A friend of mine is working on the ‘Tap That‘ petition for a “bottled water free UBC.” While she was telling me about the petition it got me thinking; bottled water is the greatest marketing scheme since facebook started getting people to pay money for virtual gifts to friends (literally nothing).

I’ll admit it, I buy bottled water! But why?! I could easily bring my reusable water bottle from home and fill it up anywhere with tap water or filtered water from water fountains and many accessible refill stations on campus. How is that companies like Nestle and Coca-Cola are bottling water, which anyone can get for free from their faucet, and selling it to people for a profit? I can tell you how! It’s convenient (you can get it anywhere!) and makes people feel healthy and these companies have even started to try and differentiate themselves based on where their water comes from, how its filtered, and what minerals are in it. This gives consumers a chance to develop brand favourites and loyalties. How often do you hear, “Ugh, I HATE the taste of Dasani water,” or “Fiji water is expensive but it’s totally worth it.” Companies like Voss have even targeted the luxury market by bottling their water in fancy contemporary looking glass containers and charging a premium for it.

Once people are sold on the convenience and then develop preferences for different brands of bottled water they’ll never rethink their decision. They won’t think about the effects on the environment and they won’t think about the other alternatives because they’ll be to busy picking up their favourite bottle of water from their local convenience store on the way to work.