1
00:00:06,000 --> 00:00:08,480
[electronic beeping, buzzing]

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00:00:08,560 --> 00:00:10,400
[indistinct chatter]

3
00:00:12,680 --> 00:00:13,800
{\an8}[man] It's an acquired taste.

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00:00:13,880 --> 00:00:16,960
{\an8}Remember the first time you drank
some big, bold red wine as a kid?

5
00:00:17,040 --> 00:00:18,240
You probably didn't like it.

6
00:00:18,320 --> 00:00:20,160
[narrator] It's 2008.

7
00:00:20,240 --> 00:00:22,280
This might look like a wine tasting,

8
00:00:22,360 --> 00:00:26,000
but what people are actually sampling
is bottled water.

9
00:00:26,840 --> 00:00:29,760
As soon as you start realizing
that water is not water,

10
00:00:29,840 --> 00:00:31,560
you start seeing differences in water.

11
00:00:31,640 --> 00:00:34,760
But it's only if you don't pay attention
you think water's water.

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00:00:35,680 --> 00:00:40,240
{\an8}[narrator] It's all about fancy bottles,
different tastes, and mineral contents.

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00:00:41,120 --> 00:00:42,600
{\an8}[man] Baby boomers are aging.

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00:00:42,680 --> 00:00:45,120
People don't do
the two-martini lunches anymore,

15
00:00:45,200 --> 00:00:47,080
but they still want
something nice in their hand.

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00:00:48,320 --> 00:00:52,520
[narrator] Today, there's no shortage
of options for the HO connoisseur.

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00:00:53,320 --> 00:00:55,200
Bottled water is everywhere.

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00:00:55,840 --> 00:00:57,280
{\an8}There's glacial water,

19
00:00:57,360 --> 00:00:58,760
{\an8}oxygen water,

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00:00:58,840 --> 00:01:01,920
{\an8}and yes, you can even buy bottled rain.

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00:01:03,120 --> 00:01:06,040
Bottled water is now
the US's favorite beverage,

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00:01:06,800 --> 00:01:09,200
consumed more
than any other packaged drink.

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00:01:12,760 --> 00:01:14,200
As of 2020,

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00:01:14,280 --> 00:01:15,320
around the globe,

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00:01:15,400 --> 00:01:19,680
humans drink more than 400 billion liters
of bottled water per year.

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00:01:21,880 --> 00:01:24,960
That's more than gushes
over Niagara Falls every day.

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00:01:26,800 --> 00:01:31,400
In the US, to drink the recommended
eight glasses of water a day from a tap

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costs around 66 cents a year.

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00:01:34,800 --> 00:01:36,760
The same amount of bottled water,

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00:01:36,840 --> 00:01:40,200
{\an8}around $1,163 a year.

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00:01:41,400 --> 00:01:43,800
{\an8}That's like paying $10,000

32
00:01:43,880 --> 00:01:44,880
for a sandwich.

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00:01:45,720 --> 00:01:50,160
Much of the cost comes from making,
marketing, and distributing the bottles,

34
00:01:51,280 --> 00:01:54,440
more than two-thirds of which
never get recycled.

35
00:01:54,520 --> 00:01:56,560
[water bubbles]

36
00:01:56,640 --> 00:01:58,320
[whale vocalizes]

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00:01:59,840 --> 00:02:03,760
Bottled water's sold to us as a healthier
and a better-tasting alternative

38
00:02:03,840 --> 00:02:05,000
to tap water,

39
00:02:05,600 --> 00:02:08,520
but is it all just a sales trick
pushing a product

40
00:02:09,120 --> 00:02:10,560
that's essentially free?

41
00:02:12,720 --> 00:02:14,200
And at what cost?

42
00:02:19,200 --> 00:02:21,200
[water gurgles softly]

43
00:02:29,880 --> 00:02:33,120
There's no two ways about it.
We all have to drink water.

44
00:02:33,200 --> 00:02:35,520
It's a life-sustaining element.

45
00:02:36,760 --> 00:02:40,000
Luckily, nature provides it for free.

46
00:02:42,880 --> 00:02:45,920
[man] Mathematically speaking,
one inch of rainfall in the district

47
00:02:46,000 --> 00:02:48,480
gives the city one week's supply of water.

