When in Rome: Italians Top the List for Bottled Water Consumption in Europe
by Sami Grover, Carrboro, NC, USA on 01.17.08
Italy may lead the way in producing goods that boast the EU Eco-label, but unfortunately not everything is quite as green and pleasant as that statistic would suggest. It seems Italy has an unnervingly high appetite for bottled water, making it the largest consumer in Europe. According to the BBC, Italians drink 270 brands of bottled water, producing over 200,000 tonnes (220,462 tons) of plastic waste (could this be a contributing factor in the recent tragedy of the trash?). We’ve noted this before, but bottled water standards are often no better, and sometimes worse, than regular tap water standards. As the man from the BBC points out, this trend may have more to do with fashion, branding and status than it does health or taste. ::BBC::via YouTube::
They top the list because the have to drink bottled water! I lived in Naples for 3 years and even the locals will tell you not to drink the tap water. A lot of people actually go so far as cooking and brushing their teeth with bottled water!
~Tablebread
http://tablebread.blogspot.com
I suspect a large part of this probably has to do with the Italian preference for sparkling water--traveling through Tuscany, it seems almost impossible to get water that's not carbonated!
The tap water is very bad in most parts of Italy. My friend is very anti-bottled water, but when she's back in Milan, she won't/can't drink tap water. She told me to try it for myself. I did. It's really horrible. I'm told filtering it doesn't help.
There is so much mineral content in it that anything left to air dry (dishes, shower, etc.) is left with a white crusty coating.
The preference for 'frizzante' water could be a factor too, but it's mostly because tap water is essentially undrinkable.
tap water "production" centres in canada seem to have quality and safety standards that match or exceed at least the vast majority of those applied to bottled water.
however, another issue here, one that is at least equivalent to concern over human health impact of plastic bottled water is the human health impact of the tap water distribution system, especially in old cities and neighbourhoods.
is the city's pipe lead? is it pvc? what about the piping in my house? how will this affect my health and who's making the answers to these questions (city pipes or pipes in apartment buildings) readily available?
Bottled water is the least of Italians' evils. Has anyone calculated the carbon footprint of one espresso? Yikes!
I like the article about The U.S. is known to have one of the cleanest and safest drinking water systems in the world. In too many parts of the world this luxury is not enjoyed. On a regular basis many people...including women and children...are known to die from drinking water contaminated with water born parasites and diseases....it would be an incredible act of love and compassion if we here in the U.S. could make an effort to reduce our bottled water consumption by a few bottles a week or month and give that money to charity. There are quite a few charitable organizations that are involved in well digging and providing water filters for impoverished communities around the world ( World Vision is one...1-888-511-6511 ) who do not have the money or resources available to do this themselves. In doing so we can potentially save lives and reduce suffering. We also do incredible good to the planet by reducing the oil consumption that goes into making plastic water bottles and by reducing the amount of landfill space that is used every year (reportedly 30 million water bottles and 41 million barrels of oil to transport and refrigerate that bottled water). We can make a difference.