ARTICLES

AI improves knowledge worker results, research finds

Kim Harrison, Cutting Edge PR

AI improves knowledge worker results, including productivity and quality, according to findings in a 2023 US research project. As professional communicators, we are knowledge workers as well, and the results of this study point to potential benefits of using AI for relevant communication tasks.

Researchers from the Harvard Business School conducted the project with 758 consultants from the global management consulting firm Boston Consulting Group (7% of its workforce) to achieve some impressive results. They said they examined the “performance implications of AI on realistic, complex, and knowledge-intensive tasks.”

The researchers found that “some tasks are easily done by AI, while others, though seemingly similar in difficulty level, are outside the current capability of AI.” Professional communicators are knowledge workers as well. We need to call on our knowledge of current affairs, including business trends, to solve emerging issues that our organizations are facing. We need to find communicative ways to help solve internal organizational problems like employee engagement. We need to use our professional knowledge to develop creative ways of communicating effectively. Unlike advertising agencies, we can’t just call on our ‘creatives’ to come up with creative solutions – we need to use our own knowledge as the basis for being creative ourselves – as knowledge workers. Participants were randomly assigned to one of three conditions:

1. No AI access

2. GPT-4 access

3. GPR-4 AI access with a prompt engineering overview

The study’s abstract said, “For each one of a set of tasks in a set of 18 realistic consulting tasks within the frontier of AI capabilities, consultants using AI were significantly more productive (completing 12.2% more tasks on average, and completed tasks 25.1% more quickly), and produced significantly higher quality results (more than 40% higher quality compared to a control group). Impressive!

Consultants across the skills distribution benefited significantly from having AI augmentation (increasing their AI knowledge due to the project participation), with those below the average performance threshold increasing by 43% and those above increasing by 17% compared to their own scores.

However, for a task selected to be ‘outside the frontier,’ consultants using AI were 19% less likely to produce correct solutions compared to those without AI. In other words, the tasks had to suit the capability of AI.

AI use in professional communication

Digital strategist Bruno Amaral wrote an excellent article in February 2024, “AI Adoption in Public Relations – How it started and how it’s going.” He gives good context on the adoption of AI by communication professionals. This includes work by Stephen Waddington, who concludes that AI can be useful in the following areas:

1. Production of text and images

2. Editing and summarizing

3. Assessment and model creation

4. Planning and Decision Making

Also, Waddington published guidelines on how to use ChatGPT to follow all the steps of writing a press release.

He adapted the AI tools to the 4 stages identified by Cutlip et al. in their book Effective Public Relations, (2000).

1. Research

2. Planning

3. Action / Communication

4. Evaluation

Image, opposite: 2024 Global Comms Report, Cision. The chart reflects the perspective of 427 senior level professionals across 10 countries, U.S., Canada, France, Germany, Sweden, U.K., Australia, China, Hong Kong, and Singapore.

If AI improves similar knowledge worker results, why aren’t we using more AI tools in our professional communication?
As proven in the above Harvard Business School study, AI improves knowledge worker results. Participants in the project use very similar skills to communication professionals. So why has our profession been slow at adopting AI? Amaral suggests the following possible reasons for comms pros not using AI as much as they could:

People in PR/comms don’t have access to these tools or know how to use them.
We still haven’t set up a process for AI use in-house and in agencies.
AI doesn’t provide a big amount of added value.
AI still doesn’t have the level of quality that humans provide.
We’re at the peak of the inflated expectations of the Hype Curve. [See below.]
PR is a profession where sensitivity to stakeholders, publics, and context can’t be communicated to Large Language Models (LLMs).

1. People in PR don’t have access to AI tools

This isn’t really an issue, we have seen there is an abundance of tools and the real problem is that some of them promise more than they deliver. Some of these tools will fade away, so there is a risk in relying too much on them.

2. We still don’t have a process for AI in professional communication

Comms already has a process, from research to evaluation of results. We can try to fit the tools to the process or see where the AI can improve the output for your organization or client. You can surely write a press release for a generic audience; AI can take it and create variations for different audiences or scan it to extract a fact sheet.

