Agenda: 6.18.15
Item: 13b
SIMPLE CHANGES TO SAVE WATER-Bottled Beverages by Rachel Wooster
Sometimes it’s just a simple change in behavior that makes all the difference when it comes
to saving water. Bottled beverages take more water to produce than you might think. It’s not
just the water in the beverage you are drinking, but also the water to grow the ingredients in
that beverage, and the water needed to manufacture the bottle itself. Here’s how many liters
of water it takes to make just one liter of each bottled beverage:
Water
1.36 to 1.63 liters
Soda
2.02 liters
Beer
4 liters
Wine
4.74 liters
Tea
120 liters
Fruit Juice
950 liters
Milk
1020 liters
Coffee
1200 liters
Changing your choice of beverage is not the only way to save water. Changing how that
beverage is packaged is also a great option. For every liter of bottled beverage, anywhere
from 0.36 to 2 liters of water is wasted in the process of producing that bottled beverage. So
if you ditch the single use water bottle, juice box, or soda can for a reusable water bottle or
thermos you will be saving water every time you use that reusable beverage container. Let
alone all the other materials that will be saved by not using the single use container in the
first place, or the energy and materials that will be saved in the possible recycling process as
well. The same goes for that disposable cup that your beverage comes in, bring your own
container and save that cup as well.