Bottle or tap? Toward an integrated approach to water type consumption
| Autor: | Robbe Geerts, Siegfried E. Vlaeminck, Tim Van Winckel, Elena Borregán-Ochando, Katleen Van Den Steen, Dirk Halet, Ronny Blust, P. Joos, Els Van Meenen, Frédéric Vandermoere |
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| Rok vydání: | 2019 |
| Předmět: |
Male
Environmental Engineering business.product_category 0208 environmental biotechnology Resource efficiency Drinking 02 engineering and technology 010501 environmental sciences 01 natural sciences Tap water Water Supply Surveys and Questionnaires Per capita Bottle Humans Biology Waste Management and Disposal 0105 earth and related environmental sciences Water Science and Technology Civil and Structural Engineering Aged Consumption (economics) Aged 80 and over Ecological Modeling Drinking Water Environmental economics Bottled water Pollution 020801 environmental engineering Chemistry Taste Sustainability Survey data collection Business Engineering sciences. Technology |
| Zdroj: | Water research |
| ISSN: | 1879-2448 0043-1354 |
| Popis: | While in many countries, people have access to cheap and safe potable tap water, the global consumption of bottled water is rising. Flanders, Belgium, where this study is located, has an exceptionally high consumption of bottled water per capita. However, in the interest of resource efficiency and global environmental challenges, the consumption of tap water is preferable. To our knowledge, an integrated analysis of the main reasons why people consume tap and bottled water is absent in Flanders, Belgium. Using Flemish survey data (N = 2309), we first compared tap and bottled water consumers through bivariate correlation analysis. Subsequently, path modelling techniques were used to further investigate these correlations. Our results show that bottled water consumption in Flanders is widespread despite environmental and financial considerations. For a large part, this is caused by negative perceptions about tap water. Many consumers consider it unhealthy, unsafe and prefer the taste of bottled water. Furthermore, we found that the broader social context often inhibits the consumption of tap water. On the one hand, improper infrastructures (e.g. lead piping) can limit access to potable tap water. On the other hand, social norms exist that promote bottled water. Lastly, results suggest that the consumption of bottled water is most common among men, older people and less educated groups. We conclude that future research and policy measures will benefit from an approach that integrates all behavioural aspects associated with water type consumption. This will enable both governments and tap water companies to devise more effective policies to manage and support tap water supply networks. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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