonade you make at home. Purchase larger bottles of wine and growlers of beer. Pack snacks in reusable containers rather than buying convenience packs. Serve the kids water instead of juice boxes and pouches, or fill their cups with juice from a larger container. Freeze leftovers in reusable containers and take those for lunch instead of prepackaged frozen meals, which are often high in sodium and calories.

What are ways that you're recycling and reusing in your own life? We'd love to hear your innovative ideas for reducing, reusing and recycling.

More creative recycling of water bottles

While it's no Plastiki, you have to applaud Micah Weiss's ingenuity in building a pontoon boat from hundreds of discarded water bottles.



He documents the process at Project rRaft and provides detailed instructions for other eco-minded do-it-yourselfers at Instructables.

Adventurer to Sail the Pacific in Catamaran Built from Thousands of Plastic Bottles

Always looking to highlight ingenious do-it-yourselfers and creative solutions to problems, the editors at ReadyMade magazine this month tackle the glut of plastic bottles that wind up in landfills every year.

They managed to find some people who are doing some creative, crafty and redeeming things with PET water bottles. We thought we'd highlight a few in the coming days and weeks since the ReadyMade article isn't available online.

Adventurer and environmental storyteller David de Rothschild, is using thousands of bottles to build a catamaran that he plans to sail across the Pacific. The 60-foot Plastiki is an amazing vessel, made completely from reclaimed plastic bottles. You can learn more about the Plastiki and follow de Rothschild's voyage here. (He should be setting sail later this year, following ocean tests of the vessel this month.) He'll also be tweeting the journey.

de Rothschild talks about the Plastiki and his expedition in this YouTube video.

New laws taking effect Oct. 1 to impact bottled water drinkers

New laws taking effect today in several states will have an impact on bottled water drinkers.

Beginning today, residents of Connecticut will have to pay a 5 cent deposit on every bottle of water they buy. This extends the state's existing bottle bill, which requires consumers to pay a refundable deposit on beverage purchases.

Bottle bills, while they do generate revenues for states, also are aimed at improving recycling rates. Customers receive a refund only when they return their empty bottles to the store, where they are collected and recycled. By the end of the year, six states will require deposits on bottled water.

Here in North Carolina, Primo Water's home state, it's now illegal to throw plastic bottles and containers in the trash. We applaud the state's efforts to encourage mandatory recycling on plastic bottles, but we realize that enforcing this law will be difficult and perhaps even unpopular.

But it is so necessary. DigTriad reports that four of every five plastic containers are thrown away instead of recycled. According to the N.C. Division of Pollution Prevention and Environmental Assistance, only 18 percent of plastic bottles used in the state are recycled. That's the height of environmental irresponsibility.

According to the city of Greensboro, if every plastic bottle used in the state were recycled, that would keep more than 2.4 billion plastic bottles from landfills annually.

The new law sends the message to residents that we can't keep throwing plastic into our landfills. Because of the number of plastic bottles that are trashed annually -- billions -- we're already facing huge environmental consequences for this wasteful behavior. The new law makes those consequences more immediate. Throw away plastic containers in North Carolina instead of recycling them and face a potential fine.

Actually, North Carolina residents don't have to worry about being fined for tossing an empty bottle in the trash instead of the recycling ban. But state inspectors will be looking for trash haulers who dump loads of plastic and other banned materials in landfills.

Here's more on enforcement of the new plastic bottle ban from Earth911:

It’s not going to be a Big Brother law, but the best way to be in compliance with the law is to recycle plastic bottles,” says Scott Mouw, environmental supervisor for the North Carolina Department of the Environment and Natural Resources. “Everyone wants to do the right thing, and the right thing is to recycle.”

While we don't believe that garbage cops should target individuals, we do hope that this new law will encourage more people to recycle plastics. Many municipalities in the state offer curbside recycling, making it so easy for residents to recycle. We'd also love to see more restaurants and public venues offer recycling bins alongside trash cans.

Of course, laws like this would be moot if more people would take the pledge and Break Free from bottled water and reduce their overall consumption of plastic bottles and containers.