the outrageous expense of bottled waters

An article about 'Do Something!' research. Unbottled.orgs work continues to gain acceptance as more and more diverse groups point out how foolish it is.

An article from Herald Sun:

Voss bottled water at $13 a litre brings on a cold sweat

• From:The Daily Telegraph 
• July 02, 2010 10:02PM

AT $13.70 a litre, it's claimed to be Australia's most expensive bottled water.

Conservation action group Do Something! is searching for the country's priciest bottled water as part of its campaign against the costly packaging of H2O in plastic and glass.

It's own initial search discovered Voss water, sold in the David Jones food hall at $10.95 for 800ml - equivalent to $13.70 per litre. "That's 10 times the cost of a litre of petrol," Do Something! founder Jon Dee said yesterday.

Hotels, restaurants, convenience stores and takeaways were putting premium prices on bottled water, Mr Dee said.

Examples Do Something! has found included $7 for a litre of Mt Franklin at Mirvac Hotels and $3.59 for the same bottle at BP - nearly three times the cost of their petrol.

Related Coverage

• Nestle battles greens over waterThe Australian, 25 May 2010
• Diners hit up to $14 ... for waterCourier Mail, 1 Feb 2010
• Water almost unfit to drinkAdelaide Now, 27 Sep 2009
• NSW town in 'world-first' bottle banThe Australian, 25 Sep 2009
• Reader's Comments: Town votes to ban bottled waterNEWS.com.au,

Mr Dee said the price contrast with tap water - in Sydney, tap water costs $2.01 for a thousand litres - is stark.

"Every year, Australians spend over half a billion dollars on the stuff, despite the fact high-quality drinking water is available for next to nothing from the tap," he said.

bottled water vs tap water

Giving bottled water the Boot

A story about a collaboration by 28 NSW Shires to reduce waste by a public campaign called "Tap Water, Please." There is great momentum for the unbottled movement across all demographics.

Tap water please but bring your own bottle

BY CLARE COLLEY

01 Jul, 2010 11:30 AM

Blayney Shire residents will miss out on the free reusable drink bottles distributed as part of NetWaste’s ‘Tap Water Please’ campaign as the Blayney Shire Council doesn’t have a provision in their budget to purchase them, director of environmental services Paul O’Brien said.The campaign, launched in a TV and radio ad campaign across the Central West on Monday, aims to make people think before they drink and cut back on their consumption and purchase of bottled water.Out of the 28 NetWaste councils that were invited to distribute the bottles only 11 took up the offer, NetWaste’s environmental learning adviser Sue Clarke said. 

“The other councils are putting up posters to show their support because we made the decision to run the campaign right over the NetWaste region,” she said.

“Different councils have to make their own decisions.”As well as costing more than tap water plastic water bottles also have negative environmental impacts with only 35 per cent being recycled.

“The really good thing is the message being promoted to get people to think about some of the consequences of bottled water,” she said. Ms Clarke said so far 4,000 of the reusable, recyclable, Australian-made bottles had been distributed across the region with each council getting about 300 bottles.“We’ve had a huge response,” she said.“I’ve had so many phone calls. It’s been wonderful.” 

Councils in Bathurst, Orange, Cabonne, Cowra, Forbes, Parkes, Dubbo, Wellington, Warren, Lithgow and Narromine are giving the bottles away as part of the campaign.