3. There’s not enough added value yet

Fiction made us believe AI would replace humans; the general response to ChatGPT launch in PR has been that AI would take away jobs from people not using AI to do their job better or faster. Yet, with all the biases and uncertain quality of output from AI, it is only natural that we don’t feel that added value is present. We are still not at the level of an AI Assistant who executes complex tasks on demand, and we won’t be there anytime soon, according to Bruno Amaral. He says he has seen some experiments on creating an Auto-GPT, which is an autonomous AI that runs a series of tasks to reach a described result. From his experiments using the open-source version, it’s still in a very early stage. As noted above in the Harvard Business School study of AI being used by a similar profession, AI improves knowledge worker results quite emphatically, and therefore we should work with more intent to explore the ways that AI can be used to make professional communication more effective.

4. AI still doesn’t have the level of quality humans provide

AI image generation still can’t draw hands, it gets confused with cables, and some of them are just too perfect to be realistic. Amaral says in his article, that from his experience this also happens if you give ChatGPT a description of code you want it to produce. Descriptions that are too long are more prone to errors. The best approach is to provide small requirements, test, provide feedback, and keep any working version saved so you can go back and try with other requirements.

5. We’re at the peak of the inflated expectations of the Hype Curve

This argument is undeniable, Gartner presents it on their website.

Source: What’s New in Artificial Intelligence From the 2023 Gartner Hype CycleTM, August 2023.

6. PR is a profession where sensitivity to stakeholders, publics, and context can’t be communicated to Large Language Models

IBM says that large language models (LLMs) are a category of foundation models trained on immense amounts of data making them capable of understanding and generating natural language and other types of content to perform a wide range of tasks:

LLMs are designed to understand and generate text like a human, in addition to other forms of content, based on the vast amount of data used to train them. They have the ability to infer from context, generate coherent and contextually relevant responses, translate to languages other than English, summarize text, answer questions (general conversation and FAQs) and even assist in creative writing or code generation tasks.

Here is a list from IBM’s LLM web page that notes some of the most important areas where LLMs benefit organizations:

Text generation: language generation abilities, such as writing emails, blog posts or other mid-to-long form content in response to prompts that can be refined and polished. An excellent example is retrieval-augmented generation (RAG).
Content summarization: summarize long articles, news stories, research reports, corporate documentation and even customer history into thorough texts tailored in length to the output format.
AI assistants: chatbots that answer customer queries, perform backend tasks and provide detailed information in natural language as a part of an integrated, self-serve customer care solution.
Code generation assists developers in building applications, finding errors in code and uncovering security issues in multiple programming languages, even “translating” between them.
Sentiment analysis: analyze text to determine the customer’s tone in order understand customer feedback at scale and aid in brand reputation management.
Language translation: provides wider coverage to organizations across languages and geographies with fluent translations and multilingual capabilities.

The question remains as to how we can further adapt LLMs to the greater sophistication needed for human relationships, interactions and context.

How can we accelerate the adoption of AI tools?

Amaral believes we first need to do a better job at identifying the concrete needs of the PR profession. Where are our pain points? Once those are identified we can look at the existing tools and filter out those that are mere interfaces to OpenAI’s tools. Most of all, he feels we need to share more with the community:

This should not be a race to find the best tool and gain competitive advantage, there is always a better tool around the corner, a new shiny object. My belief is that by sharing more we can provide better service, grow the profession, and make it rise to the C-level of companies.

Helpful reading

Research findings published in July 2023 have revealed that participants using ChatGPT were able to write business documents faster, at a better quality. The improvements were made on the basis that a person needs to check the AI-generated text, then edits and corrects it, according to Jakob Nielsen, international expert of user experience (UX) techniques.
My article, “ChatGPT lifts workplace writing productivity and quality,” also discusses the positive way AI improves knowledge worker results, with strong implications for our communication profession.

