The NSW town of Bundanoon has won international headlines for its vote to ban sales of bottled water, perhaps because the story — small community standing up to big industry — has overtones of David and Goliath, a tale with enduring appeal.
There’s much to be said in favour of grass-root movements that draw communities together and empower them to take action over issues of local or even global concern.
But, at the risk of throwing a wet blanket over Bundanoon, it may be timely to revisit the law of unintended consequences — especially in view of the NSW Premier’s enthusiasm for implementing similar bans elsewhere.
This law states that any purposeful action will produce some unintended consequences. According to Wikipedia, a classic example is a bypass — a road built to relieve traffic congestion on a congested road — that attracts new development and with it more traffic, resulting in two congested streets instead of one.
We’re not fans of bottled water or its environmental toll, but it’s not difficult to imagine that banning its sale might have the unintended consequence of boosting soft drink sales. Not everyone will want to drink from water fountains or go to the trouble of carting around recyclable bottles for filling.
If this is the result, then it would be a worry, given that soft drink consumption is implicated in poor oral health, as well as overweight and obesity, particularly among children and teenagers.
It is noteworthy that many interventions aimed at preventing unhealthy weight gain put a priority on cutting soft drink consumption. This article reviewing the link between soft drinks and weight gain, published in the Medical Journal of Australia in 2006, cited evidence that:
- 78% of all 12–17 year olds had consumed soft drink in the previous week.
- Around half of all teenagers and a surprising 26% of 2-3 year olds had consumed soft drink during the previous 24 hours.
- The intake of soft drinks in Australia has grown rapidly in the past 30 years from around 47.3 L per person per year in 1969 to 113 L per person (children and adults) in 1999.
- Australia is one of the world’s top 10 countries for soft drink consumption, which represents a market of around $1.6 billion per year.
Given the enthusiastic reception for Bundanoon’s stance, with other towns now considering similar moves it might be useful to have some careful evaluation of the ban’s impact.
Or at least we should be considering measures that dampen sales of soft drinks as well as of bottled water.
Otherwise, Bundanoon may have inadvertently contributed a new twist to an old tale. It may become known as the little town that helped a Goliath grow.
*Melissa Sweet is a freelance heath journalist; Professor Kerin O’Dea, a leading expert on public health nutrition, is director of the Sansom Institute at the University of South Australia.
I don’t understand the reasoning behind this article. If people carry around bottled water they purchased from business outlets, why wouldn’t they carry around a bottle of water from home or work or bubblers in the street? If it’s the taste of water they need to quench thirst, why not water out of the tap? I don’t see the problem. I like water but not soft drink. I’d be lucky to purchase a soft drink a few times a year.
We also know that the dental health of Australians, particularly children has decreased in recent years. Parents who allow their kids to drink soft drinks are negating their responsibilities; also, there’s no fluoride in bottled water.
It takes 3 bottles of water to produce one – how stupid! Anyone who’s taken the time to watch any programs about the environment knows, that plastic bags and plastic containers are poisoning the oceans and killing too many marine life – in a horrific and cruel manner. This is good enough reason to stop the practice of buying bottled water.
I’ve heard all the comments about other types of plastic containers, and I agree with those views, but we must start somewhere. We have the best quality water available anywhere, and it’s just dumb to pay through the nose for a drink of it! Those trucks on the road are a nuisance, not to mention removal of pristine waters from areas that encroach on peoples’ lives.
Bundanoon is a champion town. Let’s not turn their stand into a reason to treat them like fools. (They might just be aiding the soft drink companies to grow… and that wrecks your teeth and makes you get fat!)
Bottled water is a really serious problem. It is, as the previous writer noted, a huge pollution problem (the plastic bottles). There are hundreds of millions of litres sold a year in the world now… all those bottles… some will be recycled. Many wont.
And what’s worse: it is using up fresh water when it does not need to. I was stunned to learn that major companies actually mine for underground fresh water supplies, to put in bottled water and sell to us westerners who have tap water! We take water often from very poor communities around the world, that need their underground water for life – and we pamper ourselves with bottled water that we are willing to pay for at such high prices! (We pay about 3 times the amount that we pay for petrol, when we buy bottled water – have you ever noticed?)
It should not just be banned in Bundanoon. It should be banned everywhere.