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Do you drink water straight from the tap? Or do you use water filters? Some people like to buy foreign water at stores, while others have bottled water sent to their home. There has been an increase in the number of people who do not drink tap water.
The sales of bottled water have been growing worldwide as the market for bottled water has been getting larger and larger every year. In the US alone, sales are over 12 billion dollars a year. Globally, people spend over 60 billion dollars a year. However, as the consumption of bottled water has increased, there has been more and more concern about its effect on the environment.
The water we buy at shops is usually put into plastic bottles. It takes a lot of energy to produce them. A large amount of oil is used in making this material, which gives off a lot of CO2 when burned. In addition, the percentage of plastic bottles recycled is quite small, although most bottles can be. According to research, only about one-quarter of the plastic bottles sold in the US are recycled.
Another problem is that a large amount of water is taken from water sources and carried to places which are thousands of kilometers away. For example, Japan imports a lot of bottled water from Europe. This leads to more emissions of CO2. People are also worried that some water sources may be polluted and that the water taken from those water sources has bad effects on human health.