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Doss is president and CEO of the International Bottled Water Association, which represents 450 companies. He said the association has already begun to address concerns about the petroleum used in making plastic water bottles and landfill space used up when people don’t recycle them. The bottles are now lighter than they once were and use much less plastic than other beverage bottles, he said, adding that the association is a leader in recycling.
He also said bottled water production is responsible for less than 0.02 percent of all the groundwater used in the United States each year.
Cardenas, though, thinks way too many are ending up in Chicago’s trash, and people are concerned. “People kind of made fun of me when I talked about this before because I didn’t do a good job of explaining it, but our behavior has to change,” he said. “I think people are waking up to this reality.”
