By Dahye Han
Interaction
Water is one of the most important elements of human life. So, water-related pollution has a fatal effect on humans. In particular, drinking water can be divided into those who buy and drink bottled water, those who filter and drink tap water. So, if the water is contaminated, those who drink tap water will suffer the most, and those who filter, and drink water will also suffer. As there are many ways to drink water, on campus, some students carry recyclable water bottles and others carry bottled waters. However, despite the continuous environmental pollution issue these days, there are still many people who buy and drink bottled water. There are people who buy and drink bottled water because they are worried about water pollution, and plastic waste emitted by buying and eating bottled water can affect water pollution again. A quarter of the students on campus still drink bottled water more often than tap water (Qian, 2018).
Resource Characteristics
The reason why bottled water consumption should be concerned, especially in places with drinkable tap water, is that bottled water requires much more energy in terms of production and distribution (Qian, 2018). In fact, the cost of producing bottled water is much higher financially and environmentally than tap water due to the production, transportation, refrigeration and revenue-generating goals of plastic packaging (Ryan et al., 2019). Bottled water is 240 to 10,000 times more expensive than tap water (Ryan et al., 2019). Second, bottled water has a negative environmental impact (Qian, 2018). Especially plastic waste. Plastic bottles are made of petroleum, and most bottles are not recycled. In the United States, plastic recycling was only 23% in 2007 (Qian, 2018). However, drinking bottled water is not the same strict standard as tap water in the United States, but it is often perceived as safer than tap water. This recognition may be partly due to water pollution incidents in the United States in recent years. So, it’s not surprising that there’s a fear of drinking tap water from exposure to media and information. West Virginia’s water quality, one of the most rural states in the eastern United States, faces many challenges, such as increased cancer and mortality from water pollution, due to its history of natural resource extraction and non-existent or aging water infrastructure (Jonas and Burns, 2018).
User Characteristics
The biggest barrier to the use of reusable water bottles and tap water was the perception that tap water on campus was not filtered enough and the second common barrier was that tap water tasted bad (Ryan et al., 2019). In addition, ‘safety and hygiene’ and ‘convenience and availability’ ranked the most reasons why people prefer certain types of drinking water (Qian, 2018).
Social characteristics
Many governments around the world have succeeded in or are aiming to provide clean and safe drinking water to their citizens, and many advanced countries already provide tap water that can be drunk without filtration according to basic drinking water standards. In recent decades, however, global consumption of bottled water has been increasing, especially in developed countries where tap water can be directly consumed. In the United States, bottled water consumption doubled to an annual average of 138.17 liters per person in 2015 (Qian, 2018). According to various studies, in relation to tap water, bottled water generally contains higher concentrations of essential minerals (Qian, 2018). However, improperly storing bottled water will also harm consumers. The elevated temperature is responsible for the release of antimony from the polyethylene terephthalate plastic used in water bottles (Qian, 2018). On the other hand, drinking bottled water is advantageous if consumers choose water containing mineral ingredients that meet the recommended daily intake limit and store it properly (Qian, 2018). Nevertheless, it should be remembered that the health effects of these sources of drinking water are further distorted, given the prevalence of reverse osmosis technology in producing bottled water and/or filtered tap water (Qian, 2018).
What can we do?
Currently, more than 50 U.S. universities are trying to ban the sale of bottled water. Interestingly, however, although the ban on bottled water has increased the use of refillable water bottles and increased awareness of plastic bottle recycling, studies have shown that water consumption has decreased and sales and consumption of sugary drinks have increased (Ryan et al., 2019). To prevent potential increases in sugar-added beverage consumption, you should increase your tap water intake using reusable water bottles as a disposable bottled water alternative. Students who buy bottled water believe they can drink more safely if they filter out tap water and therefore prefer it (Ryan et al., 2019). Given these beliefs, the strategy for creating an environment conducive to desired behavior is to make filtered tap water readily available across the campus (Ryan et al., 2019). This requires the installation of a water bottle refill station designed to facilitate refilling of filtered tap water into reusable bottles. To highlight the importance of reusable bottles, the bottles must include a simple data table highlighting the health, environmental and financial impact of disposable bottled water (Ryan et al., 2019). In addition, if you plan to purchase bottled water on campus, you must install a placard on the vending machine that describes the financial and environmental costs of bottled water. These statements can then specifically highlight the amount of savings that can be made using reusable water bottles instead of purchasing bottled water.
If relevant
George Mason University, located in Fairfax County, Virginia, has water refill stations throughout campus to make it easy to refill reusable water bottles. As of June 2019, campus has over 3 million uses of the stations. Even for easy access, most stations could find themselves near toilets, and they are located throughout the building for easy access.
References
Jonas G. L., & Burns, R. C. (2018). Drinking water in West Virginia (USA): tap water or bottled water – what is. the right choice for college students? Journal of Water and Health, 16(5), 827-838. https://doi-org.mutex.gmu.edu/10.2166/wh.2018.129
Qian, N. (2018). Bottled Water or Tap Water? A Comparative Study of Drinking Water Choices on University. Campuses. Water, 10(1), 59. https://doi-org.mutex.gmu.edu/10.3390/w10010059 Ryan, C. G., Gonzalez, P. A., Abdiel Elias Laureano-Rosario, & Pradieu, G. R. (2019). Bottled water versus tap. water: Risk perceptions and drinking water choices at the University of South Florida. International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education, 20(4), 654-674. https://doi-org.mutex.gmu.edu/10.1108/IJSHE-01-2019-0003