48
00:02:50,680 --> 00:02:54,000
[narrator] During the 1950s,
in most developed countries,

49
00:02:54,080 --> 00:02:57,800
when you're thirsty at home,
you can drink from a dependable tap

50
00:02:58,320 --> 00:02:59,960
thanks to chlorination.

51
00:03:00,040 --> 00:03:01,600
So why pay for it?

52
00:03:04,560 --> 00:03:06,040
In the 1960s,

53
00:03:06,120 --> 00:03:09,920
bottled water from natural springs
is sold in the US and Europe

54
00:03:10,000 --> 00:03:12,840
as a niche health product,
mainly in pharmacies.

55
00:03:14,000 --> 00:03:16,040
Evian is a flat water from France

56
00:03:16,120 --> 00:03:19,560
that's naturally fortified
with calcium and magnesium.

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00:03:20,960 --> 00:03:24,160
The company's marketing
targets mothers and babies.

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00:03:25,160 --> 00:03:29,040
Monsieur Fauche, how many
of these bottles do you sell in a year?

59
00:03:29,720 --> 00:03:34,640
Last year we sold 291 million bottles.

60
00:03:35,600 --> 00:03:39,480
[narrator] But bottled mineral water
is mostly only popular in Europe.

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00:03:40,960 --> 00:03:42,080
In the US,

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00:03:42,160 --> 00:03:44,880
the drink people prefer to buy is soda.

63
00:03:44,960 --> 00:03:47,640
They're still used
to getting their water for free.

64
00:03:51,480 --> 00:03:54,520
{\an8}But that all changes in 1976.

65
00:03:55,720 --> 00:03:58,080
Bubbly French mineral water Perrier,

66
00:03:58,160 --> 00:04:00,600
with their green, iconic-shaped bottles,

67
00:04:00,680 --> 00:04:02,480
decides to take on America,

68
00:04:03,840 --> 00:04:06,600
just as the health-food movement
is taking off.

69
00:04:07,920 --> 00:04:11,640
Perrier thinks they can market themselves
as a zero-calorie mixer,

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00:04:11,720 --> 00:04:13,720
an alternative to sugary drinks.

71
00:04:16,920 --> 00:04:19,680
And they hire
marketing genius Bruce Nevins.

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00:04:19,760 --> 00:04:21,320
[horse whinnies]

73
00:04:21,400 --> 00:04:24,120
He's the guy who transformed Levi jeans

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00:04:24,200 --> 00:04:27,280
from utility farm wear
to a global fashion brand.

75
00:04:28,360 --> 00:04:29,680
Nevins's first step?

76
00:04:30,280 --> 00:04:33,160
Play on the perceived glamour
of French chic.

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00:04:33,240 --> 00:04:37,600
Inherent in the product is the fact
that it is imported, it is French,

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00:04:37,680 --> 00:04:39,840
and so therefore,
you're gonna have a certain built-in

79
00:04:39,920 --> 00:04:41,080
what you call snob appeal.

80
00:04:42,400 --> 00:04:44,280
[narrator] Just before the US launch,

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00:04:44,360 --> 00:04:47,000
he flies 60 journalists to France

82
00:04:47,080 --> 00:04:48,600
to visit the single source

83
00:04:48,680 --> 00:04:51,240
where all Perrier
bubbles out of the ground.

84
00:04:53,120 --> 00:04:54,120
Then,

85
00:04:54,200 --> 00:04:57,280
Nevins gets busy
linking Perrier to health…

86
00:04:58,080 --> 00:04:59,200
[starting gun fires]

87
00:04:59,720 --> 00:05:01,440
…sponsoring marathons,

88
00:05:01,520 --> 00:05:04,480
just as long-distance running
takes off in America.

89
00:05:05,800 --> 00:05:07,720
He even runs in one himself.

90
00:05:09,120 --> 00:05:10,840
Nevins plugs Perrier

91
00:05:10,920 --> 00:05:12,960
as the Earth's first soft drink.

92
00:05:13,680 --> 00:05:17,080
And in the way natural fizzy water
like Perrier is created,

93
00:05:17,160 --> 00:05:18,320
it kind of is.

94
00:05:21,520 --> 00:05:24,920
Sparkling mineral spring water
begins as rain

95
00:05:25,000 --> 00:05:28,680
that seeps through layers of rock
formed millions of years ago.

