It’s not just marketing that makes people drink bottled water

It’s not just marketing that makes people drink bottled water. Yes, our behavior is influenced by marketing messages, but marketing does not make us do things we don’t want to do. People drink bottled water partly because they think it is “healthy” or “clean” or “pure” but clearly turn to tap!convenience and ubiquity is a major factor in the growth of bottled water popularity over the past few years.

Bottled water is everywhere; it’s easy to “grab and go” (isn’t that the quintessential slogan of modern America and doesn’t it actually describe us all too well?).

It’s crucial for us to raise awareness of the problems with bottled water: its use has a huge impact on downstream waste, bottling and transportation have a high energy and carbon impact, it is ridiculously expensive, uses oil to make plastic bottles, is not always pure or healthy, and frequently damages local water supplies. Not to mention that bottled water is a commoditization and privatization of a public resource and contributes to the erosion of the idea of community and public good and its replacement by corporatization.

These are all great reasons to “stop the bottle” and “turn to tap.”

But if we want to promote alternatives to the throw away model, we need to take into account the power of convenience in contemporary life. We can’t just tell people to stop drinking bottled water unless we can propose some acceptable alternatives. I think people are willing to change their consumption patterns when they find out that their behavior is creating problems for the planet. Many of us are willing to sacrifice our personal convenience for the greater good. But not the majority.

I believe that if we do not find a way to make pure clean tap water more widely available and convenient for people to acquire and consume, we will not make the big impact on societal behavior that is needed.

So what do we need to do? Any and all ideas are welcome. Please email – all suggestions welcomed, and if you want your suggestions to appear here, let me know it’s ok to print your message. Send ideas to editor@turntotap.com. I’d love to hear from you - David