Illustration by Victor Beck’20 | Multiple water bottle companies stomp out possibility of monopoly

By Ryan Middlemist’20

THE ROUNDUP

The industry of bottled water has taken America by storm. With over 80 brands of bottled water in the US alone, these companies produce a massive supply of bottled water across the world.

The large industry has forced companies to compete for better prices while also keeping the prices down on bottled water for Americans across the country.

This in turn, makes companies strive for better quality of water as they create new techniques of filtration.

With so many companies in the business, it seems that there are plenty of options for purified water.

Some companies have also begun adding different minerals into their product which in turn is improving both the quality of the water and the diversity of options for consumers.

With companies creating larger bottles for a fraction of the cost people are getting cheaper prices due to this competition in the water bottle world.

However, not only are prices being driven down but the demand for easily accessible water is continually being met.

With so many different water bottle companies people have the ability to go just about anywhere and find water bottles for sale.

This is a huge convenience in people’s lives whether they are going on vacation, a road trip, or even just a simple outing people have the ability to easily gain access to water and in turn people are learning better hydration habits.

Having such an open access to water, people are never more than a few steps from hydration making it easier for people to stay healthy and hydrated.

With hydration being such a vital part of people’s health, and this generation becoming one that often remains indoors and in front of screens, it can be a life changing habit to bring easily obtainable water into the picture.

Water Bottle Companies Defile Common Good

By Jacob Cross Mayhew

THE ROUNDUP

Plastic water bottles embody the present enemy of the common good, both ideologically and in practice.

The human body requires water to function, and without it the body slowly begins to shut down. After a day without water, humans enter delirium and will eventually die after three days without water.

Water is a basic human right, and denying any person water based on cost is morally abhorrent. Charging for water is comparable to charging someone to breathe air; both are ridiculous and are unjustifiable. Drinking water must be free and accessible to everyone, just like public schools or dialysis clinics.

Some may argue that under capitalism and with the freedoms in America, anyone may sell any product they so choose. And though legally this is true, there is an essential difference between what is legal and what is moral. Using this logic of selling whatever one chooses, one would have to be perfectly acceptable to a vendor marketing and selling used syringes. There is a responsibility that comes with the free market system.

Despite this, many of the practices of these companies are unchecked. Fiji Water profited from being defended by a military dictatorship on the island of Fiji, which was cited for numerous atrocities by Amnesty International. Corporations that sell water are indifferent to the suffering of the people they hurt so long as they see profit at the bottom line.

Corporations like Arrowhead, Coca-Cola, and Pepsi are needlessly selling the same product with no regard for the ethicality or the environment.

Plastic water bottles are additionally a plight on the environment and the earth all humans share. From their production to their disposal, plastic water bottles do no good.

Packaged in a plastic casing, and contained in a single use plastic container made from petroleum products, these water bottles damage the environment. Water bottles take more than 450 years to decompose, and that only accounts for the ones that are properly disposed of. Many water bottles find their end destination in nature or the oceans, damaging ecosystems and wildlife. Single use plastic products comprise a large part of the pacific garbage patch, a collection of waste the size of Texas floating in the Pacific Ocean. There is no way of justifying the waste and the damage caused by these atrocities.

Plastic water bottles represent the environmental destruction humanity is capable of, while also denying humans of their basic right to life. Plastic water bottles are the enemy of every right minded individual.