96
00:05:30,960 --> 00:05:31,920
On the way down,

97
00:05:32,000 --> 00:05:35,360
it absorbs healthy minerals
like calcium and magnesium.

98
00:05:37,400 --> 00:05:40,720
Carbon dioxide also rises up
to meet the groundwater

99
00:05:40,800 --> 00:05:43,000
from volcanic magma deep underground.

100
00:05:45,320 --> 00:05:46,600
Under pressure,

101
00:05:46,680 --> 00:05:50,240
this gas gives the water
a natural carbonation, the bubbles.

102
00:05:52,960 --> 00:05:56,880
It can take thousands of years
before it emerges as a natural spring.

103
00:05:56,960 --> 00:05:59,840
And it's fizzy to drink
right out of the ground.

104
00:06:05,760 --> 00:06:08,800
Nevins's plot to conquer America works.

105
00:06:09,320 --> 00:06:10,440
In three years,

106
00:06:10,520 --> 00:06:14,160
he's taken Perrier sales from $600,000

107
00:06:14,240 --> 00:06:17,360
to a whopping $60 million.

108
00:06:18,920 --> 00:06:20,920
From its base on Lake Geneva,

109
00:06:21,000 --> 00:06:24,840
French rival Evian
sees Perrier's runaway success

110
00:06:24,920 --> 00:06:28,480
and decides to revamp
its marketing in America too.

111
00:06:29,600 --> 00:06:31,960
Forget touting its nutritional benefits.

112
00:06:32,040 --> 00:06:36,120
{\an8}Evian switches to selling itself
as a lifestyle accessory.

113
00:06:37,800 --> 00:06:39,760
Clearly, they're onto something,

114
00:06:40,280 --> 00:06:43,800
as total bottled-water sales
in the US multiply

115
00:06:43,880 --> 00:06:46,520
from more than one billion liters in 1976

116
00:06:47,120 --> 00:06:49,920
to about five billion in 1985.

117
00:06:51,320 --> 00:06:54,360
Evian becomes
the go-to brand for celebrities.

118
00:06:55,600 --> 00:07:00,000
Actor Jack Nicholson even smuggles
a bottle into the Oscars in 1990.

119
00:07:01,720 --> 00:07:04,360
And Evian is never far from the catwalk.

120
00:07:05,000 --> 00:07:07,280
But while Evian is for fashionistas,

121
00:07:08,040 --> 00:07:11,520
Perrier remains the water of choice
for power dining.

122
00:07:12,120 --> 00:07:13,000
[gas hisses]

123
00:07:13,640 --> 00:07:16,400
{\an8}At least until February 1990,

124
00:07:16,480 --> 00:07:18,120
{\an8}when disaster strikes.

125
00:07:19,800 --> 00:07:23,160
[reporter] The bubble of Perrier's success
burst in dramatic fashion.

126
00:07:23,240 --> 00:07:26,320
Last Friday, Perrier shares
took a sudden dive in Paris,

127
00:07:26,400 --> 00:07:30,040
the day before the US announcement
of benzene contamination.

128
00:07:31,520 --> 00:07:33,800
[narrator] A chemical
linked to cancer in animals

129
00:07:33,880 --> 00:07:36,280
is found in 13 bottles of Perrier.

130
00:07:38,080 --> 00:07:42,240
They're forced to remove 160 million
of them from supermarket shelves.

131
00:07:43,000 --> 00:07:44,680
It's one of the biggest recalls

132
00:07:44,760 --> 00:07:47,320
the food and drinks industry
has ever seen.

133
00:07:48,400 --> 00:07:51,360
Their market share shrinks from 45%

134
00:07:51,440 --> 00:07:52,920
to just 21%.

135
00:07:55,160 --> 00:07:58,320
Still, bottled water remains
a hot commodity.

136
00:07:58,400 --> 00:07:59,720
{\an8}[bottles clink]

137
00:07:59,800 --> 00:08:04,320
{\an8}In fact, Perrier's disaster leaves
an opening for competitors like Evian

138
00:08:04,400 --> 00:08:05,560
and Saratoga.

139
00:08:09,720 --> 00:08:12,760
From 1985 to 1992,

140
00:08:12,840 --> 00:08:16,120
total bottled-water sales
in the US almost double,

141
00:08:16,200 --> 00:08:18,800
reaching around ten billion liters a year.

