Don't buy bottled water

by Susu Jeffrey • Selling bottled water in Minneapolis in plastic bottles is big business. "Clean" or "pure" water in plastic bottles is an oxymoron—the liquid version of "clean coal." Soft plastic containers are intended for single-use and should never be frozen or heated—which makes transportation in hot or cold weather problematic. How much plastic leaches toxins into liquids is currently debated. Experts say the "purer" the water, the more contaminants it can absorb.

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Processing plastic bottles requires double the amount of water in the bottle. Of the 30-million plastic beverage bottles sold daily, about one in ten is recycled. It takes plastic bottles over 1,000 years to biodegrade. Best practice is to drink from glass or stainless steel. Minneapolis has installed a $70–million filtration system. Most bottled water is tap water anyway, check the label. "PWS" is public water supply—tap water. If no source is listed, consider it PWS. Why does my co-op offer bottled water? I'm a member of the Wedge Community Co-op; it's the closest co-op to my house and the leading co-op in the Twin Cities. If bottled water is an environmental apostasy, why does the Wedge stock it? Doesn't the Wedge take seriously its leadership position in the coop world? "We always follow our members," says Membership Services Manager Elizabeth Archerd. "When sales go down, we respond." In fact Wedge bottled water sales have gone down in the past year, about 30-percent. So there is less bottled water on less shelf space. Hard to believe when you check out the bottled water offerings including Coca-Cola and Nestle products. I recently inventoried the Wedge's water stock. Glenwood "Famous Spring Water" has not been spring water since the late 1980s when Glenwood Spring and the Great Medicine Spring in Theodore Wirth Park were permanently dewatered into the sewer system by MnDOT for Interstate-394. Glenwood water comes in gallon plastic jugs. Chippewa Springs water, in plastic, from Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, about 95 miles away, is processed by UV light (anti-bacterial), microfiltration and ozonation. A division of Premium Waters, Inc. with corporate headquarters in Minneapolis and Kansas City, Missouri, the corporation boasts, "We own several springs and buy water from several others." Consider the fact that supporting privatized water is a political statement. Beyond privatizing "the commons," moving water from one watershed to another plays havoc with area hydrology cycles and violates the "eat local" ideal. And while reckoning your "food footprint," calculate transportation of water which weighs 8.3-pounds per gallon. Nature's Crystal distilled water, another product of Premium Waters, Inc., is a "purified" water that has undergone steam distillation, microfiltration and ozonation. It is sold in plastic with no source listed, therefore PWS. Buhl water, from up on the Iron Range about 215 miles from Minneapolis, is labeled "local" and comes in plastic. Buhl advertises its water source as a "granite incased glacial pool" which either refers to a rock formation or still water trapped thousands of years ago. Poland Spring water, a division of Nestle Waters North America, Inc., Greenwich, Connecticut, is sourced from one of five springs in the state of Maine. Poland Spring offers four water "essences," lime, raspberry-lime, lemon, orange, as well as plain water in plastic bottles. Evamor water claims to be tritium-free from its source high in the Appalachian Mountains, with corporate headquarters in Louisiana. In plastic bottles, Evamor is artesian (well) water, "naturally alkaline," enhanced with antioxidants and minerals. Volvic "natural" spring water, from central France, is shipped to 60 countries in plastic. Evian, from western France with its high-end reputation, is called a "fine" water, bottled in plastic. Evian water is an $18-billion-a-year company. From Reykjavik comes Iceland Spring, another "fine" water bottled in plastic. Hint Essence water, is "purified" and flavored cucumber, raspberry-lime, pomegranate-tangerine and pear, in plastic from San Francisco. "Purified" water is tap water that has been distilled, de-ionized and/or run through reverse osmosis. Another California water is Penta, in plastic, advertised as ultra-purified, antioxidant and energized pure water. The astonishing health claims of this "restructured" water make it the most hyped filtered water on the shelves. Smart Water is a Coca-Cola acquisition, an "enhanced" municipal water, vapor distilled with added electrolytes (calcium chloride, magnesium chloride and potassium bicarbonite). The Wedge offers four sparkling mineral waters from Europe: Gerolsteiner in plastic and Apollinaris in glass from Germany; and Pellegrino and Sanfaustino, both in glass from Italy. Domestic Crystal Geyser Sparkling Mineral Water is "essence enhanced" in lemon, lime, orange or unflavored with added carbonization. Available in plastic bottles, the source is California, Tennessee, South Carolina or Arkansas. LaCroix sparkling, flavored water from Warren, Michigan, is a division of National Beverage Corporation in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. LaCroix water is filtered, exposed to ultraviolet light and ozonated before adding fruit essences and carbonation. In aluminum cans the water choices are grapefruit, orange, lime, berry, cran-raspberry or "pure." Four flavors are offered in glass bottles. Boylan "gourmet" seltzer water comes in glass bottles from a 117-year old family owned and operated bottler in New Jersey. The "pure," lemon or orange water is filtered and carbonated. Carbonated water, also called sparkling, fizzy or seltzer water, interferes with the body's calcium. Experts currently debate the effects of carbonated water on bones (osteoporosis) and teeth. Medicinally bubbly water alleviates stomach upsets and constipation. This ends the grocery list of Wedge waters—not soda, not juice, not brightly-colored sports or energy drinks—just clear-looking fluid in bottles. If you are thirsty If you're thirsty at the Wedge, fill up your personal portable water bottle at the spigot by bulk peanut butter or use a (provided, non-recyclable) waxed paper Dixie cup. All Wedge water is PWS filtered by reverse osmosis. "Bottled water is a scam," snorted a friend when I said I was writing an article titled Don't Buy Bottled Water. Bottled water costs about a thousand times more than tap water. Tap water is highly regulated by the Environmental Protection Agency while Food and Drug Administration loopholes (think of drug and meat horror stories) allow bottling corporations to set their own standards. Consumers in recession-America are taking note: "Tap Water's Popularity Forces Pepsi to Cut Jobs" reported Andrew Martin in the October 15 New York Times. Unfortunately six bottling plants and 3,300 jobs are at stake and people are refilling single-use plastic bottles. Fortunately sustainability consciousness is the second named cause of soggy sales though corporate officials blame only "the economy." "Engaging in environmentally sustainable practices" and "Being open to public accountability" are two pillars of the North American Fair Trade Federation. The Wedge is a member of the federation and I am member of the Wedge. I stopped buying bottled water. Please, boycott bottled water. Susu Jeffrey is the founder of Friends of Coldwater, Hennepin County's last natural spring. See www.FriendsofColdwater.org.