As bottled water sales hit all-time highs in the US, some Americans want people to ditch the bottles. Last year, Americans drank more bottled water than soda, reaching 12.8 billion gallons, according to research and consulting firm Beverage Marketing Corporation. The beverage has experienced explosive growth in recent years, as people have ditched soda in search of healthier options.
However, critics say that bottled water's sparkling reputation is just a ruse.
"Ditching bottled water keeps Mother Earth and your wallet green," says Ban the Bottle, an organization dedicated to advocating for bans of plastic water bottles.
According to Ban the Bottle, more than $1 billion of plastic is wasted every year, in the form of 38 billion un-recycled water bottles. Making the bottles is also taxing on the environment, with the organization reporting that making bottles to meet the US demand for bottled water uses more than 17 million barrels of oil annually - enough to fuel 1.3 million cars for a year.
In the United Kingdom, calls for a bottled water ban - or at least a tax - are catching on. In February, the London Assembly Environment Committee launched an investigation on the imact of plastic water bottles on the city.
The bottled water industry is also facing backlash based on how it sources its water.
Nestlé - the No. 1 producer of bottled water in the US - faced boycott threats in September after the company purchased a well in Ontario that a small Canadian township had been trying to buy. The Swiss company was also criticized in November when it attempted to increase the amount of water it was pumping from a source in Michigan.
While Nestlé has said it is working with the communities to find solutions in both cases, the incidents fall into a larger pattern of backlash against bottled water companies.
Even Paris Hilton is now speaking out against bottled water.
"Plastic bottles are poisoning our planet," the heiress said in a recent ad for sparkling water maker SodaStream. "Think of how stupid and how 2003 you look carrying your plastic bottles home from the store."
For a long time, companies have pulled of what John Jewell called "the marketing trick of the century" in The Week, by making bottled water seem like the healthy and moral choice compared to soda.
Now, it seems that many people are realizing that, while bottled water cuts the calories and sugar, it comes with some baggage of its own. It's time for the industry to brace for backlash, as critics try to turn Americans off of bottled water for good.
Ban the Bottle campaign from our Eco School. #HScertES pic.twitter.com/nfJILKvrvm
- St. Angela Merici (@AngelaMericiDP) March 10, 2017Ban the bottle was a success! Students traded their disposable water bottles for a reusable one. @wdhswolfie @wdhs_sc @GEDSB @ON_EcoSchools pic.twitter.com/VsznPzLNeM
- Kristy Johnson (@kristyjohnson) March 10, 2017Mountain residents and U of Redlands students protest Nestle's withdrawal of bottled water from San Bernardino Mts. pic.twitter.com/5x41q5AXZl
- Jim Steinberg (@JamesDSteinberg) April 2, 2017Sad fact is that the bottled water being paid for in Flint is from Nestle which is draining that water from Lake Michigan for next to free.
- Lonnie Hicks (@Lnnie) April 2, 2017