142
00:08:20,120 --> 00:08:24,960
That's enough bottles to make a pile
higher than the world's tallest building

143
00:08:25,040 --> 00:08:26,640
{\an8}three times over.

144
00:08:26,720 --> 00:08:30,480
{\an8}But soda is still outselling
bottled water by five to one.

145
00:08:35,200 --> 00:08:36,600
{\an8}By the mid-'90s,

146
00:08:36,680 --> 00:08:39,440
{\an8}bottled water's chief competitor, soda,

147
00:08:40,040 --> 00:08:41,760
is suffering a fall from grace.

148
00:08:44,520 --> 00:08:47,360
Public-health officials
start citing sugary drinks

149
00:08:47,440 --> 00:08:50,480
as one of the root causes
of America's obesity epidemic.

150
00:08:52,000 --> 00:08:56,640
[reporter] Statistics showing students
swallowing 700 cans of cola a year,

151
00:08:56,720 --> 00:08:58,760
carbonated companies making mega money,

152
00:08:58,840 --> 00:09:02,040
while critics claiming
health problems start with soda.

153
00:09:03,920 --> 00:09:07,560
[narrator] Meanwhile, bottled water,
seen as a healthy alternative,

154
00:09:07,640 --> 00:09:09,240
continues to take off.

155
00:09:10,840 --> 00:09:12,240
It's so fashionable,

156
00:09:12,320 --> 00:09:16,640
Chanel even designs a bottle holder
for their spring 1994 collection.

157
00:09:17,760 --> 00:09:20,360
{\an8}There's even bottled water for pets,

158
00:09:20,440 --> 00:09:22,520
with crispy beef flavor for dogs

159
00:09:22,600 --> 00:09:24,920
and tangy fish flavor for cats.

160
00:09:27,880 --> 00:09:31,200
With bottled water
now firmly established in the US,

161
00:09:32,040 --> 00:09:35,640
Big Soda decides
if you can't beat 'em, join 'em.

162
00:09:37,560 --> 00:09:39,120
In 1994,

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00:09:39,200 --> 00:09:41,320
PepsiCo launches Aquafina,

164
00:09:42,960 --> 00:09:46,520
and Coca-Cola follows in 1999 with Dasani.

165
00:09:47,840 --> 00:09:50,160
It's an entirely made-up name,

166
00:09:50,240 --> 00:09:53,120
but focus groups agree it suggests purity,

167
00:09:53,200 --> 00:09:55,840
relaxation, and replenishment.

168
00:09:57,280 --> 00:09:59,960
There's a big difference
with these newcomers though,

169
00:10:00,040 --> 00:10:03,000
one they're not exactly broadcasting
to the public.

170
00:10:04,680 --> 00:10:07,760
They're selling something
called purified water,

171
00:10:07,840 --> 00:10:11,200
which uses nothing more
than municipal tap water.

172
00:10:11,920 --> 00:10:13,600
What makes it purified?

173
00:10:14,360 --> 00:10:15,760
An industrial process

174
00:10:15,840 --> 00:10:18,120
that soda companies
are already familiar with

175
00:10:18,200 --> 00:10:19,520
for their soft drinks.

176
00:10:20,040 --> 00:10:23,800
It's called reverse osmosis
and works something like this.

177
00:10:24,360 --> 00:10:25,600
[tap squeaks]

178
00:10:26,120 --> 00:10:30,080
Filtered tap water is forced
through membranes that remove bacteria,

179
00:10:31,720 --> 00:10:33,040
viruses,

180
00:10:33,120 --> 00:10:34,840
and any harmful chemicals.

181
00:10:35,920 --> 00:10:38,440
And carbon filters extract any chlorine.

182
00:10:39,360 --> 00:10:40,440
Also filtered out?

183
00:10:41,160 --> 00:10:44,040
Healthy minerals
such as magnesium and calcium.

184
00:10:46,440 --> 00:10:49,480
Then ozone is added
to kill any remaining bacteria.

185
00:10:51,840 --> 00:10:54,600
And because the process
uses everyday tap water

186
00:10:54,680 --> 00:10:56,960
often sourced from a local reservoir,

187
00:10:57,040 --> 00:10:57,880
it's cheap.

188
00:10:58,440 --> 00:11:00,400
No natural springs required.