What's Trending in HR for 2024: A Look at Managing Younger Workers

Gotcha Coveredhr.com

With unemployment rates hovering around 3.7% nationally, the latest buzz phrase in the HR world is “The Big Stay.” That’s right, after “The Great Resignation” made headlines during and just after the pandemic, we are now seeing a tighter labor market in which workers are less likely to jump ship in search of a better opportunity elsewhere. It could also mean that more employers have made adjustments to entice workers to remain in their jobs—offering more flexibility to work from home at least part of the workweek, providing training initiatives, and rethinking traditional approaches to hiring are all key to attracting and retaining younger workers.

The final wave of Baby Boomers (the youngest of whom are turning 60 in 2024) are retiring, leaving behind them a dearth of institutional knowledge and a gap in manager-ready talent. As a result, CEOs and thought leaders are creating new initiatives for training the younger members of the workforce.

“Learning and development” is a top desire expressed by Millennials and Gen Z alike. They want internal talent mobility opportunities and manager pipelines that center on social activities, peer interactions, collaborative projects and mentoring, and, remaining true to DEI expectations, they also want to have meaningful cultural exchange experiences with their colleagues.

Younger workers particularly have adjusted quite well to working remotely, often citing the flexibility that such arrangements offer them and their families. With many companies now mandating RTO, workers are left feeling uncertain about expectations and requirements.

It’s important for CEOs to send clear messages on performance management, being able to react quickly to signs of burnout, offering constructive feedback, and promoting the use of EAPs and other wellness resources. Think about how to offset the additional expenses that workers may face when required to work in office versus at home: meals, childcare, commute, and pet care, for example.

We often hear from business executives and managers that they prefer hiring older workers because younger workers “just don’t get it.” We hear complaints that range from their lack of eye contact, dressing inappropriately, being late for meetings, failing to meet deadlines, and an attitude of entitlement. But are these complaints fair to a generation who are just entering the workforce after enduring unprecedented gaps in socialization as a result of the pandemic?

Soft skills have always been somewhat elusive. We all know that technical skills can be taught, but how do you measure resilience, creativity, and communication? Business leaders need to do more to work with educational institutions to bridge the gap between a student mindset and a work-ready young adult. Skills-based hiring, using alternative channels to identify talent pools, is still a good approach to hiring. Relying on new training initiatives (especially mentoring) may just be the key to helping these younger workers adjust to work life expectations.

It’s always all about effective communication.

Environmental Protection Agency

EPA Administrator signed the following rule on 4/8/2024, and EPA is submitting it for publication in the Federal Register (FR). While we have taken steps to ensure the accuracy of this Internet version of the proposed rule, it is not the official version of the final rule. Please refer to the official version in a forthcoming FR publication, which will appear on the Government Printing Office’s FDsys website (https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/). It will also appear on Regulations.gov (https://www.regulations.gov/) in Docket No. EPA-HQ-OW-2022-0114. Once the official version of this document is published in the FR, this version will be removed from the Internet and replaced with a link to the official version.

40 CFR Parts 141 and 142

[EPA-HQ-OW-2022-0114; FRL 8543-02-OW]

RIN 2040-AG18

PFAS National Primary Drinking Water Regulation Rulemaking

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Final rule.

SUMMARY: In March 2023, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed and requested comment on the National Primary Drinking Water Regulation (NPDWR) and health-based Maximum Contaminant Level Goals (MCLGs) for six per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS): perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS), perfluorohexane sulfonic acid (PFHxS), perfluorononanoic acid (PFNA), hexafluoropropylene oxide dimer acid (HFPO-DA, commonly known as GenX Chemicals), and perfluorobutane sulfonic acid (PFBS).

