MWRA 2012-2013 Writing Contest Winners

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1ST PLACE WINNER, GRADES 6-8
Nathaniel Ware
Grade 7, Home School, Arlington
Maura Ware, Teacher

 

Bottled Water: What's Up With That?

Dear Bottle,

This is Tap here. I really don't appreciate the way you're leading people to believe that you're better than me, because you most definitely are not! Just because the companies that sell you dress you up and make you look perfect in their advertisements doesn't mean your water is better than mine. Let's look at the facts here, and I'll show you what I'm talking about.

First of all, your promoters neglect to mention that the production of your bottles is extremely harmful to the environment. Over 80% of your recyclable plastic bottles end up in landfills each year and more than 60 million plastic bottles are disposed of every day in the USA. Lots of that plastic waste eventually ends up in the ocean, where it poses a great risk to marine life.

I mean, seriously, in order for people to get your water, so many fossil fuels must be wasted. In the USA alone about 1.5 million barrels of oil are used to make your bottles every year. Fuel is used in the process of manufacturing the plastic, in the truck that transports the plastic bottles to the store, in peoples' cars when they drive to the store to buy the bottles, and in the garbage trucks that collect them when they're empty and bring them to a landfill. That's a lot of fossil fuel! But when people use my tap water not nearly as many fossil fuels are wasted and the environment is kept clean.

On top of all this, some people have the outrageous notion that your water is healthier than mine. What's up with that? The truth is that pthalates and other harmful chemicals from your plastic bottles leach into your water. These chemicals are known to increase the risk of cancer. That fact alone should be enough to scare people away from drinking it. Once again, no one encounters this problem when they drink my water.

But wait! There's more! Did you know that your bottled water is over 1,000 times more expensive than my tap water? People will spend $1.50 to get one of your puny bottles (which usually only contain about 20 fluid ounces of water) from a vending machine, while if they just turned on the tap they could get a whole gallon of my water for less than a penny. Come on, man. That's just ridiculous! I can't believe that you can get away with charging that much money and still get good business.

So let's review: I'm cheaper than you, healthier than you, and more environmentally friendly than you. Just look at all the evidence; my tap water beats your bottled water in every possible way. Based on these facts, I honestly don't know why people still use your water instead of mine.

Sincerely,
Tap

References
www.waterbenefitshealth.com
www.sierraclub.org
www.nationalgeographic.com

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