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Bottled water stagnant

Bottled waterOne quarter of the Australian population over 14, or 4.9 million people, drink bottled water in an average seven days, remaining steady since 2010, but when asked about their environmental attitudes, people who drink bottled water do not differ dramatically from those who don’t, new findings from Roy Morgan Research reveal.

While they are slightly more likely to believe that environmentally friendly products are overpriced (70 per cent compared to 67 per cent of non-bottled water drinkers), and slightly less likely to agree that ‘at heart, I’m an environmentalist’, they are also slightly more likely to believe that ‘if we don’t act now we’ll never control our environmental problems’ (79 per cent verus 77 per cent).

While the green beliefs of bottled water drinkers and their non-drinking compatriots aren’t as dissimilar as one might expect, their consumption of non-alcoholic beverages in general varies considerably.

It seems that people who drink bottled water have a greater taste for other non-alcoholic beverages as well. Compared to those who don’t drink bottled water, they are more likely to drink soft drinks of every flavour, packaged fruit juices, cordial, coconut water, and sports and energy drinks in an average seven day period.

Michele Levine, CEO of Roy Morgan Research, said that as debate rages on the environmental impact of bottled water, the proportion of Australians drinking it has remained steady.

“Curiously, the people who do drink it hold fairly similar environmental attitudes to those who don’t. Where they differ is in their heightened tendency to drink other commercially available non-alcoholic beverages as well as bottled water – a tendency that seems to be linked to their age,” said Levine.

“Our data shows that younger people from the Generations Y and Z are not only more likely than other generations to drink bottled water in an average seven days, they are also more likely to consume other beverages such as soft drinks, fruit juice, and sports and energy drinks.

“While above average proportions of these younger generations believe that ‘bottled water is better to drink than tap water’, many also agree that ‘If I hear of a new drink I will try it’.”

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