As prices for food, gas, and a multitude of other goods and services continue to rise, I found myself noticing recently how many people I see walking around in the mornings with a cup of coffee in their hands from the local Starbucks or other coffee shop. Occasionally, someone will starting telling my how $3.50/gallon gas is killing them will sipping on a $4 16 oz. latte that cost the equivalent of over $30 per gallon. Bottled water still seems to be quite popular as well, and if a 16 oz. bottle of water costs $1 to $1.50 at a convenience store , the equivalent for a gallon would be $8+. Coffee is one of my favorite drinks, but I usually drink it at at the office, where it is free, or at home. I drink a lot of water as well, but I rarely drink bottled water; my wife on the other hand likes to take a bottle with her whenever she leaves the house. Even buying water by the case form Walmart or Sam’s Club, it still costs more than it does coming out if the tap, which is free. Let’s face it, Americans, as a whole, spend a lot of money on bottled water, as well as in coffee from coffee shops. Here are the numbers from 2006.
- Bottled Water Industry- $15 Billion in 2006. (Source)
- Coffee Shop Industry-appx. $11 billion in 2006. (Source)
So in the U.S., Americans spent about $25 to $26 billion on coffee from coffee shops and bottled water in 2006, or about $85 for every man, woman, and child in the U.S. This number has increased over the last two years, as well. That seems like a huge number to me. Do you think that the economic situation in the U.S., whether it is a recession, stagflation, or just a weak economy will have any effect on people’s purchases such as these? Will people start brewing their own coffee and bringing it with them, or start drinking tap water? Or is a morning Starbucks too important or too difficult for the average American to give up? I know Starbucks recently reported lower than expected earnings, but from what I recall their sales growth was still positive, only lower than expected. So it does not appear, as of yet, that rising gas prices or the weak economy has cause a decrease in these types of purchases. But will it in the future? Are people really embracing frugality, or are some things just untouchable when it comes to cutting back? I am not sure. What do you think?
Image by Bizmac
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Oh, I wanted to add that the research on reusing a “single-use” plastic bottle has been incredibly conflicted: Snopes has a page here.
I must be a simple idiot as I can’t get my first comment to post.
1. I reuse “single use” water bottles, so even if it looks like I’m carrying around a new bottle of water, I’m not. These last about a month, which comes to about $12.87/year in my area. “Dedicated” water bottles are roughly $7-15 dollars (depending on the material). Since I lose my water bottle frequently, it’s worked out cheaper for me just to buy the “single-use” container once a month or so. I clean it out well between uses, and keep it out of the heat, to reduce bacterial contamination.
2. There IS some controversy over re-using these bottles. There are several good articles at the NRDC site regarding the safety and purity of bottled water (and reuse), and Snopes also has a page regarding the “plastics leach” scare/research.
So, it will likely not solve my (low) consumption of bottled water. It does come out to less than $30/gallon if you reuse the bottle. That said, I definitely cut out the lattes.
@ Grey:
No, it wasn’t you, for some reason your comment got caught up in the spam filter.
Thanks for the info- There is some good info there!
RC
I got to laughing at the Snopes article.
What’s so evil about leaving a bottle of water in your car that would cause cancer? When that same bottle no doubt sat around in the back of a truck on route?!? It’s the same thing- unregulated heat against the water bottle.
Some people fall for anything!
DivaJean:
Yeah, that was pretty funny. If those types of things were really true, I would be in a lot of trouble healthwise.
Thanks for commenting!
The bottle can cause cancer, because it is only designed for temporary use, 30 days or so from when it was made, to consumption. Chemicals, and carcinogens escape from the plastic later on, especially after re-use. Even re-use certified bottles, are prone to this depending on what they are made out of, in the long run for most it is worth it to occasionally purchase bottled water in bulk.
Evian backwards is “naive” – enough said.