Bottlemania

Posted: 25.11.08  |  Created by: Elizabeth Royte

Having already surpassed milk and beer, bottled water is on the verge of becoming the most popular beverage in the United States. The brands have become so ubiquitous that we're hardly conscious that Poland Spring and Evian were once real springs, bubbling in remote corners of Maine and France. Only now, with the water industry trading in billions of dollars, have we begun to question what it is we're drinking and why.

Who owns our water? What happens when a bottled-water company stakes a claim on your town's source? Should we have to pay for water? Is the stuff coming from the tap completely safe? And if so, how many chemicals are dumped in to make it potable? What's the environmental footprint of making, transporting, and disposing of all those plastic bottles?

Read on for Elizabeth’s opinions on the bottled water phenomenon.