In response to “Free water” on March 24:
I was appalled at the sight of all those plastic water bottles being given away Monday at Rudder Plaza. The original goal of the UNICEF Tap project was to charge $1 at restaurants for a GLASS of TAP water that would normally be free. The wasteful use of those bottles may undo any good that comes from the donations. The amount of energy required to produce bottled water is up to 2,000 times more than the energy required to produce tap water. The petroleum-based plastic is cooled with five times the amount of water actually inside the bottle, and further energy is expended to transport these bottles and keep them refrigerated. Studies have also shown that chemicals called phthalates, which are known to disrupt hormones, can leach into bottled water over time. Only about 13 percent of the bottles we use get recycled, and in 2005, 2 million tons of plastic water bottles ended up clogging landfills. These plastic particles end up in our oceans where they are swallowed up by organisms or circulated around in the great Pacific garbage patch. This organization should think twice before endorsing such environmental disregard.