189
00:11:03,600 --> 00:11:05,000
By the late '90s,

190
00:11:05,520 --> 00:11:08,920
{\an8}a series of health scares
over the quality of tap water in the US

191
00:11:09,000 --> 00:11:11,680
{\an8}send people to bottled water in droves.

192
00:11:13,760 --> 00:11:17,120
[reporter] Environmentalists claim
a weed killer going on corn crops

193
00:11:17,200 --> 00:11:19,880
is winding up in baby formula.

194
00:11:19,960 --> 00:11:21,600
The weed killer washes off crops,

195
00:11:21,680 --> 00:11:24,360
gets into groundwater,
and that ends up at your tap.

196
00:11:24,440 --> 00:11:27,400
[narrator] Public trust in tap water
takes a big hit,

197
00:11:27,920 --> 00:11:30,080
though it's held
to similar safety standards

198
00:11:30,160 --> 00:11:31,320
as bottled water.

199
00:11:31,840 --> 00:11:34,080
A lot of people are paying more money
for bottled water,

200
00:11:34,160 --> 00:11:36,160
and they think it's better than tap water.

201
00:11:38,440 --> 00:11:41,280
[narrator] Bottled-water companies
start to roll out products

202
00:11:41,360 --> 00:11:43,280
that seem more nutritious,

203
00:11:43,360 --> 00:11:46,720
{\an8}like the first vitamin-enhanced
smart water, Glaceau.

204
00:11:50,040 --> 00:11:54,160
Bottled water has a cachet
that tap water just can't match,

205
00:11:54,240 --> 00:11:55,960
and it's convenient to carry.

206
00:11:57,520 --> 00:11:58,480
In the 2000s,

207
00:11:59,160 --> 00:12:02,080
the public's thirst
for water in cheap, plastic bottles

208
00:12:02,160 --> 00:12:03,520
just keeps growing.

209
00:12:05,480 --> 00:12:08,040
And there's plenty more
to supply the market,

210
00:12:08,120 --> 00:12:12,120
because a lot of the water comes
from reservoirs, not actual springs.

211
00:12:15,800 --> 00:12:17,200
By 2001,

212
00:12:17,720 --> 00:12:22,160
US bottled-water sales
reach over 23 billion liters per year.

213
00:12:23,400 --> 00:12:27,640
That's enough water to fill a bath
for every person in the United States.

214
00:12:29,200 --> 00:12:33,360
The worldwide market
is worth approximately $67 billion.

215
00:12:34,480 --> 00:12:36,120
By 2003,

216
00:12:36,200 --> 00:12:39,560
US bottled-water sales
reach 28 billion liters.

217
00:12:41,280 --> 00:12:44,280
That's around
16 billion plastic bottles of water,

218
00:12:44,920 --> 00:12:48,760
a pile taller
than 13 Great Pyramids of Giza.

219
00:12:52,200 --> 00:12:54,920
Public health messaging in the early 2000s

220
00:12:55,000 --> 00:12:58,480
advises people to drink
a recommended amount of water per day,

221
00:12:59,000 --> 00:13:02,120
and that gives bottled water
even more rocket fuel.

222
00:13:02,200 --> 00:13:05,440
{\an8}I at least drink one of these a day.
A liter a day.

223
00:13:05,520 --> 00:13:07,720
{\an8}And if you can drink more than that,
that would be great,

224
00:13:07,800 --> 00:13:08,880
especially in this heat.

225
00:13:10,400 --> 00:13:11,920
[narrator] Water is liquid gold,

226
00:13:12,000 --> 00:13:14,520
and everyone wants
to muscle in on the business.

227
00:13:16,320 --> 00:13:18,960
Trump Ice launches in 2003.

228
00:13:19,800 --> 00:13:23,680
He claims it's
the purest, best-tasting water imaginable.

229
00:13:25,480 --> 00:13:27,120
In 2006,

230
00:13:27,200 --> 00:13:29,720
Sylvester Stallone announces Sly Water,

231
00:13:30,400 --> 00:13:34,680
sourced from a 10,000-year-old glacier
in Mount Rainier National Park.

232
00:13:34,760 --> 00:13:37,760
It's promoted as free of pollutants.

