Bottled water is the world’s most sold and packaged beverage. It's the largest share of the 600-plus billion plastic beverage containers that are thrown away worldwide every year. Only one-quarter of bottles are recycled in the U.S.
Sociologist Daniel Jaffee is the author of a new book, “Unbottled: The Fight Against Plastic Water and For Water Justice.” He talked to The Conversation about how we can solve the plastic crisis by asking ourselves questions about drinking water.
"It became obvious to me that bottled water is not just a controversial consumer product with a lot of negative environmental impacts that many folks are aware of, but that it also ends up being deeply connected to the social justice crisis of uneven access to safe and affordable water here in the U.S.," he told HPR.
Jaffee said bottled water consumption is highest among low-income people and communities of color across the U.S.
"Most tap water in the U.S. is very safe to drink, meets all federal regulations. But about 7% to 8% of water systems in the U.S. each year have at least one health violation of the Safe Drinking Water Act," he said.
But those violations are not evenly distributed, he said. They're overwhelmingly concentrated in low-income communities, communities of color, and in rural places with groundwater contamination.
He shared the steps that some places, like Detroit, are taking to reclaim the tap and fight for clean drinking water.
"If we teach kids that water comes from a bottle, they'll believe it and they'll act like it. But if we teach kids that water can come from a clean, attractive drinking fountain, they'll get that too."
This interview aired on The Conversation on Nov. 9, 2023. The Conversation airs weekdays at 11 a.m. on HPR-1.
