consumerism

open studio: pretty bad /  by kelly heaton

Pretty Bad, 2016.  Digital photo collage (sketch).  Kelly Heaton

I'm old enough to remember when water was free.  Bottled water started appearing in the late 1970s as a gourmet fad (think Evian and Perrier).  I thought it was a ridiculous luxury product, even more absurd when they started to bottle plain water.  Tap water is safe and free.  I get why people drink bottled water in countries where sanitation is a concern, but here in the USA? Wikipedia says "The U.S. is the largest consumer market for bottled water in the world, followed by Mexico, China, and Brazil.  In 2008, U.S. bottled water sales topped 8.6 billion US gallons (33,000,000 m3) for 28.9% of the U.S. liquid beverage market, exceeding sales of all other beverages except carbonated soft drinks, they are followed by fruit juices, and sports drinks.  Americans drink 21 US gallons (79 L) of bottled water per capita per year."  Forget the waste of money, it's just plain bad behavior.  

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bottled_water