After consideration of public comment and consistent with the provisions set forth under the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA), the EPA is finalizing NPDWRs for these six PFAS. Through this action, the EPA is finalizing MCLGs for PFOA and PFOS at zero. Considering feasibility, the EPA is promulgating individual Maximum Contaminant Levels (MCLs) for PFOA and PFOS at 4.0 nanograms per liter (ng/L) or parts per trillion (ppt). The EPA is also finalizing individual MCLGs and is promulgating individual MCLs for PFHxS, PFNA, and HFPO-DA at 10 ng/L. In addition to the individual MCLs for PFHxS, PFNA, and HFPO-DA, in consideration of the known toxic effects, dose additive health concerns and occurrence and likely co-occurrence in drinking water of these three PFAS, as well as PFBS, the EPA is finalizing a Hazard Index (HI) of 1 (unitless) as the MCLG and MCL for any mixture containing two or more of PFHxS, PFNA, HFPO-DA, and PFBS. Once fully implemented, the EPA estimates that the rule will prevent thousands of deaths and reduce tens of thousands of serious PFAS-attributable illnesses.

DATES: This final rule is effective on [INSERT DATE 60 DAYS AFTER DATE OF PUBLICATION IN THE FEDERAL REGISTER]. The incorporation by reference of certain publications listed in the rule is approved by the Director of the Federal Register as of [INSERT DATE 60 DAYS AFTER DATE OF PUBLICATION IN THE FEDERAL REGISTER].

ADDRESSES: The EPA has established a docket for this action under Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OW-2022-0114. All documents in the docket are listed on the http://www.regulations.gov web site. Although listed in the index, some information is not publicly available, e.g., Confidential Business Information (CBI) or other information whose disclosure is restricted by statute. Certain other material, such as copyrighted material, is not placed on the Internet and will be publicly available only in hard copy form. Publicly available docket materials are available electronically through http://www.regulations.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Alexis Lan, Office of Ground Water and Drinking Water, Standards and Risk Management Division (Mail Code 4607M), Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20460; telephone number 202-564-0841; email address: PFASNPDWR@epa.gov.

Commercially Bottled Water

Americans spend billions of dollars every year on commercially bottled water. People choose bottled water for a variety of reasons including taste, convenience, as a substitute for other beverages, or because of perceived health benefits.

Bottled Water Regulation

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulates the safety of bottled water and bases its standards on the EPA standards for tap water. If these standards are met, water is considered safe for most healthy individuals. The bottled water industry must also follow FDA’s good manufacturing practices for processing and bottling drinking water.

Read the label on your bottled water to learn where the water comes from and how it has been treated to make it safe for drinking.

While there is currently no standardized label for bottled water, labels may tell you about the way the water is treated. Check the label for a toll-free number or web page address of the company that bottled the water to learn more.

Bottled Water and People with Weakened Immune Systems

People with weakened immune systems, such as people with HIV, diabetes, organ transplants or going through chemotherapy, should take special precautions with the water they drink. The parasite Cryptosporidium can cause chronic or severe illness and even life-threatening symptoms in people with weakened immune systems. Healthy people would be more likely to develop a mild illness from this parasite.

Look for the following types of treatments for bottled water that protect against Cryptosporidium:

Reverse osmosis
Distillation
Filtration with an absolute 1micron filter

Learn more about Cryptosporidium and commercially bottled water.

Bottled Water and Outbreaks

Although illness outbreaks associated with bottled water are rarely reported, they do occur. It is important for bottled water manufacturers, distributors, and consumers to do these things:

Protect and properly treat water before bottling
Maintain good manufacturing processes
Protect bottled water during shipping and storage
Prevent contamination after consumers purchase bottled water

If you suspect an illness resulting from drinking bottled water, contact your local public health department.

Contaminated bottled water can harm your health, including causing gastrointestinal illness, reproductive problems, and neurological disorders. Infants, young children, pregnant women, the elderly, and people with weakened immune systems may be more likely to get sick from some contaminants.

More Information

CDC’s Community Water Fluoridation Bottled Water FAQs
Summaries on water-related surveillance data: CDC’s Surveillance Reports for Drinking Water-associated Disease & Outbreaks.
Information on the most recently reported bottled water outbreaks: NORS Dashboard (Select “Waterborne” only outbreaks, and then both “bottled” and “commercially-bottled water” under the Water Type field.)
Bottled Water Everywhere: Keeping it Safe | FDA
U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Bottled Water Regulations
EPA Ground Water and Drinking Water Information

Content can be found on the CDC website at: https://www.cdc.gov/healthywater/drinking/bottled/

Bottled Water Everywhere:
Keeping it Safe

Consumers drink billions of gallons of bottled water each year.
Here's how the FDA helps keep it safe.