233
00:13:40,200 --> 00:13:41,960
Americans are now spending

234
00:13:42,040 --> 00:13:45,440
more than $11 billion every year
on bottled water,

235
00:13:46,040 --> 00:13:48,440
more than they spend on movie tickets.

236
00:13:52,440 --> 00:13:53,960
But that same year,

237
00:13:54,040 --> 00:13:56,440
Fiji Water wades into controversy.

238
00:13:59,120 --> 00:14:03,240
Fiji Water launches an ad campaign
promoting the purity of their water

239
00:14:03,320 --> 00:14:04,760
by dissing Cleveland,

240
00:14:05,880 --> 00:14:08,720
a city whose river used to be so polluted,

241
00:14:08,800 --> 00:14:10,720
it repeatedly caught fire.

242
00:14:10,800 --> 00:14:12,400
It's since been cleaned up.

243
00:14:13,240 --> 00:14:14,200
Outraged,

244
00:14:14,280 --> 00:14:18,880
{\an8}Cleveland's public-utilities director
orders tests of both Fiji bottled water

245
00:14:18,960 --> 00:14:20,520
{\an8}and Cleveland tap water.

246
00:14:21,120 --> 00:14:22,280
{\an8}The result?

247
00:14:22,360 --> 00:14:26,240
{\an8}Fiji's water, while safe,
contains traces of arsenic.

248
00:14:26,320 --> 00:14:27,960
{\an8}Cleveland's has none.

249
00:14:29,280 --> 00:14:31,680
{\an8}It's a public-relations fiasco.

250
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{\an8}Cleveland, one. Fiji, zero.

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{\an8}Fiji is forced to pull the ads,

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{\an8}and the blunder is named one of CNN's
101 Dumbest Moments in Business of 2006.

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Around the same time,

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00:14:47,600 --> 00:14:51,440
consumer-activist group
Corporate Accountability International

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00:14:51,520 --> 00:14:55,080
goes public with accusations
that some bottled waters

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{\an8}are misrepresenting their products.

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As a result,

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PepsiCo agrees to change their labels.

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[woman] It has agreed to reveal
the source of the water

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00:15:04,920 --> 00:15:08,040
that it uses
for its Aquafina bottled water.

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[narrator] From now on,
their labels will spell out

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"public water source."

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For many,

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this is brand-new information.

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00:15:18,560 --> 00:15:22,560
I could drink my own tap water
for… you know, for nothing.

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00:15:24,040 --> 00:15:26,560
[narrator] And bottled water
has another problem.

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The public is growing more aware
of the huge amount

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of discarded plastic water bottles.

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{\an8}In 2009,

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{\an8}the tiny town of Bundanoon in Australia
becomes the first community in the world

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to ban the sale of plastic water bottles,
promoting tap water as an alternative.

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[man] "Bundy on Tap" went global.

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It's ended up with there being
a huge amount of councils and communities

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00:15:54,480 --> 00:15:57,880
getting in touch with us and saying,
"You did it. Now how can we do it?"

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It's about encouraging
public drinking-water sources

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that are highly visible and in your face.

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[narrator] Cities around the world
pick up on the idea.

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In 2010,

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Paris introduces a stylish solution
to weaning people off the bottle,

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sparkling water fountains.

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00:16:17,680 --> 00:16:20,040
{\an8}[in French]

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[narrator] The bottled-water market
responds by upping its game.

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00:16:27,080 --> 00:16:29,160
[indistinct chattering, laughing]

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Shops open dedicated
to selling exclusive, high-end brands.

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[woman] A lot of people
are like, "Is this truly all water?"

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They're like, "It looks like vodka.
It looks like alcohol."

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00:16:41,720 --> 00:16:42,920
"The bottles are gorgeous."

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00:16:43,000 --> 00:16:45,720
I wish they would do glass bottles,
so please forgive me.

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00:16:45,800 --> 00:16:49,520
[narrator] Water sommeliers
help customers navigate the choice.

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[sommelier] If I have a fish,
a very subtle fish dish,

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I don't wanna drink water

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00:16:53,160 --> 00:16:55,480
with very loud-in-your-mouth
kind of firework bubbles.

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00:16:55,560 --> 00:16:58,360
But on the other hand,
think about a crispy fried oyster.

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Now the bubbles
would work very nicely with that.

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That's why I think it's important
for restaurants in the future

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to have water menus and water lists.

