Banning Plastic Bottles To Save The Oceans - One Up For Selfridges.

Some time ago we wrote a post in which we implored people to stop buying bottled water. The full post is here if you’re interested. For the more time conscious among you however here’s the relevant paragraph again: We live in a throw away culture and that needs to change pretty damn sharpish. So having had a bit of a ponder about the issue, we think we’ve hit on an idea that might help and you won’t have to buy a single pair of boardshorts. Besides being careful about how you dispose of things like not pouring paint down the drain or flushing cotton buds down the pan (seriously! Stop that) you can do something very, very simple. You can stop buying bottled water! OK we know that if you’re travelling to the more tropical, disease infested, parts of the world, drinking bottled water is your only option. Even in parts of the Mediterranean the water treatment process leaves a lot to be desired and so again bottled water is a good idea but here in the UK? In France? In Germany? Do you really need to buy gallons of plastic encased H2O?  In the UK for instance, the water that comes from the tap is not only clean and safe it tastes no different than the most expensive bottled stuff you can buy. Think about it, all you need to do is buy a simple reusable flask or bottle, fill it up from the tap and you have clean, hydrating water wherever you go. In one single change, we could clear the supermarket shelves of all those utterly unnecessary plastic containers. We could also end the wretched travesty of waiters in over-priced restaurants trying to sell you water for £20 a bottle because it’s been filtered through volcanic rock. It really is that simple. So wherever you are in the UK, when someone tries to sell you over-priced, over-blown and quite unnecessary bottled water, think of the environment, think of your hard-earned cash, think of how pathetic all that expensive advertising about naturally filtered water is and then in a clear, proud voice retort: “No thanks mate! Make mine tap!

Well hip-bloody-hooray! Selfridges, one of London’s leading department stores has, it appears, followed our advice (or at least come up with the same idea) and announced that it has imposed an outright ban on the sale of disposable plastic bottles. The move is expected to result in a reduction of around 400,000 single-use water bottles being thrown away each year as Selfridges is equipping its restaurants and food halls with water fountains for shoppers to fill up their own reusable containers. Anyone wishing to buy packaged water will be offered glass and bottles and cartons instead as the retailer seeks to minimise its plastics footprint. Heather Koldewey, head of the Zoological Society of London’s global conservation programmes, said: “There is nowhere in the world’s oceans that has been sampled that doesn’t have plastic in it, from the deepest seas to the most remote islands. What’s frightening about that is that [common types of] plastic were only invented in the 1950s and have had a massive global impact in a very short period.”

Unfortunately not everyone is as happy about Selfridges ban as we are. A spokesperson from the Natural Hydration Council said: "bottled water represents approximately 18% of the packaged soft drinks market and has the lowest environmental impact of all soft drinks. The focus should be on encouraging the recycling of plastic bottles, which are 100% recyclable, rather than limiting consumer choice. Given the health benefits of choosing a drink with no calories or sugar; all water, whether tap, still or sparkling should be encouraged".

Right stop laughing. There really is an organisation called the Natural Hydration Council (not even we could be daft enough to come up with that). The Natural Hydration Council states on its website that it is a not for profit organisation dedicated to researching the science and communicating the facts about healthy hydration. They say that they are guided by a Scientific Panel who help them communicate how good hydration habits can positively impact the nation’s health and are supported by its members, who are all producers of naturally sourced bottled water. The Council claims to have a vision “to improve the heath of the British nation by enabling everyone in the UK to recognise water as the healthiest way to hydrate” (no shit Sherlock). The council also has a mission to, wait for it, “be the leading source of engaging evidence based communications on the benefits of healthy hydration for key influencers to champion the role of water” (no really, we haven’t made this gobbledegook up either, they actually say that on their website!). The Council goes on to say that they have a key set of values, which are: shared values of leadership, integrity, credibility, collaboration, educational quality and inspiration and that they will strive to ensure people have the facts on bottled water so they can make informed choices (No we have no idea what that all means either).

So ignoring the bewildering fact that the Natural Hydration Council actually exists, what’s their problem with the ban? After all they state quite clearly that health promotion is the key to their role. Their own vision is about improving health by making us drink more water. Which is great since Selfridges aren’t stopping us drinking water they’re just banning the sale of water in single use plastic containers. They even say that choosing water over other drinks, whether tap, still or sparkling should be encouraged. Which is also great because we think that in the UK and most of Europe, tap water is the best and least expensive choice for your hydrating needs. Perhaps, as they say, they are genuinely concerned about consumer choice. But that’s not a problem either since Selfridges are offering choice, as the retailer says anyone wishing to buy packaged water will be offered glass and bottles and cartons instead and people who have reusable containers can fill them at the stores water fountains – how much choice do you need? Perhaps though the Council is right when it says that bottled water represents approximately 18% of the packaged soft drinks market and has the lowest environmental impact of all soft drinks. The focus should be on encouraging the recycling of plastic bottles, which are 100% recyclable. Recycling is a good thing, but lets be sensible here, isn’t it less damaging to the environment to use longer lasting reusable containers filled with tap water than single use containers that health experts say should not be reused due to risk of possible bacterial contamination? Reusable containers are recyclable too by the way. Besides it costs 0.1 pence for a litre of tap water, where as according to the Natural Hydration Councils own figures, it costs 40p to produce a litre of bottled water and uses on average 160g of carbon dioxide in the process. So all in all the Natural Hydration Council (no really, stop laughing, this is serious), should be happy about Selfridges decision shouldn’t they? Well of course they shouldn’t. 

The Natural Hydration Council are an organisation funded by its members who are all bottled water producers and their role is to tell us how great water is, but more importantly how great bottled water is. They are simply the mouthpiece of the bottled water industry, an industry that sells five million bottles of water in the UK alone with sales increasing by 10 per cent a year. That’s a lot of money and the industry is hardly going to be happy about any move that may have a negative impact on its bottom line. The Natural Hydration Council (alright, it’s still funny) cannot be considered as unbiased in this matter and any organisation that comes up with the sentence “the NHC aims to be the leading source of engaging evidence based communications on the benefits of healthy hydration for key influencers to champion the role of water”, should be mocked mercilessly. 

Plastic detritus is a growing problem in the world’s oceans with around 13m tonnes of the waste estimated to enter the marine environment every year. In Britain alone some 13bn plastic bottles are produced annually with only around half being recycled and Selfridges, by banning single use plastic bottles, have shown real commercial leadership here. We just hope that other department stores, supermarkets and particularly those fancy restaurants can feel the change in the tide and follow suit. The days of plastic bottles of water might just be numbered and their demise, in our opinion, cannot come too soon. So we raise a large, glass container, of beer to Selfridges, well done to you lads, and implore the rest of you out there to get behind the Ocean Clean Up project and Project Ocean. Oh and one last word to all those who work for the Natural Hydration Council: seriously what are you doing? Grow up boys and girls and get a proper job, you're embarrassing yourselves.