Seems like almost everyone is carrying a bottle of water these days.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration regulates bottled water products, working to ensure that they’re safe to drink.

The FDA protects consumers of bottled water through the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FD&C Act), which makes manufacturers responsible for producing safe, wholesome, and truthfully labeled food products.

There are regulations that focus specifically on bottled water, including:

“Standard of identity” regulations that define different types of bottled water.
“Standard of quality” regulations that set maximum levels of contaminants—including chemical, physical, microbial, and radiological contaminants—allowed in bottled water.
“Current good manufacturing practice” (CGMP) regulations that require bottled water to be safe and produced under sanitary conditions.

Types of Bottled Water

The FDA describes bottled water as water that’s intended for human consumption and sealed in bottles or other containers with no added ingredients, except that it may contain safe and suitable antimicrobial agents. Fluoride may also be added within the limits set by the FDA.

The agency classifies some bottled water by its origin. Here are four of those classifications:

Artesian well water. This water is collected from a well that taps an aquifer—layers of porous rock, sand, and earth that contain water—which is under pressure from surrounding upper layers of rock or clay. When tapped, the pressure in the aquifer, commonly called artesian pressure, pushes the water above the level of the aquifer, sometimes to the surface. Other means may be used to help bring the water to the surface.
Mineral water. This water comes from an underground source and contains at least 250 parts per million total dissolved solids. Minerals and trace elements must come from the source of the underground water. They cannot be added later.
Spring water. Derived from an underground formation from which water flows naturally to the surface, this water must be collected only at the spring or through a borehole that taps the underground formation feeding the spring. If some external force is used to collect the water through a borehole, the water must have the same composition and quality as the water that naturally flows to the surface.
Well water. This is water from a hole bored or drilled into the ground, which taps into an aquifer.

Bottled water may be used as an ingredient in beverages, such as diluted juices or flavored bottled waters. However, beverages labeled as containing “sparkling water,” “seltzer water,” “soda water,” “tonic water,” or “club soda” aren’t included as bottled water under the FDA’s regulations. These beverages are instead considered to be soft drinks.

It may be Tap Water

Some bottled water also comes from municipal sources—in other words, public drinking water or tap water. Municipal water is usually treated before it is bottled. Examples of water treatments include:

Distillation. Water is turned into a vapor, leaving minerals behind. Vapors are then condensed into water again.
Reverse osmosis. Water is forced through membranes to remove minerals.
Absolute 1 micron filtration. Water flows through filters that remove particles larger than one micron—.00004 inches—in size. These particles include Cryptosporidium, a parasitic pathogen that can cause gastrointestinal illness.
Ozonation. Bottlers of all types of waters typically use ozone gas, an antimicrobial agent, instead of chlorine to disinfect the water. (Chlorine can add residual taste and odor to the water.)

Bottled water that has been treated by distillation, reverse osmosis, or another suitable process may meet standards that allow it to be labeled as “purified water.”

Ensuring Quality and Safety

Federal quality standards for bottled water were first adopted in 1973. They were based on U.S. Public Health Service standards for drinking water set in 1962.

The 1974 Safe Drinking Water Act gave regulatory oversight of public drinking water to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The FDA subsequently took responsibility, under the FD&C Act, for ensuring that the quality standards for bottled water are compatible with EPA standards for public drinking water.

Each time EPA establishes a standard for a contaminant, the FDA either adopts it for bottled water or finds that the standard isn’t necessary for bottled water.

In some cases, standards for bottled water and public drinking water differ. For example, because lead can leach from pipes as water travels from water utilities to home faucets, EPA has set its limit for lead in public drinking water at 15 parts per billion (ppb). For bottled water, for which lead pipes aren’t used, the lead limit is set at 5 ppb.

