Argumentative essay

Bottled Water


The World wants to go green, but how can we do that without preventing minor harms? One of the greatest harms to the world is pollution caused by humans. Most of the plastic materials used by humans are left to pollute. Bottled water is one of the greatest plastic materials produced. They say that bottled water is safer, more convenient, and helps provides jobs to workers in many ways. Bottled water maybe a little cleaner than tap water, but purity comes with a price. Workers may make money in the water bottle industry, but compared to the price paid on producing and selling bottled water, it is a very small amount. Bottled water is not only costly to us, but also to the environment. Bottled water is preventing our world from going green by negatively damaging our environment, hurting the economy, and harming human lives’.

Bottled water negatively affects the environment in many ways. “Of the 36 billion bottles sold in 2006, only one-fifth of the bottles were recycled.” This means 28.8 billion bottles end up in landfills; which contribute to pollution that leads to dangerous greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. I think that pollution can harm humans’ health and cause a dramatic decrease in population. If water bottles keep adding pollution in the air, I think bottled water will be a major factor in global warming, and the Earth’s future will not be in good hands. Also, water bottles hurt the environment by removing water from groundwater (which tastes the same as tap water). When the water removed from spring water or also known as artesian well is put into bottled water, it is filtered to remove any unnecessary bacteria or chemicals. Except the helpful nutrients that are also found in groundwater are also removed by the filter; causing harm to the soil and agriculture. I think that “water mining” can reduce stream flows which are already decreasing because of the evaporation from the excessive heat caused by global warming. I also believe that since withdrawing groundwater harms the soil, it harms the agricultural society as well. Finally bottled water is harmful to the environment because the industries of plastic bottles use our scarce natural resources. “Water bottle production in the USA uses 1.5 million barrels of oil (fossil fuel) per year. According to a U.S. conference of Mayors’, 1.5 million barrels of oil has enough energy to power 250,000 homes or fuel 100,000 cars for a year.” I believe if we save the energy supplied by 1.5 million barrels, we can provide a lot more to the people and the environment. I think that bottled water harms the environment in two ways. When bottled water is first made, it uses our natural resources that are rare right now and is destructive to the ozone layer, and then after bottled water is used, it contributes to landfills and decrease in agriculture. I think bottled water will negatively help the world come to an end.

Another reason on why bottled water is harmful is because its damage on the economy. The economy is hurt when humans waste money on bottled water, which tastes the same as tap water, but costs much more. Not only do humans spend money on water that tastes the same as tap water, but they spend money on water that helps destroy their habitat. Not only does bottled water cost more, but it spends money that we could use to help improve and provide cleaner tap water. First of all, even though humans want to save money, they spend money on bottled water which is interconnected to tap water. “Nearly 40 percent of bottled water is simply filtered water filled in a bottle.” “Humans pay 1900 times more money for bottled water than tap water.” I think that paying money for the same water which is provided is just pointless. I think not only are the producers of bottled water are at fault, but the humans who pay money to the bottle industries that negatively harm the world are also to blame. Also, we humans spend money to damage our Earth. When we spend money to process the plastic bottles, we also produce harmful chemicals that are produced and pulled into the atmosphere. I think that bottled water is harmful but many other industries do this as well. Although, many other industries cause harm to the atmosphere and humans pay for them, I think that paying for something as unnecessary as bottled water is cruelty. Although car and plane industries cause harm to the environment, they have a positive reason to do so as well. I think that water bottle industry has no positive effect on the world in anyway. At last, the economy goes in loss by bottled water because we lose money that we could use in other places. “Food and Water Watch say that each year the U.S. falls more than 20 billion dollars short of what is needed to maintain our public water and sewage systems.” I think if we spend less money and time on producing and purchasing bottled water, we could spend that money to guarantee citizens cheaper, clean water from the tap. I think that we should not spend money on what harms the environment, but use that money to save the environment.

