How Far Did Voss and San Pellegrino Travel to My Whole Foods?
We charted the miles per bottle for nine top water brands.
| NAME | SOURCE | MILES TO SF | BOTTLE WEIGHT (IN OZ.) | CO2 (TRAVEL ONLY; LBS./1 L. BOTTLE) | SELLING POINT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Evian (Danone) |
Evian-les-Bains, France |
6,265 |
3.35 |
.61 |
"French Alps" |
|
Volvic (Danone) |
Volvic, Auvergne, France |
6,255 |
2.34 |
.59 |
drawn from "deep inside the lush, green ancient volcanoes" |
|
San Pellegrino (Nestlé) |
San Pellegrino Terme, Italy |
6,135 |
17.74 (glass) |
.80 |
"preferred by top restaurants" |
|
Perrier (Nestlé) |
Vergeze, France |
5,900 |
17.61 (glass) |
.63 |
"50 million bubbles" |
|
Yaqara Valley, Viti Levu, Fiji |
5,470 |
4.15 |
.49 |
"untouched by man" |
|
|
Voss |
Hordaland County, southern Norway |
5,100 |
18.93 (glass) |
.57 |
"pure water unlike any other" |
|
365 (Whole Foods) |
Shasta, California |
223 |
1.5 |
.07 |
"replenish*refresh*rehydrate" |
|
Balance |
Baxter, California |
149 |
2.14 |
.06 |
"Australian flower essences" |
|
Dasani (Coca-Cola) |
San Leandro, California |
22 |
1.94 |
.01 |
"live positively" |
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Comments
Products from far away
Submitted by TomLauria on Thu Aug. 13, 2009 6:13 AM PDT.
Many every-day food products come from far away. The spices we cook with; bottles of wines from Europe, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa; cheeses from around the world; cured meats, chocolates and so many beers from Europe; even dairy products like butter from Ireland, France and Denmark. All sell well at my neighborhood market. Why is bottled water any different? All-purpose municipal water from the tap is great but a consumer's global choices shouldn't stop at "water" simply because there is a utilitarian source of municipal water close at hand. Chlorine and other chemicals aren't everyone's cup of tea -- another huge import! Entire automobilies and trucks pour into our country from around the world. it seems rather pointless to fret about a simple bottle of water that hydrates, refreshes and satisfies.
TomLauria@IBWA
Every little bit helps
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sat Sep. 26, 2009 11:41 AM PDT.
Why should the world stop drinking bottled water? Most of our other products come from other countries to begin with right? WRONG!!!!!!!! It's bc no one steps up to stop things like importing water when we don't have to or buying localy grown food that a lot of polution occurs.... Their is a lot of food that I like in canada that is grown from other countries for example pineapple... I love the stuff but do I need it to survive, no! The richer parts of the world have gotten so greedy and gluttonous as a society that we think it's ok to keep doing this for ever.... it needs to stop... killing the planet is bad... the planet isn't ours, it belongs to our children's children and so on what ever we do will effect them worse...
Re: Products from far away
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Thu Aug. 13, 2009 9:31 AM PDT.
Good of you to take the moral high ground, Tom.
"Everyone else does it -- why shouldn't we?"
The point is consumer choice
Submitted by TomLauria on Thu Aug. 13, 2009 9:40 AM PDT.
Many local bottled waters, in single-serve containers or Home and Office Delivery coolers, travel only a few miles to your home or office. It doesn't have to be from far away. When the above-commenter says "everybody else does it..." I wonder if they realize how old many bottled water companies are. European brands go back to 1600s; one Swedish brand imported to the U.S. was founded and continually operated since 1707 from the same source. Seems like folks were enjoying bottled water a long time before wines and beers found their imported "niche."
TomLauria@IBWA
bottled water travels far
Submitted by Inthegreenlane (not verified) on Fri Aug. 14, 2009 5:46 AM PDT.
