Bottled Water Research Paper Outline

Winter 2016
Introduction

Hook (optional)
Research question/ and/or thesis
topic sentence 1
topic sentence 2
topic sentence 3
topic sentence 4
topic sentence 5
topic sentence 6
could put thesis here
transition

In the United States since 1960, waste generation (before recovery) has increased by 2.8
times, and per capita waste generation has risen by 65%. In 2010, U.S. citizens produced 250
million tons of municipal solid waste (before recovery)--close to 1 ton per person. The average
American generates 2.0 kg (4.4 lb) or trash a day--considerably more than people in most other
industrialized nations. (pg. 611 of Pearson Environment textbook)
Yet people in the U.S. buy more than half a billion bottles of water every week. Thats enough
to circle the globe more than 5 times. (via story of stuff)
every second of every day in the United States, a thousand people buy and open up a
plastic bottle of commercially produced water, and every second of every day in the United
States, a thousand plastic bottles are thrown away. Eighty-five million bottles a day. More than
thirty billion bottles a year at a cost to consumers of tens of billions of dollars. (Source 10)
Body Section 1: The Bottle
Intro to section
Research on one or more of the following :

Plastic bottle production

-The Pacific Institute breaks it down like this: Because bottled water required approximately 1
million tons of PET [Polyethylene Terephthalate] in 2006, those bottles required roughly 100
billion MJ of energy. A barrel of oil contains around 6,000 MJ, so producing those bottles
required the equivalent of around 17 million barrels of oil. This is enough energy to fuel one
million American cars for one year. (story of stuff FAQ)
Each year, making the plastic water bottles used in the U.S. takes enough oil and energy to fuel
a million cars. (via story of stuff)
Toxic chemicals used in production: antimony oxide, diaszomethane, lead oxide. (source 6)
"The production of plastic emits substantial amounts of toxic chemicals (eg. ethylene oxide,
benzene and xylenes) to air and water. Many of the toxic chemicals released in plastic
production can cause cancer and birth defects and damage the nervous system, blood, kidneys
and immune systems. These chemicals can also cause serious damage to ecosystems."
(source 11)

 Packaging manufacturing (general)

Turning oil into plastic, and an specific example of pros/cons
effects of oil on people

Transition

Body Section 2: The Water

Intro to section
Research on one or more of the following :

communities

Where does Nestl get its water w/ investigation of one of the

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michael-moore/10-things-aboutflint-water-tragedy_b_9132150.html !!!!! need better sources from this article

The movie looks good.
http://www.bottledlifefilm.com/index.php/the-film.html
A start to where to look:
http://www.zmescience.com/science/nestle-company-pollution-children/
story from canadian community (source 14)
Water IS a right: General Comment 15 of the United Nations
Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rightsthe definitive interpretation
of human rights laws regarding watersays the human right to water entitles
everyone to sufficient, safe, acceptable, physically accessible and affordable
water for personal and domestic uses and is indispensable for leading a
life in human dignity. It is a prerequisite for the realization of other human rights.
Story of Stuff http://storyofstuff.org/story-of-bottled-water/story-of-bottled-waterfaqs/
Specific example of privatization of water and effects on people
pros/cons
Transition

Body Section 3: The Consumer

Intro to section
Research on one or more of the following :
Is bottled water actually better for you? examining regulations on
bottled water
Tap regulated by EPA, bottled by FDA, check out source 12
Looking at chemicals/effects of bottles
PET (plastic of Nestle bottles) doesnt actually cause harm to the consumer through the product
http://ecologycenter.org/plastics/ptf/report4/
Does it taste better?

Transition

Body Section 4: Into the Trash

Intro to section
Research on one or more of the following :

What happens to the plastic in a local landfill

-According to the Container Recycling Institute (http://www. container-recycling.org/), in

fact, 90 percent of PET bottles end up in landfills, where they take between 450 and
1000 years to break down. (via story of stuff)

Garbage shipped? Where does it go? Who does it affect?

