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Ask Umbra on sparkling water 7

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Q. Dearest Umbra,

We and our colleagues use sparkling water as our substitute for cokes, coffee, beer, etc. We have heard some really bad things about bottled water, and are of course aware of the fact that it is up to 10,000 times more expensive than tap water. But oh those sparkles ... can you share your astute opinion and a comparison of the brands of sparkling waters with us? (Our favorite happens to be La Croix.) We’re pro-rivers and clean water, but we don’t want to steal other people’s.

Cheers,
Liz and Cindy
Alabama

A. Dearest Liz and Cindy,

The associated problems with bottled water are—no, let’s start with the positive aspects of bottled water, both still and sparkling. It comes in an easy-to-carry package, often perfectly shaped to fit the human hand. It is readily available, chilled, at a store near you. Um—well, bottled sparkling water is much easier to obtain than tap sparkling water. Plus, it tickles your nose.

bottled waterScam I am.fhemerick via flickrBottled water in general is nothing more than a massive marketing success. (And how about ‘vitamin’ water? What a brilliant scam.) It is water, in a bottle, sucked out of the 1 percent of the planet’s water that is drinkable, processed by some global subsidiary, trucked to your town and sold to you at a hilarious markup. These people are raking it in. If we read, in a 1907 novel, about some guy standing on the sidewalk hawking water in bottles, the character would be depicted as a charlatan. Today a bottle of water is an unremarkable accessory and no one is laughing.

The broad issues covering all bottled water certainly apply to your sparkly bevvie. To start with the immediately scary: both the Natural Resources Defense Council and the Environmental Working Group have studied bottled waters and found, among other things, that they are unregulated, are often just packaged tap water (label images to the contrary), and often violate safe drinking water standards and/or contain chemicals used in plastics manufacture. And yes, you are taking someone else’s water, and causing it to be shipped to you at the climate’s expense.

As for the bottles themselves, a tidbit via previous Gristy post indicates that manufacturing a plastic water bottle necessitates using three times as much water as the actual capacity of the bottle. After all these years, can I simply remind us that disposable plastic is not so good, without reiterating why?

Processed beverages make big money. They are mostly water, oft mixed with sugar, carbon, and flavor. Cheap to make, great to sell. Large corporations are very interested in owning any bottled water label that succeeds in the marketplace. So, to answer your specific question, all you need to do is find out what corporation owns a brand, then look it up on a site such as Coop America. I also found a water list on Ethical Consumer.

This amazingly helpful advice doesn’t really work with LaCroix, which is owned by the National Beverage Company, a second-tier company that gets less attention than Nestle and PepsiCo. But we don’t really need to rank brands, because we know this: all bottled-water brands are silly, overpriced, and hurting the planet.

All that said, I must admit that I too love the sparkly water on occasion, and I do not blame youse for your habit. Try drinking less of the bottled stuff, and consider getting a tap-water carbonating device for your office.

Effervescently,
Umbra

 

 

 

 

Yours is to wonder why, hers is to answer (or try). Send your green-living questions to Umbra.

Umbra Fisk is Grist Research Associate II, Hardcover and Periodicals Unit, floors 2B-4B.

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  1. A. West Posted 5:29 am
    22 Jun 2009

    We have a Brita filter for tap water, but we also like to drink seltzer. While we're not at the point of using a soda siphon, we do make our drinking choice less bad by purchasing local sodas and seltzers. We have a local soda company, so our seltzer is from our area, transported within our area, and we buy it in the large containers. Not as good environmentally as a soda siphon, but a good runner-up. 

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  2. A. West Posted 5:29 am
    22 Jun 2009

    We have a Brita filter for tap water, but we also like to drink seltzer. While we're not at the point of using a soda siphon, we do make our drinking choice less bad by purchasing local sodas and seltzers. We have a local soda company, so our seltzer is from our area, transported within our area, and we buy it in the large containers. Not as good environmentally as a soda siphon, but a good runner-up. 

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  3. ondrayah Posted 5:43 am
    22 Jun 2009

    We have a soda siphon - and its super easy, convenient and impressive.  Made in Austria. The cartridges are small and recyclable. And it allows you to sing ditties like "A little song, a little dance, a little seltzer down your pants" waaay past the time that anyone else thinks its cute.  Not that I would do that.

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  4. Prudence Posted 6:08 am
    22 Jun 2009

    Hey! You can get soda siphon setups that use BIG, refillable canisters of CO2 and not have to worry about recycling the little chargers -- you just exchange the empty canister for a full one. We use SodaStreamUSA.com, but I believe there are others out there. The quality of the fizzy water you get is very high. You can filter your water before you fizz it if you want to, of course, like with cartridge siphons, but you can also control how fizzy you make it.

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  5. lizalt's avatar

    lizalt Posted 1:55 pm
    23 Jun 2009

    Yea, Umbra!  Thanks for writing.  The Alabama Rivers Alliance staff is going to invest in a water carbonator.  :)  And I'm going to get one for the house, as well.  Best, LIZ

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  6. stwelker Posted 12:38 pm
    24 Jun 2009

    Here in Portland, we have a perfect substitute for bottled fizzy water.  It's called beer.

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  7. krusheraa Posted 7:43 pm
    27 Jun 2009

    We got a Soda Club thing (which seems to have turned into Soda Stream since then) more than a year ago and totally love it.   You can super-carbonate the water to the point that it takes the top of your head off or just carbonate it a little.  The bottles they give you seal extra-tight so the fizz lasts a long time.   We drink quite a bit of the stuff and the first CO2 cartridge lasted for about a year.   Everyone who sees it is so impressed by it and the whole idea that I'm thiniking of seeing if I can become a saleseperson -- have little fizzy water parties and take orders for them.  I'm sure it's paid for itself a few times over by now.(Um, Grist or Umbra?  Are you aware that one of the ads that shows up for this topic is for http://www.shopfijiwater.com/ ?  Individual bottles of water DELIVERED TO YOUR HOME?  Anything you can do about that?   I mean, I know you're into irony and all, but really...)

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