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Less mineral water being 'bought' | Less mineral water being 'bought' |
(about 3 hours later) | |
A survey by the magazine Which? suggests many people are no longer drinking mineral water. | A survey by the magazine Which? suggests many people are no longer drinking mineral water. |
A quarter of people who answered the survey said they were drinking less bottled water than a year ago. | A quarter of people who answered the survey said they were drinking less bottled water than a year ago. |
Shoppers in Britain spend £1.5bn a year on bottled water but Which? said retail figures showed a 9% drop last year. | |
But the British Soft Drinks Association disputed these figures, saying that people were "actually buying more bottled water than last year". | |
Which?'s survey also suggested half of consumers cannot differentiate between bottled and tap water and 84% of people thought tap was better for the environment. | |
Bottled water offers one of the easiest and healthiest ways to keep hydrated throughout the day, particularly when out and about. Richard Laming, British Soft Drinks Association | |
Which? editor Neil Fowler said: "There are plenty of good reasons for choosing tap water. You can save money, it's better for the environment and it can taste just as good - if not better. | |
"The UK has some of the safest and best quality drinking water in the world. It's time we started appreciating it." | |
British Soft Drinks Association spokesman Richard Laming said: "More than 30m people in the UK choose to drink bottled water and particularly like the fact that natural mineral and spring waters have a pure, fresh taste, are naturally pure and not treated with chemicals. | |
"More than 75% of bottled water drunk in the UK is sourced from UK producers and the majority of the rest comes from nearby on the continent. | |
"Bottled water comes from fully sustainable sources and accounts for just 0.03% of the nation's carbon footprint. | |
"Contrary to the figures contained in the Which? report, people are buying more bottled water than last year." | |
Which? surveyed 3,039 people's water-drinking habits and 48 of its staff to see if they could tell the difference between mineral and tap. | Which? surveyed 3,039 people's water-drinking habits and 48 of its staff to see if they could tell the difference between mineral and tap. |
It also says most plastic bottles end up in landfill sites where they take up to 450 years to decompose. |
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