1ltr Fiji= 26 Ltrs Water + 1 Kg Oil + 1lb Co2

Posted by awelshview in Food & Drinks on February 7, 2007 at 6:31 pm


fiji_water.jpgFiji water is the second best selling bottled water in the US but shipping water all the way from Fiji comes at a cost.

Pablo Päster, who is a sustainable engineer, has done a thorough and exhaustive study and has worked out the true cost of producing and transporting the water. What’s probably the most surprising is that it takes a staggering 26 times more water to make the bottle than it actually holds.

Treehugger has summarised the findings:-

the manufacture and transport of that one kilogram bottle of Fiji water consumed 26.88 kilograms of water (7.1 gallons) .849 Kilograms of fossil fuel (one litre or .26 gal) and emitted 562 grams of Greenhouse Gases (1.2 pounds).



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COMMENT

6 comments to "1ltr Fiji= 26 Ltrs Water + 1 Kg Oil + 1lb Co2"

  1. Dan
    February 7th, 2007 at 6:53 pm

    I always thought that it seemed very cost-ineffective to market water from Fiji. I figured it must be coming as ballast in ships that are taking goods to Fiji. I mean Fiji can’t have much in the way of exports…right?
    BTW, I didn’t RTFA.

  2. Chad
    February 7th, 2007 at 8:05 pm

    I filter my own water. costs a helluva lot less and I don’t look like a pretentious jerk while drinking it!

  3. Mokuwai
    February 7th, 2007 at 9:51 pm

    That’s kind of slanted information. The ships that are exporting are going to be running anyways. The majority of containers leaving Fiji, Hawaii, Tonga, etc.are all leaving empty. Simply because Fiji doesn’t have much for export. A lot more goes in than comes out.
    I still agree that it’s not very cost effective (especially when you filter your own water like Chad).
    I just question the factors behind the numbers and how unbiased the science can be coming from a website called “treehugger” can really be.

  4. Anita
    February 8th, 2007 at 12:01 am

    This is why I only drink water that I collect from puddles in my driveway. ;)

  5. Aleki
    February 8th, 2007 at 4:55 am

    There are so many things wrong with the calculations on this. First of all he said the bottles were made in China and shipped to Fiji. The bottles are actually made there in Fiji and are made of PET (Polyethylene Terephthalate) which is recyclable. The amount of water that goes into making a PET type bottle according to this is 26 liters for a single liter this is also incorrect. Water used in PET manufacturing process is recycled in a closed system and only loses a small amount to evaporation. The assumption about how much water is used to produce electricity is also incorrect. According to the Fiji Electricity Authority the majority of electricity generated in Fiji is created at the Nadarivatu hydro electric plants as well as at the Butoni wind farms. Neither of these have more than a nominal usage of “wasted water” as inferred by the article. Also the carbon emissions are off because they too assumed the wrong type of electricity production.

    In a nut shell this whole article is complete “bunk” because no actual research was done. Only assumptions.

  6. Bryan
    February 8th, 2007 at 10:14 am

    I always figured that “Fiji” was a brand name and that the water was really bottled in Teaneck, New Jersey.


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