Final reason on why bottled water is harmful is because it negatively affects us humans the most. As you know, bottled water causes problems in the environment, but it also contributes in harming our health. At first, we find harmful chemicals in water bottles. “EWG laboratory tests show that 38 total pollutants were found in 10 different bottled water brands. Another study at the University of Missouri shows that bottled water increases the growth of breast cells by 78%.” I don’t think humans should pay more money for water that tastes the same as tap water and also hurts the environment just to risk their lives. I don’t think you want to add another symptom leading to cancer; one of our foremost death causes. In addition to the brand-new water bottles having chemicals inside, even reusing the bottles with our own tap water has its disadvantages. Studies show that if water bottles that are made of single-use plastic are reused, then they can produce leach chemicals in the water that lead to bacterial growth. I think that humans should not waste money for single-use items when they got all the water they need at home. If bottled water industries were to use a different type of plastic that could produce less harmful chemicals against both humans and the environment, then I think that water bottles could be useful. Finally, even with all these problems inside the water bottle, the bottled water industries still don’t check as thoroughly compared to tap water. “Food and Drug Administration regulates only 30-40% of the bottled water sold per state.” I think that humans should not pay for water that is not thoroughly checked but should pay for the tap water which is checked regularly by the sewage systems. I think we should give our money to the type of water which provides us the best, safest water. Even though bottled water can be portable and employs factory workers, it inflicts more damage than it helps. Our best brand of water is tap water. Tap water can also employ workers and be transportable, but while it does this, it does not negatively affect the environment, the economy, nor the Earth’s dominant race; us humans.

The opposing view tells us that bottled water is a safe and a convenient use of filtered water. Bottled water can help people in many ways. First of all, bottled water creates jobs to citizens that work in the plastic industry. They say that people make more money making bottled water than spending money for it. They also say that bottled water is not what is harming the environment, it is the people. If people recycle like they are suppose to, than bottled water wouldn’t harm the environment at all. At last, bottled water also prevents sickness compared to tap water and is convenient because it is portable. My current position explains how the bottled water industry is damaging the world, killing our economy, and harms the people. Although bottled water is convenient and portable, it is one of the leading reasons to global warming. Even though bottled water supplies the workers with money, its industry is wasting money on manufacturing the product. The money wasted could be used on other things to help save the world. Also you are spending the money on water that tastes exactly the same as tap water. Bottled water has no better qualities than tap water. At last, they say that humans are the cause to harming the environment, not bottled water. If humans do keep reusing, where will the bottles end up going? They are either going to end up in landfills or get other citizens sick for reusing the same bottle with bacteria for such a long time. That is why I conclude that bottled water is harmful and not safe to humans as well as to the environment.

As you can see, even small things can affect the world in big ways. Something as small as bottled water, does not seem as harmful as it is. Nevertheless, the fact is that bottled water can be vicious to our world in many ways. We humans have a responsibility to keep our Earth a safe, harmless place for all of us to live in. There is much we can do to accomplish this. We can use better cleaner plastic for water bottles. We can also regulate the water and bottles extra to check for bacteria to secure our health. At last, we don’t have to change anything but just recycle as much as possible to reduce landfills. Bottled water already has an impact on the world environmentally, economically, and also biologically. All these reasons are interconnected in some way and contribute to harming Earth. As of 2010, these reasons might not have as big of an effect, but in the future they will become destructive for our world.

Bibliography

Food, Swiss, and Beverage Giant Nestlé. "Take Back the Tap." Food & Water Watch. Food & Water Watch Program. Web. 27 Apr. 2010. .

Millard, Reed. "Water Pollution." The New Book of Knowledge®. 2010. Grolier Online. 26 Apr. 2010 .

Olga Naidenko, Nneka Leiba, Renee Sharp, and Jane Houlihan. “Bottled Water May Be Harmful.” Opposing Viewpoints: Water. Ed. Jacqueline Langwith. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2010. Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center. Gale. PLYMOUTH CANTON COMMUNITY SCHOOL. 25 Mar. 2010 http://find.galegroup.com/ovrc/ infomark.do?&contentSet=GSRC&type=retrieve&tabid=T010&prodid=OVRC&do cld=EJ3010670227&source=gale&srcprod=OVRC&userGroupName=cant32094 &version=1.0