FastCompany has an in-depth look at the economics of the bottled water industry. It looks at the distribution costs and environmental impact of shipping water 2/3s of the way around the world to places where you can just open the tap and get clean, safe water. (Kudos to the reporter for snagging a boondoggle to Fiji for the story!)
The market is huge, as is the environmental impact. From the FastCompany story:
Americans spent $15 billion last year on bottled water
50 billion plastic water bottles were thrown away last year
1 billion bottles of water are moved around each week in the U.S. on ships, trains and trucks
Much of the bottled water we buy isn’t spring water – it’s purified tap water. Aquafina (from Pepsi) accounts for 13% of the market and Dasani (from Coke) is 11%. Both get their water from city water supplies and further purify it.
As much as we love to complain about the price of gasoline, most bottled water is more expensive per gallon.
The picture below (via Chris Sacca) illustrates the amount of oil it takes to transport the bottles to the Bay Area of California. The water comes from Calistoga, Ca., France and New Zealand.
Water does taste different around the world. I’m not a big fan of the taste of Arlington’s tap water. After visiting Iceland, I’ve been buying Iceland Spring water. But this picture is making me rethink that.
I went to see Live Free or Die Hard tonight. In addition to the pure mindless fun of two hours of chase scenes and car explosions, there’s the fun of talking about all the things that are so ridiculous afterward:
Although the movie is set in DC, the buildings are too tall, the crowd scenes are too white and the tunnel that is a key focus of the action doesn’t exist.
Jets and helicopters can’t maneuver the way they do.
The stereotypical movie computers that are in big airy rooms with flashing lights and displays. Real data centers tend to be sterile, freezing and cramped.
In case you haven’t seen the first three movies, here’s a fun video that will catch you up. You don’t want to miss the fine nuances of the plot.
The story of the video itself is interesting. Originally Guyz Nite included clips from the first three movies. After studio lawyers insisted the band take it down, the marketing department came back and paid them to add clips from the fourth movie and put it back up.
The Smart is coming to the United States. Smart, part of Mercedes, is a tiny car that you’ll often see in Europe. The car holds two people and two bags.
I rented two of these in Italy in 2002. When I called Avis to reserve a car, they didn’t even offer the Smart because they just assumed that Americans wouldn’t want something this tiny.
I loved it. It was great on the narrow roads and you can park it anywhere. It even made it up the hills in Tuscany.
I can see it being really useful in cities like New York and San Francisco where parking is tight and environmental concern is higher. The car is expected to get 40 mpg. It’d be a great addition to the fleet of carsharing services like Zipcar and Flexcar.
The base version will go for about $12,000. A convertible version will also be available.
