This is the second of a four-part series of articles supplied by Beyond Plastic Bermuda in support of its Take Back the Tap campaign

Buying water regularly is expensive, especially if that water comes in bottles and you need several every day. In 2023, Bermuda imported over $2 million of bottled water. This was up from $1.4 million the previous year and $1.2 million in 2021. In fact, over the last five years, Bermuda has imported over 15 million litres of drinking water worth over $7 million.

However, $7 million is only the declared customs value. When we buy this water from shops or restaurants, we pay a lot more.

Monetary cost

On average, a litre of plastic bottled water costs $3.14 from one of Bermuda’s grocery stores. If you are buying it from a gas station or restaurant however, it likely costs a more. Based on the grocery store cost, if you are buying one litre per day, that’s $1,143 per year.

Adults are advised to drink around three litres of water per day, with more in the summer, so if you are relying on plastic bottled water alone, the cost will be at least $3,400 per year, per person.

This is a huge amount of money to be spending on something that falls from the sky for free. While there are costs associated with roof and tank maintenance and, should you need or want them, water filtration systems, many of these costs need to be paid for anyway.

You need to clean and maintain your tank not just for drinking water, but also to protect your water-based appliances such as washing machines and dishwashers.

Beyond Plastic Bermuda wants you to save money by removing single-use plastic water bottles from your daily life.

This is not just a benefit to your wallet, however. This would also be a benefit to your health, and to our environment. This is why we have launched our Take Back the Tap campaign. We want you to have confidence in your tank water again.

Health cost

In spite of what the marketing departments of these bottled water companies want you to believe, drinking water from a bottle is not necessarily healthier for you than drinking water from the tap. In fact, it can actually be more detrimental.

A recent study by Columbia University found that on average, a litre of bottled water contained around 240,000 detectable plastic fragments. Many of these fragments are nanoplastics, which are microplastics that have broken down. This means, said the study, that “they can pass through the intestines and lungs directly into the bloodstream and travel from there to organs including the heart and brain”. These particles can even pass through the placenta and into the bodies of unborn babies.

Some of the plastics found included polyethylene terephthalate (PET), which is what small plastic water bottles are made of.

Why are these so bad for us? Because, as Bermudian endocrinologist Annabel Fountain warned, the chemicals found in plastic are endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs). These are linked to diabetes, obesity and a wide variety of fertility issues. Most recently, a study found that micro- and nanoplastics could also be helping to fuel the spread of cancer within the body.

People who drink water from single-use plastic water bottles are also putting themselves at risk from the chemicals contained within the plastic bottles themselves. If these bottles have been left in the sun or a warm car at any time during their shelf life, chemicals can leach from the bottle into the water you are intending to drink.

Even if you have bought plastic bottled water from a store’s refrigerator, there’s no guarantee it hasn’t been stored somewhere hot before it got there.

Environmental cost

By buying single-use plastic bottles you are not only costing yourself money and putting your health at risk, but you are contributing to environmental damage. This is because over 99 per cent of plastic is made from chemicals sourced from fossil fuels.

Burning fossil fuels – coal, oil and gas – is the largest contributor to global climate change, accounting for over 75 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions and nearly 90 per cent of all carbon dioxide emissions.

Disposal is also an issue. The plastic bottles that make it into the trash in Bermuda, are burnt in the incinerator, releasing pollutants back into the atmosphere. The ones that don’t make it into the trash litter our island or end up in the ocean.

Every time you buy a single-use plastic water bottle, you are contributing to climate change. Each time you drink from a single-use plastic water bottle you are exposing your body to harmful chemicals.

Whenever you spend money buying bottled water, you are paying for something you could have for a fraction of that financial cost.

Bermuda, please, stop buying bottled water and take back your tap.

• Erich Hetzel is a local environmentalist and member of Bermuda Environmental Sustainability Taskforce

• Katie Berry is the past executive director of Keep Bermuda Beautiful and Beyond Plastic champion

• Beyond Plastic Bermuda is a joint campaign by Bermuda Environmental Sustainability Taskforce, Keep Bermuda Beautiful and environmental advocates to educate and help our island move away from plastic. For more information, please contact us at info@beyondplastic.bm