96% of visitors surveyed by Eau de Vie at Hotelympia said that they thought the hospitality industry should be doing more to tackle the presentation of table water and in particular, the single-use plastic bottle crisis.
Furthermore, 75% said that they were very concerned about the possibility of plastic leeching into the water in terms of contamination, with 94% confirming they would rather be offered freshly purified water in establishment’s own reusable, glass bottles.
Major brands
The findings were further endorsed by a study led by journalist organisation Orb Media and undertaken by the University of New York (Fredonia State of NY) – the largest of its kind with bottles being bought in nine different countries – which showed that tests on major brands of plastic bottled water found that nearly all of them contained tiny particles of plastic with an average of 10 plastic particles per litre, each larger than the width of a human hair.
Adam Lenton, marketing manager for Eau de Vie, says: “Understanding the potential implications of this study remains an active area of science in terms of long term effect on health, but already, we can see that consumers are increasingly concerned about the plastic issue – not just relating to waste but also waking up to the potential harmful aspects of digesting small amounts of plastic.
“People that we talked to were very clear that they would like the Hospitality Industry to lead on this issue, and they would like to see establishments that are still using plastic bottled water change their methodology of how they present table water.
“Our survey showed that 63% of those asked felt that we should go even further here in the UK, and that the Government should legislate to ban the use of single-use plastic bottles. This illustrates the strength of feeling on this issue which has come to the forefront of media attention and environmentalists in the last 18 months or so”.
Signature waters
Sherri Mason, a professor of chemistry at the University that conducted the analysis, told BBC News last week: “We found [plastic] in bottle after bottle and brand after brand.
“It’s really showing that plastic has become a pervasive material in our society, and it’s now pervading water – all of these products that we consume at a very basic level.”
Eau De Vie is the leading specialist provider of freshly purified water solutions to the Hospitality Industry with its systems seeing increasing adoption by dining establishments and groups across the UK.
According to Lenton, the rising appetite for purified water is increasing as establishments recognise the opportunity to market their own signature waters from which they can make more profit, as well as adding to their sustainability pedigree.
