Bottled Water
After doing our Water Taste Test (see the results at http://www.uvm.edu/~ecoreps/?Page=actions.html), this week's questions are from Erica: Why do students choose to buy bottled water? What are factors that go into decision? Concern over water quality? taste? convenience? Why are students willing to PAY $1.00 or more for a product that they can get for FREE from the tap or drinking fountain?
posted by UVM Eco-Reps Program Coordinator @ 2:01 PM
8 Comments:
I think people are out of their minds to pay any amount of money for water. You are already paying for what comes out of the tap, so you might as well use it. I think bottled water has an image, where as using a nalgene does as well. Also I feel many people are uneducated about germs and water regulations. I've heard people say that reusing water bottles is dirty, or that you will get sick from it but both of these are false if you take care of cleaning the bottle...once in a while. I never clean mine and I haven't been sick once this entire year. Maybe if people understand that just drinking lots of water...which you can get for free from the tap will keep you healthier than trying to avoid germs anyways. As far as water regulations go, most people are also oblivious to the fact that most city regulated water (tap) has to go through far more tests and meet regulations than any bottled water does. Where does the bottled water even come from...I don't think they know. So basically anyone who drinks bottled water on a daily basis is wasting their own money as well as contributing in huge amounts to pollution and unnecessary waste. Stick to drinking tap...bottled water tastes funky anyways.
Colleen
I think that quality has a lot to do with it. I think people figure bottled water has to be the safest to drink since people are selling it. With that in their minds, I think that makes them think it also tastes better. The results do show, however, that they preferred some sort of filter water over tap in the taste test. So, perhaps filtered water does taste better, but that depends on the temperature as well. I think an effective way to turn kids on to tap water is to have charts showing what is in it compared to what is in various bottled water and talk about the health affects. This might show them that at least BUrlington;s tap water is OK to drink.
Emily
While I certainly don't ever buy bottled water and I always encourage people to carry their own bottle and drink from the tap, we got a lot of negative feedback on the tap water at the water taste test. Nearly everyone who participated would make a face or a comment about how bad the water tasted when they tried the tap water. So tap water definitely has a bad rep (and I guess in some cases it's true) that it tastes worse. Mostly, I think it's advertising on the bottled water companies' part, and lack of education. People assume that bottled water is healthier and more pure, but really just don't have the information to make better decisions.
I think essentially, the reasons for buying bottled water is really a mentality thing. Many students, and the public in general, have this idea in their heads that bottled water is ultimately cleaner and better for you than tap water. The FIJI water in that pretty, clear bottle looks a lot more appetizing than filling up a cup in the res hall bathroom. Many may not be aware of the fact that tap water is purified to safety standards before it exits our faucets. If everyone was educated on the truth of bottled versus tap water, perhaps the decision to buy bottled would go down.
I believe students choose to buy bottled water for one of two major reasons. First, is the belief that bottles water is tastier and is more pure. Even though according to the water test results, more people preferred filtered tap water, there is still the belief that bottled water tastes better because it must be more pure. The second major reason is the convenience of bottled water. The majority of the student population is not willing to take care of a nalgene and find it more convenient to buy a water bottle and throw it away.
I think students are willing to pay at least $1.00 for water bottles because half of the student population is on a meal plan which fails to give students an economic value to the products. Also, the majority of UVM students are wealthy and as we all know; wealth breeds consumption.
I personally feel that the main solution to this is general awareness and education. Students need to become educated as to how everything adds up; environmentally and economically. I recently learned that number one item found washed ashore on beaches worldwide are water bottles. Once people are educated about water purity and how energy intensive bottled water can be, there could be major potential for solution.
I think it's a combination of all of those things. As always there is the laziness factor- it's easier to buy a bottle of water than carry around a nalgene and find a fountain to fill it up at. I also feel like there are a lot of misconceptions about water cleanliness and how much "better" bottled water is compared to tap water. I think the taste definately plays a large part in that misconception- tap water generally doesn't taste as "pure".
Naomi
I think taste or at least the illusion that bottled water tastes better (even if it is just bottled tap water like dasani) has a lot to do with the bottle water phenominon. I have run into people who tell me that they used to drink their tap water at home, but when they moved here the tap tasted gross, so now they buy bottled water. Now I will agree with them that the tap water here taste different from my tap water at home because we have different processes, but after you drink the water for a little while you don't notice the difference.
This is an issue that has been very frustrating to me lately because I see many students leaving the marche with huge packages of bottled water for their dorm rooms when there is free water on campus that is fine for drinking. I think most people who decide to purchase bottle water do it because they think that the water here doesn't taste as good as the water at home. Also some people just don't like having to refill water bottles and would rather purchase them. The best way I think to get this to change would be to limit the amount of bottled water offerred in the dining halls for purchasing and putting up notifications about why that change has been made, then students are becoming educated on multiple levels and are somewhat forced to change their behaviors.
-Katherine Moser
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