*This request does not apply to the purchase of any supplies of stored water necessary for emergency or disaster-preparedness regulations.

Bottled Water is ENVIRONMENTALLY, ECONOMICALLY, and SOCIALLY UNSUSTAINABLE locally at UC Berkeleyfor the following reasons:

1. Waste Production: UC Berkeley does not have adequate recycling capacity to handle all the water bottles that go into our local waste stream.

2. Water Quality: Tap water in Berkeley is held to higher health standards than bottled water. One particularly concerning example is about the levels of lead allowed to be present. As of 2010, the California bottled water standards use 300 micrograms as the maximum level of lead allowable (CA Dept of Public Health, 2010). By contrast, tap water standards only allow a maximum of 15 micrograms of lead, with East Bay Muinicipal Utilities District only detecting 4 micrograms (EBMUD 2009).

3. Economic Costs: California average tap water costs about $1.60 per thousand gallons or about one tenth of a cent(0.1 cent) per gallon, while the average bottled water costs $ 900 per thousand gallons or $0.9 per gallon (Allen and Darby 1994).

Bottled Water is ENVIRONMENTALLY, ECONOMICALLY, and SOCIALLY UNSUSTAINABLE globally for the following reasons:

1. Petroleum-based packaging: Petroleum is a nonrenewable resource, and dependence upon bottled water increases our national financial dependence on oil. Combustion of petrol also contributes to global climate change in the form of green house gas emissions. Producing bottles for American consumption required the equivalent of more than 17 million barrels of oil, not including energy for transportation(Pacific Institute).

2. Water source: Bottled water is often withdrawn from groundwater tables at an unsustainable rate that has led to depletion of local potable water sources in places such as Mecosta County, Michigan (Food and Water Watch) and Sao Lourenco, Brazil where local people rely on the same source of water to sustain daily activities(Franklin Frederick 2003).

3. Financial Cost: Tap water is an extremely low cost public good; bottled water costs 240 to over 10,000(NRDC 1999, Allen and Darby 1994) times more. This great difference is indicative of the exploitative nature of bottled water.

4. Waste Production: Plastic bottles from water contribute to high volume of plastic waste in landfills around the world and in our oceans. The costs associated with managing this waste, even when looking at recycling programs, are financially unsustainable.

5. Energy Inefficiency: Energy is inefficiently used in the production, transportation, and disposal of the plastic packaging associated with bottled water.

6. Community Impact: The following communities have been negatively impacted by the bottled water industry that have been reported: Sao Lourenco, Brazil(Franklin Frederick 2003); Mecosta county, Osceola County, Michigan; Pasco county, Florida;Henderson county, Texas; Waushara County, Wisconsin.(Tony Clarke ).

7. Health impact on consumer: Cancer causing chemicals, trihalomethane and bromodichloromethane have been discovered in some brand of the bottled water.(Olga Naidenko 2008)

8. Environmental impact: Bottling of water produced more than 2.5 million tons of carbon dioxide.(Pacific Institute)

9. Economical impact: the production of bottled water uses three liters of water for one liter of bottled water(Pacific Institute)

Works Cited:

Bottled Water and Energy A pacific institute fact sheet , Pacific Institute Bottled water, Pure drink or Pure Hype Natural Resource Defense and Council, the Earths best defense march 1999 electronic date visited 11/8/10

L. Allen and J.L. Darby, "Quality Control of Bottled and Vended Water in California: A Review and Comparison to Tap Water," Journal of Environmental Health, vol. 56, no. 8, pp. 17-22 (April 1994).

(Interview) Franklin Frederick “Water as a Multidimensional Entity” Mountain Research and Development . International mountain society. BioOne access time 10/25/10 electronic.

L. Allen and J.L. Darby, "Quality Control of Bottled and Vended Water in California: A Review and Comparison to Tap Water," Journal of Environmental Health, vol. 56, no. 8, pp. 17-22 (April 1994).

Notes for presentation by Tony Clarke “Nestle’s Water Wars The Experience of North America” Polaris Institute, Canada.

Olga Naidenko et al “Bottled Water investigation : 10 major brands, 38 pollutants” Environmental Working Group Aug 2008 electronic

“Source Water and Bottled Water (Product Water): Chemical-physical-radiological-bacteriological tests and frequency tests” (2010) California Department of Public Health.

“2009 Annual Water Quality Report,” East Bay Municipal Utility District. http://www.ebmud.com/sites/default/files/pdfs/2009_annual_water_quality_report_1.pdf

Food & Water Watch. "All Bottled Up: Nestle's Persuit of Community Water." 2009.http://documents.foodandwaterwatch.org/Nestle-web.pdf.

ASUC Sustainability Team, Student Team on Zero-Waste & Plastics

ASUC Sustainability Team: sustainability.asuc.org