Article title: South Asia: The new target of international waste traders (source #4)
Into the ocean? (not a person issue)
What about incineration, examining the effects of toxins in plastic
burned, how does it affect communities living near incinerators?

Nestle uses PET plastic (source #3)

Toxins in PET: Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET, #1): antimony oxide,

diaszomethane, lead oxide, nickel.ethylene oxide, and benzene (source 5)

Talk to kids that have been to Guatemala about plastic trash.

Transition

Body Section 5: Into the Recycling

Intro to section
Research on one or more of the following :

How does this kind of plastic get recycled? effects of process

Bill Sheehan, Director of the Product Policy Institute (http://

www.productpolicy.org/), says Three-quarters of the waste material that local
governments are responsible for managing in North America is products and
packaging; the costs of collecting PET bottles alone runs about $900 per ton.
That amounts to welfare for the makers of products and packaging. Citizens and
their governments would be better served if those funds were supporting schools,
police and parks, and other services that the market cannot or will not provide,
like public water fountains In a time of tight budgets many local governments
are asking why taxpayers and ratepayers, and not producers and consumers, are
the ones paying to pick up products and associated packaging designed for the
dump. The costs of recycling and litter clean up should be the responsibility of
producers and included in the purchase price. (via story of stuff)
DOWNCYCLING: Downcycling can actually increase
contamination of the biosphere, (Cradle to Cradle, 57), because the process
releases toxins, and because, Since downcycled materials of all kinds are
materially less rigorous than their predecessors, more chemicals are often added
to make the materials useful again. (via story of stuff)

Or, where does it go? Who does it affect?

Article title: South Asia: The new target of international waste traders (source #4)

Conclusion

Transition

Restate Research question/ and/or thesis

restate topic sentence 1
restate topic sentence 2
restate topic sentence 3
restate topic sentence 4
restate topic sentence 5

restate topic sentence 6

could restate thesis here
echoing thought

Sources:
1. http://storyofstuff.org/wpcontent/uploads/movies/scripts/SoBottledWater_Annotated_Script.pdf

2. http://storyofstuff.org/story-of-bottled-water/story-of-bottled-water-faqs/
3. Nestle http://www.nestle-watersna.com/en/water-sustainability/reducing-ourcarbon-footprint/bottle-packaging-responsibility/why-plastic
4. About shipping garbage
http://www.multinationalmonitor.org/hyper/issues/1993/12/mm1293_08.html
5. About plastic and plastic polution http://worldcentric.org/aboutcompostables/traditional-plastic/pollution
6. about toxicity and plastics: http://www.mindfully.org/Plastic/Dont-BuyPlastics.htm
7. Pearson Environment
8. Cradle to Cradle
9. About plastics and toxins : http://worldcentric.org/aboutcompostables/traditional-plastic/pollution
10. Bottled and Sold: The Story Behind Our Obsession with Bottled Water
(2010)
11. http://www.mindfully.org/Pesticide/Dumping-Pepsi-Plastic-India94.htm
12. Bottled water: Safer? Nah :
http://www.nytimes.com/gwire/2009/07/09/09greenwire-fewer-regulations-forbottled-water-than-tap-g-33331.html
13. A More Perfect Commodity: Bottled Water, Global Accumulation, and Local
Contestation: http://web.b.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail/detail?sid=fd4a24b9-79f84c1d-8650-ae5b1329124a
%40sessionmgr110&vid=0&hid=105&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d
%3d#AN=85807414&db=aph

14. Case study, fight between Ontario community and Nestl

http://find.galegroup.com/gic/infomark.do?
&source=gale&idigest=1fb8e256f834c9455db654f75c20a01f&prodId=GIC&userGroupName=and
o52463&tabID=T006&docId=A338119109&type=retrieve&contentSet=IACDocuments&version=1.0

15. Movie about Nestle: http://www.bottledlifefilm.com/index.php/the-film.html

16. Basically why Nestle is awful: http://www.zmescience.com/science/nestlecompany-pollution-children
17. Garbage, hong kong, plastic consumption, plasitc in the ocean
http://phys.org/news/2016-02-plastic-paradise-hong-kong-packaging.html