The point is not a global choice, it is how much we are willing to invest on fuel to import water, and it really is bogus. I prefer the when in Rome approach...drink Italian water when in Italy, local water in the U.S. There is plenty of good water here to choose from.
The when in Rome analogy is
Submitted by Jestocost (not verified) on Tue Aug. 18, 2009 12:57 PM PDT.
The when in Rome analogy is tremendously amusing in the context of Italians being among the largest per capita consumers of bottled water in the world.
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Re: products from far away
Submitted by Antonio Dayuhan (not verified) on Fri Aug. 14, 2009 7:21 PM PDT.
Tom Lauria misses one very pertinent point: unlike many other imported and often exotic products, water - simple H2O - is an essential for life. When it is bought up and exported, this deprives local inhabitants of their supply.
In Laguna, Philippines, where I have my home, several major water and soft-drink bottlers have pumped so much water from the local aquifer that farmers are having difficulty irrigating their fields because wells are running dry.
When they attempt to organise to protest, they are beaten and dispersed by hired goons. Of course, the bottlers claim to have no connection with such incidents. Perhaps these thugs are simply motivated by commitment to the ideals of "free enterprise" and "freedom of choice". It's a shame the farmers don't have that luxury.
If wealthy Westerners want to drink "pure, natural" water, let them invest in a filter and use their own local water.
Who gives a hoot!
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sun Aug. 16, 2009 8:17 AM PDT.
Who gives a hoot!
Reverse osmosis removes
Submitted by Philip (not verified) on Thu Aug. 20, 2009 11:01 AM PDT.
Reverse osmosis removes salt, lead, manganese, iron, and calcium as well as the dangerous municipal roach killer.... fluoride. It will not catch chlorine and other v.o.c.s and as it happens is a pretty wasteful process.
Distillation is the same due to the low boiling point of chlorine and v.o.c.s. also only 1 gal for every 5 lost is used.
Solid block carbon filtration is the most thorough and efficient method of cleaning your drinking water.
I paid $26 for 2 5 gal glass carboys...>$100 for a cooler/heater dispenser...>$50 for stainless insulated 1 Liter containers for each of of my family members. It costs me $1.50 to fill one up and I always have a backup. All cooking and drinking water comes out of it. My family does not consume the chemicals and we do not dump the plastics into the landfill. Do the math. It's worth the pennies for the health and social consciousness of it. The only fuel wrapped around my carbon filtered H2O is that which I used to cart it home. Go ahead and enjoy treats from a global marketplace if you wish....but water need not be on that list!
I don't really use any of
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sat Sep. 26, 2009 1:41 PM PDT.
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Interesting information,
Submitted by Carey (not verified) on Mon Oct. 26, 2009 8:22 AM PDT.
Interesting information, thanks. Reminds me of the recent documentary, Tapped. The documentary outlines how there is a time and a place for bottled water but they believe – and their take-away for viewers is – that bottled water is a short-sighted solution to a long-term problem. Even more, bottled water is not an acceptable alternative to drinking water. Of course, we are incredibly fortunate in the US to even have a choice of drinking water out of our sink or 6,200 miles away when other countries are lucky to have any decent water. Also, the argument that if the money people are wiling to pay for point-of-use filters and bottled water were invested in municipal treatment and distribution, many current health risks (real and perceived) could be mitigated is certainly becoming more appealing...
Pellegrino
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Thu Jan. 7, 2010 12:36 PM PST.
I drink Pellegrino, obster from across the country, basically, most of my fridge is from 1000+ miles away.
I do my part though, I design control systems for solar (& moving into wind) power stations. I consider it a wash.
People are simply not going to stop buying these things and supporting these industries just because some farmers in the Philippines are having trouble. That being said, it doesn't matter how far it travels, just as long as its on the shelf at the supermarket. I don't mean to sound heartless, but it's not realistic for the farmers or the consumers to boycott, because it won't be effective in the least.
The solution lies more with human ingenuity.
People should be able to enjoy the better things in life. Its more important to solve for energy issues than it is to stop buying bottled water.
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