In Northern Europe, we are in a fortunate situation with clean drinking water in the tap, yet we are eager to buy bottled water. – But unlike the rest of the world, a significant part of the water is sold with carbonic acid. – In Norway, 117 million liters of water were sold in plastic bottles during 2025.
The numbers are frightening and an important part of why the mountain of plastic garbage is growing rapidly.
It is now 14 years since the CEO of Nestle stated that “Water is not a human right”
Every minute, more than one million plastic bottles of water are purchased worldwide. “But people still reach for them – even when they know how harmful plastic pollution is.
A new study points to three key reasons: convenience, access to safe drinking water and advertising.
Researchers at Concordia University asked over 15,000 people in 81 countries about their drinking habits.
They wanted to know when people bought bottled water, whether they owned refillable bottles, what drinking water they had access to, and how often they saw advertisements for bottled water.
The findings have been published in the Journal of Cleaner Production.
The responses showed that awareness alone rarely changes habits. Around three-quarters of the participants knew that single-use bottles contain small plastic particles – so-called microplastics and nanoplastics. Nevertheless, most continued to buy bottled water.
The survey also mapped perceptions about possible health effects, but these answers cannot determine whether bottled water actually makes people sick.
For some, a plastic bottle is simply the easiest thing to buy and take with them when traveling. For others, it feels like the safest choice.
Younger participants and those with higher education were more likely to use single-use bottles than older ones. They often perceived bottled water as convenient and safer from bacteria. Older people were more likely to carry refillable bottles with them, while younger people more often recycled the bottles they used.
Access also played a big role. Nearly 78 percent of participants said they regularly found themselves in places where safe drinking water was not available. People with limited access were more likely to choose bottled water. Encouraging them to fill a reusable bottle is of little use if there isn’t a reliable place to fill it.
Advertising also seemed to have an impact. Those who saw ads for bottled water more often bought disposable bottles. The correlation was particularly strong among younger and highly educated people. However, since this is a survey, it cannot prove that the ads were the reason for the purchases.
The researchers identified several broad groups of bottled water users: those who are guided by convenience, those influenced by media and social expectations, and those who simply need it because of their circumstances. These differences may explain why one solution to reduce plastic waste doesn’t work everywhere.
The team suggests more public refill stations, clear information about drinking water quality and closer attention to advertising to reduce unnecessary use of bottles. But local conditions are everything. Where tap water is safe, easy access can make reusable bottles the natural choice. Where safe water is in short supply, reliable drinking water must come first.
Most participants said they would ditch single-use bottles if clean water was readily available. Making that choice possible is perhaps more about facilitation than about asking people to change their habits.
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