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| A Woman's Directory For Travel and Life. WAVE Journey is your one stop online resource for women oriented businesses and services around the world. WAVE Journey is for every woman to enjoy. If you love to travel, cook, garden, read or revel in outdoor activities this website is for you. If you are looking to connect with other like-minded women or if you are interested in finding businesses or services that cater to women, WAVE Journey is your number one online resource. Off the Bottle? ~ Will cost-cutting, planet-saving consumers do in the beleaguered bottled-water industry? Article by Emily Schmitt, photo courtesy of Zsuzsanna Kilián. |
| WAVE Journey |
| Women's Adventures, Vacations & Experiences ~ Your Journey Starts Here! |
Bottled water sales are slowing – inspiring both sides of a
water war argue over whether this is just a ripple, or
whether the bottled-water industry will be washed up for
good.
Wholesale bottled water sales topped $11 billion in 2007,
still up from $10.8 billion in 2006. But sales growth running
about 2.3% in 2008 is a far cry from the 12% growth peak
in 2002.
Rising opposition to the environmental impact of water
bottling had already been giving some consumers pause.
Now, sales are being hit harder, as shoppers trim extras
from their grocery budgets.
“Really, the economy is the driving force,” said Arthur von
Wiesenberger, a consultant to the bottled-water industry.
“But now the environmental movement has made drinking
water out of plastic bottles politically incorrect. People feel
intimidated to buy bottled water at the grocery store.”
water war argue over whether this is just a ripple, or
whether the bottled-water industry will be washed up for
good.
Wholesale bottled water sales topped $11 billion in 2007,
still up from $10.8 billion in 2006. But sales growth running
about 2.3% in 2008 is a far cry from the 12% growth peak
in 2002.
Rising opposition to the environmental impact of water
bottling had already been giving some consumers pause.
Now, sales are being hit harder, as shoppers trim extras
from their grocery budgets.
“Really, the economy is the driving force,” said Arthur von
Wiesenberger, a consultant to the bottled-water industry.
“But now the environmental movement has made drinking
water out of plastic bottles politically incorrect. People feel
intimidated to buy bottled water at the grocery store.”
Campaigns like “think outside the bottle” try to convince consumers that buying bottled
water is environmentally irresponsible.
Corporate Accountability International, the not-for-profit that runs the campaign, argues
that bottling diverts water from local populations that rely on it; that plastic packaging is a
waste; and that public investment in infrastructure — like building and protecting water
supplies — is less effective if people use less public water.
“People are starting to think about these things, and that makes them more likely to drink
tap water,” argued Mark Hays, lead researcher at CAI.
The bottled water industry hopes sales will bounce back whenever the Dow does.
A freeze-up in bottled water sales during the recession of the early 1990s didn’t last,
pointed out Gary Hemphill, marketing director for Beverage Marketing Corp., an industry
research and consulting group. Nestle and Evian have fought back with green campaigns of
their own, and succeeded in keeping customers through those initiatives, he said.
“We’re still bullish on the market,” he said. “We’re hopeful it will come back.”
It won’t, argued David Quilty, an environmental consultant whose website, thegoodhuman.
com, warns readers that “the worst kind of water bottle is the kind you only use once.”
“I don’t ever think bottled water sales will go away,” he conceded. “I just don’t think sales
will go back to where they were. The fact that my mom went out and bought a steel water
bottle says it all.”
water is environmentally irresponsible.
Corporate Accountability International, the not-for-profit that runs the campaign, argues
that bottling diverts water from local populations that rely on it; that plastic packaging is a
waste; and that public investment in infrastructure — like building and protecting water
supplies — is less effective if people use less public water.
“People are starting to think about these things, and that makes them more likely to drink
tap water,” argued Mark Hays, lead researcher at CAI.
The bottled water industry hopes sales will bounce back whenever the Dow does.
A freeze-up in bottled water sales during the recession of the early 1990s didn’t last,
pointed out Gary Hemphill, marketing director for Beverage Marketing Corp., an industry
research and consulting group. Nestle and Evian have fought back with green campaigns of
their own, and succeeded in keeping customers through those initiatives, he said.
“We’re still bullish on the market,” he said. “We’re hopeful it will come back.”
It won’t, argued David Quilty, an environmental consultant whose website, thegoodhuman.
com, warns readers that “the worst kind of water bottle is the kind you only use once.”
“I don’t ever think bottled water sales will go away,” he conceded. “I just don’t think sales
will go back to where they were. The fact that my mom went out and bought a steel water
bottle says it all.”
Water fight:
environmentalists say
the bottled water industry
is dying; the industry
expects post-recession
bounceback.
environmentalists say
the bottled water industry
is dying; the industry
expects post-recession
bounceback.
