The Beginning of the End of Imported Bottled Water

One of the ironies of the Milken conference was that in front of dozens of

panelists talking about climate change and the need to reduce our carbon emissions

were prominently-displayed bottles of Fiji water, one of the conference’s sponsors.

Fiji water, of course, is an environmental

absurdity, one liter of which, according to Pablo

Päster, "consumes nearly 27 liters of water, nearly a kilogram

of fossil fuels, and generates more than a pound of carbon dioxide emissions".

So it’s good news that, as Dan

Gross reports in Slate, high-end Californian restaurants are now making

their own water, rather than offering foreign brands. Doing so is not only more

environmentally friendly, and much cheaper, it also means much purer water.

Spring water stored in plastic bottles, such as Fiji, will see rises in the

concentration of DEHP, an endocrine-disrupting phthalate and a probable human

carcinogen. Which isn’t necessarily unsafe, but is still something to think

about.

If this development catches on, it might be bad for the bottled-water manufacturers

and distributors, but it will be good for people making reverse-osmosis charcoal

filtering systems and the like. Imported bottled water was always a silly trend,

and it will be good to see the end of it.

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