Not that you had to tell us this, but a new study commissioned by the International Bottled Water Association has found that bottled water has a very small environmental footprint.

The Life Cycle Inventory (LCI) study to determine the environmental footprint of the United States bottled water industry.  The results indicate that bottled water has a very small environmental footprint. The study found

• Measurement based on British Thermal Units (BTUs) indicates that the energy consumed to produce small pack water bottled water containers water (containers from 8 ounces to 2.5 gallons) amounted to only 0.067 percent of the total energy use in the United States in 2007. Home and Office Delivery (HOD) bottled water (reusable bottles from 2.5 to 5 gallons) energy consumption only amounted to 0.003 percent of the total energy used in the United States in 2007.

• The small pack and HOD bottled water industries’ combined greenhouse gas/ CO2 emissions amounted to only 0.08 percent of total United States greenhouse gas emissions.

• Bottled water packaging discards accounted for only 0.64 percent of the 169 million tons of total U.S. Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) discards in 2007.

• The process and transportation BTU energy use for the bottled water industry was only 0.07 percent of total U.S. BTU primary energy consumption.

• Greenhouse gas emissions per half gallon of single serve bottled water came to 426.4 grams CO2 equivalent (eq.), which is 75 percent less CO2 eq. per half gallon than orange juice.

• Small pack bottled water generates 46 percent less CO2 eq. when compared to soft drinks also packaged in PET plastic.

Franklin Associates, a division of ERG, produced the LCI and prepared a report that quantified the energy requirements, solid waste generation, and greenhouse gas emissions for the production, packaging, transport, and end-of- life management for bottled water consumed in the United States in 2007. According to a 2008 Beverage Marketing Corporation report, total consumption of bottled water in the U.S. in 2007 was 8.8 billion gallons.

For more on the report, visit the International Bottled Water Association's Web site.