According to the Worldwatch Institute, the demand for bottled water in the United States may be leveling off. The U.S. bottled water market is expected to grow by 6.7% this year - the smallest increase since the turn of the century. WI attributes much of this demand shift to changing consumer preferences resulting from public education campaigns and municipal bans:
While cities recycle about 23 percent of their plastic bottles, some 2 million tons of the bottles are sent to landfills each year, the Worldwatch Institute reported in 2007. Corporate Accountability International estimates that the annual cost of disposing of water bottles is $70 million.
These concerns are beginning to cause a shift in consumer choices. Following the lead of U.S. cities such as San Francisco and Salt Lake City, the majority of the 250 mayors at the annual U.S. Conference of Mayors in June voted to phase out government use of bottled water when possible. Bans on selling bottled water at city functions are also being considered across Canada, the United Kingdom, and Australia, according to Deborah Lapidus, the national organizer for Corporate Accountability International's Think Outside the Bottle Campaign.
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