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[narrator] 2016 is a milestone year.

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Sales of bottled water
in the US overtake soft drinks,

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and it's no longer
just sparkling versus still.

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00:17:18,640 --> 00:17:21,960
Now the mainstream water market
is flooded with choice.

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But as fast as sales rise,

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00:17:25,760 --> 00:17:29,760
the environmental crisis caused
by plastic waste, including water bottles,

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00:17:30,360 --> 00:17:32,320
grows more and more urgent.

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In 2018,

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00:17:35,720 --> 00:17:39,120
Americans bought
71 billion plastic water bottles.

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00:17:40,160 --> 00:17:43,440
That's enough to stack
to the Moon 37 times.

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00:17:44,880 --> 00:17:48,720
And to make all those bottles
requires huge amounts of energy,

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00:17:50,360 --> 00:17:54,400
enough to fuel your car
for almost two million years.

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00:17:55,040 --> 00:17:56,160
The fact is

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00:17:56,240 --> 00:17:59,600
91% of all plastic isn't recycled.

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00:18:00,640 --> 00:18:03,280
So billions of bottles end up in landfills

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00:18:04,240 --> 00:18:05,840
and in the oceans,

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00:18:05,920 --> 00:18:07,120
killing marine life,

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00:18:07,720 --> 00:18:09,280
while some are broken down

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00:18:09,360 --> 00:18:12,080
and shipped as garbage
to developing countries.

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00:18:12,160 --> 00:18:14,440
-[ship horn blares]
-[gulls squawking]

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00:18:15,440 --> 00:18:20,520
{\an8}Still, for places around the world
without easy access to public water,

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00:18:20,600 --> 00:18:23,320
bottled water can be a life-saving boon.

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00:18:24,600 --> 00:18:27,760
But these same places
are on the front lines of the problem

320
00:18:29,520 --> 00:18:31,560
and taking steps to counter it.

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00:18:33,360 --> 00:18:34,400
In 2020,

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00:18:34,480 --> 00:18:38,280
Kenya announces a ban
on single-use plastics at beaches

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00:18:38,360 --> 00:18:42,000
and in national parks,
forests, and conservation areas.

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00:18:45,080 --> 00:18:47,320
Designers are coming up
with creative ideas

325
00:18:47,400 --> 00:18:49,440
for recycling plastic into new products.

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00:18:51,800 --> 00:18:53,360
Big bottled-water companies

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00:18:53,440 --> 00:18:55,680
have committed to use
more recycled material

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00:18:55,760 --> 00:18:56,880
in their packaging.

329
00:18:57,520 --> 00:19:00,040
But that's just a drop in the ocean.

330
00:19:01,160 --> 00:19:04,480
A better solution
is avoiding plastic entirely.

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00:19:06,040 --> 00:19:08,320
More and more people
are consciously switching

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00:19:08,400 --> 00:19:10,360
to using refillable bottles.

333
00:19:11,640 --> 00:19:16,160
The company Ocean Bottle also works
to stop plastic entering the ocean.

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00:19:18,120 --> 00:19:20,680
New apps like Mymizu in Japan

335
00:19:20,760 --> 00:19:23,840
help connect people
to water fountains and eco-cafés.

336
00:19:26,040 --> 00:19:29,040
But sales of bottled water
are still growing,

337
00:19:29,120 --> 00:19:32,960
projected to reach $400 billion by 2026.

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00:19:34,240 --> 00:19:36,400
We're at a watershed moment.

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00:19:38,480 --> 00:19:41,800
Marketing has transformed
nature's free supply

340
00:19:41,880 --> 00:19:43,720
into a billion-dollar industry.

341
00:19:44,840 --> 00:19:49,680
And a full 50% of all bottled water
starts as tap water.

342
00:19:51,280 --> 00:19:53,800
So what is it we're buying exactly?

343
00:19:53,880 --> 00:19:55,440
A container with a label?

344
00:19:55,960 --> 00:19:56,800
A brand?

345
00:19:57,920 --> 00:20:00,960
When it's fundamentally
just about quenching our thirst,

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00:20:01,040 --> 00:20:02,120
think about that

347
00:20:02,200 --> 00:20:06,320
the next time you pay
for what you used to get for free.

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00:20:11,480 --> 00:20:13,760
[dramatic electronic music plays]