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My issue with drinking bottled water is the bottles. Estimates are around 1 billion bottles thrown away each year in California alone. http://www.consrv.ca.gov

• ChuckMcM 14y ago
  This is one of those things where I wish the report would include their methodology. This report was brought up during the "Great Bottled Water Debate" at Google and a couple of people wondered how they came up with their numbers. As it turns out, if you sit at a dump site (at least in Northern California, and Google is fortunate to be built right next to one) and watch the trash being unloaded you will note that there is little recyclable material left in the trash when it gets there, further the waste management company does some separation as well because they get to keep any money they get from the recyclables that get that far (unlike the ones in the cans at the curb which they split with the city). What was clear though was that between a fairly large homeless population which relies in part on recycling fees and waste management contracts that are structured to provide a disproportionate benefit to the waste management company, they both get paid for disposing 'X' tons of waste which is measured on the way in, and they get paid for 'Y' tons of recyclables they recover post ingress weigh-in so its a double win for them. The result is that in California there are several mechanisms in place which select for recycling. This results in very little recyclable material actually getting into landfills (which is good) but it also makes statements like the one you link, essentially false.