Bottled Water Coolers And The

by wvfonseca

Bottled Water Coolers and the Environment

Article by Connect Water Coolers

The 1980s gave us many memorable products from the Rubiks Cube and Wispa bar, to the Filofax and mobile phone. It is also the decade in which our attitudes to water were seriously challenged. Bottled water became an aggressively marketed commodity and bottled water coolers began appearing in every office and workplace across the developed world. The water cooler industry was born.

Clever marketers successfully convinced millions to pay for something that they were used to freely consuming from their taps. In an age of rampant consumerism, many people sought to portray an image of success and status, and even water was branded to evoke such qualities. The first successful water brands were invariably French, such as Volvic and Perrier, promising to add a touch of sophistication to your dinner party or restaurant table.

During the 1990s and early 2000s, there was an incredible shift in attitude towards health. As the decadence of the yuppie years waned, the bottled water industry adapted its marketing strategy towards a more health conscious audience. Bottled water was now an essential part of a healthy lifestyle, keeping you well hydrated at the gym, home and workplace. According to the UK trade body, the BBWP, the UK bottled market, including bottled watercoolers, grew from 580m litres in 1993 to 2.06 billion litres in 2008.

However, as education and awareness of the environment, the earth’s natural resources and health has increased, the validity of bottled water has been brought into question. The bottled water industry has a huge carbon footprint from manufacturing through to distribution. Bottled water coolers have an even bigger carbon footprint as they go beyond the initial manufacturing and distribution phases. Empty bottles are collected, transported for cleaning and refilling before being delivered once again in an endless cycle of transport, cleaning and refilling. The user may think that by recycling the bottles they are contributing to the environmental effort, but this is not the case. An enormous amount of water is also used in the manufacturing process, with estimates of between two and six times the actual bottle volume required to produce each bottle of water. The only green water cooler is a mains water cooler, connected directly to the mains water supply with no need for plastic water bottles.

Bisphenol A has been the subject of controversy in recent years following concerns about adverse effects on human health, and particularly babies and children, resulting in bans in several countries and US states. It is used in some of the tougher plastic bottles such as those designed to be reused such as baby bottles and water cooler bottles.

It would seem that the bottled water cooler’s days are numbered, given the overwhelming arguments against their use. Everyone is becoming more conscious of the way they use resources and their impact on the environment, both at a personal and corporate level, and is being increasingly held to account for this too. Given the high quality and regulation of UK tap water, together with the efficacy of sophisticated filter systems within mains water coolers to remove any impurities and chlorine, there is clearly only one water cooler choice for the 2010s.

Subscribe to Connect Water Coolers blog!

Related Water Cooler Articles

offline arbitrage | Sotto | Al@gncccastcom | Confessordesignate | Architectsmarine | Beechtree | Benzothiazole | Payday Loan Tips That Everyone Should Try | Hardship Loans Have Become Very Well-Liked With The Public Due | You Can Discover How To Become A Stripper Also Receive Hard Earned Money | Extensive 6 Week Body Makeover Review About Its Prosperous Outcome | Sydney Harbour Bridge | The way to Get Low cost Traffic to your Internet site