- According to restaurant consultant Clark Wolf, the restaurant industry revenue from bottled water sales is between $200 million and $350 million annually.
- Tap water costs 240 to 10,000 times less than bottled water.
- According to research conducted by the Container Recycling Institute (CRI), between 1960 and 1970 the average person bought 200 to 250 packaged drinks each year – mostly soda and beer – and many of those were in refillable bottles.
- In 2006, Americans consumed an average of 686 single-serve beverages per person per year; in 2007 we collectively drank 50 billion single-serve bottles of water alone.
- In 1987, U.S. per capita consumption of bottled water was 5.7 gallons; by 1997 it was 12.1; and in 2006, according to the Beverage Marketing Corporation, the average American drank 27.6 gallons of bottled.
Image source: Metropolitan Museum of Art