Awareness of environmental protection and a „green“ lifestyle is becoming increasingly prevalent in society. Consumer attention to the environmental performance of companies and products has been rising for years. Companies have recognised this and developed their marketing strategies accordingly. Slogans such as „Think Green“, „Go Green“ or „Green Life“ will be used to link environmental issues with the company or product image.
The “environmental protection” promoted by companies was sometimes reduced to absurdity, leading to the establishment of the concept of „greenwashing“, a critical term describing the PR methods of companies to promote an environmentally friendly and responsible corporate or product image to the public, without this being true in reality. The largest bottled water producer in the world offended against the „Canadian Code of Advertising“ with statements, such as „most water bottles avoid landfill sites and are recycled“ or „bottled water is the most environmentally responsible consumer product in the world”.
It is not surprising that the bottled water industry is trying to show itself to be environmentally friendly, because it is increasingly being portrayed negatively in the media. Water in PET bottles has evolved over the decades into a global environmental catastrophe that can no longer be denied. The bottled water industry has a real struggle with environmental performance. Of the 89 billion water bottles filled worldwide each year, 80 percent are not recycled. The main aspects of the negative ecological balance are the transport and packaging. A study of the Pacific Institute in 2009 showed that 50 million barrels of oil is used for the production of plastic bottles – as much as the entire oil needs of the United States for two days. The calculation of the transport and energy costs are harder to quantify, as some bottles cross continents, while others may be sold in local areas.
A study by the interest group, the Swiss Federation of Water Utilities (SGWA), has analysed different bottles of water and considered the entire lifecycle of drinking and mineral water, starting from the water production, treatment and bottling to the packaging, distribution to wholesalers and retailers, and finally to the home transport of the consumer. In terms of energy consumption, bottled water needs 1,000 times more energy than tap water. If CO2 emissions, raw materials, resource use and disposal of the bottles, or transport and cleaning of reusable bottles are considered here, a litre of drinking water from a bottle displays an appalling environmental performance. This is especially abysmal given the alternative of having drinking water available at all times from the domestic tap.
Concerns about the quality of drinking water from the tap are in some cases quite justified. However, bottled water is not a better alternative, given the eco-balance sheet. Even with bottles of water, regular independent testing by consumer protection associations show significant differences in quality due to contamination with hazardous pollutants. Various studies have shown that in terms of health hazards and quality, bottled water is often no better than the drinking water taken from the tap. With the reverse osmosis molecular filter system from Art Aqua, concerns and doubts about drinking water from the tap belong to the past. The powerful, efficient and high quality filtration system makes clean drinking water available at all times.
By eliminating bottled water, one’s personal eco-balance sheet is improved many times over. Our customers do not contribute to CO2 emissions, energy consumption, resource waste or the environmental impact of the bottled water industry. At Art Aqua, our customers contribute greatly to their personal „green“ lifestyle by distancing themselves from all aspects of „greenwashing“. With Art Aqua, live truly greener – without compromise.