Summary:
“Thinking Outside the Bottle” challenges the reader to consider the impact of plastic water bottles from corporate, ecological, local government, and individual perspectives. The author prioritizes the right of all people to access free, safe drinking water and for local governments to oversee water regulations and safety over the interests of corporations who wish to market disposable plastic water bottles. The chapter includes five myths about bottled water and examples of grass roots movements who have had made gains in reclaiming control of local water supplies and encourages the reader to take the water “back” from the bottlers who sell it for profit.
Why Use this Chapter:
This chapter would work well as a topic for critical thinking and effective communication assignments across the curriculum. The book was published in 2010, providing the opportunity for researching and updating the statistics used to support the argument. Additionally, a national debate over whether national parks should be able to ban the use and sale of disposable plastic water bottles within national parks is ongoing and there is a wealth of recently published information available. Students could debate these issues and/or consider the implications of bottled water on campus or in communities.