I was recently intrigued when someone asked me about the history of bottled water (pure, non-mineralized). My husband and I had often asked each other (years before AquaNew was ever conceived) who had the smarts to spur mass marketing of an essential commodity by making it mobile to keep up with our active lives? Bottled water, as we all well know, is either loved or hated and is one of the most controversial consumable products – being both a status symbol of health and an object of boycott.
More than forty years ago, perfect timing occurred between scientific discovery and the growing interest in exercise. In the early 1970s, a Du Pont Laboratory developed a new man-made plastic bottle (PET) that held water and was lighter in weight when compared to that of glass. About that same time, jogging was on the rise, and becoming immensely popular. Bottled water was the choice of joggers to provide convenient and constant hydration. “In turn, being seen with a bottle of water in your hand signified your commitment to healthy living,” said Dr. Emily Potter, one of the co-authors of the book, Plastic Water – The Social and Material Life of Bottled Water.
Let’s keep recycling so bottled water can continue to be proclaimed as a status symbol for our own health as well as for the good environmental health of our own communities. Thank you!