For bottled water production, bottlers must follow the CGMP regulations that are specific to processing and bottling drinking water, put in place and enforced by the FDA. Water must be sampled, analyzed, and found to be safe and sanitary. These regulations also require proper plant and equipment design, bottling procedures, and record keeping.

In addition, bottled water processors are generally required to register with the FDA as food facilities. Domestic and foreign facilities that are required to register as food facilities must comply with the requirements for risk-based preventive controls mandated by the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) as well as the modernized Current Good Manufacturing Practices (CGMPs) of this rule that cover all human food facilities (unless an exemption applies). Please see FDA’s Preventive Controls for Human Food webpage for additional details.

Furthermore, the FDA oversees inspections of bottling plants. The agency inspects bottled water plants under its general food safety program and has states perform some plant inspections under contract. (Some states also require bottled water firms to be licensed annually.)

This information is made available on the FDA website at:

https://www.fda.gov/consumers/articulos-para-el-consumidor-en-espanol/agua-embotellada-por-todas-partes-como-mantener-su-inocuidad

Bottled Water Reaches New Peaks in Revenue and Volume

Alexandria, VA – America’s favorite packaged drink – bottled water – reached new peaks in both volume consumed and sales in 2022 in the U.S., new data from the Beverage Marketing Corporation (BMC) shows.

Bottled water’s total volume sold in 2022 was 15.9 billion gallons, its highest volume ever, surpassing carbonated soft drinks for the seventh year in a row. In terms of retail dollars, 2022 sales approached $46 billion, up from $40.8 billion in 2021.

“Numerous qualities account for bottled water’s unceasing resonance with U.S. consumers, including its associations with healthfulness, convenience, safety, and value,” says John G. Rodwan, Jr., BMC’s editorial director.

“Consumers’ thirst for beverages that offer benefits beyond refreshment alone also contributed to the fundamental hydrating beverage’s rise in the beverage standings. Bottled water’s zero-calorie status and its lack of artificial ingredients appeal to many consumers. Even where tap water may be safe and readily available, people may prefer bottled water, which they often believe tastes better,” says Rodwan.

For more than a decade, consumers have been increasingly choosing bottled water instead of less-healthy packaged drinks. Bottled water’s volume surpassed soft drinks for the first time in 2016 and has done so every year since.

Americans consumed, on average, 46.5 gallons of bottled water in 2022, compared to 36 gallons of soda. Consumer demand for bottled water has significantly contributed to the industry’s growth (30% since 2012), as people continue to switch from other less-healthy packaged drinks to bottled water. So much so, that nine out of 10 Americans (91%) want bottled water to be available wherever other drinks are sold, according to a survey conducted on behalf of the International Bottled Water Association (IBWA) by The Harris Poll.

“People are choosing to drink bottled water because it is a healthy beverage choice, having zero calories and no caffeine or additives, and it has the added benefit of packaging that is 100% recyclable. Not only are bottled water containers 100% recyclable (including the cap) but they also use much less plastic than soda and other packaged beverages,” says Jill Culora, IBWA’s vice president of communications.

Soda containers, on average, use 252% more PET plastic than bottled water containers (22.2 grams vs. 8.8 grams for 16.9-ounce containers). Soft drinks and other sugary beverages need thicker plastic containers due to their carbonation and/or bottling processes.

Even with continuing growth and increased consumption, bottled water still has the smallest impact on the environment—thanks to the fact that it has the smallest water and energy use footprint of any packaged beverage. On average, only 1.39 liters of water (including the 1 liter of water consumed) and 0.21 mega joules of energy are used to produce 1 liter of finished bottled water.

Most bottled water is packaged in 100% recyclable PET #1 plastic and HDPE #2 plastic, which are the plastics most recognized by consumers as being recyclable and the most recycled plastics in the world. Consumers can be confident about recycling bottled water containers because they are among the few consumer packaging types that are universally recyclable across the United States. Not all cities and towns recycle glass bottles and laminated paper cartons, which are most commonly comprised of multiple layers of paper, plastic, and aluminum or wax.

Bottled water’s recyclability distinguishes it from other common plastic products that are truly “single use,” such as non-recyclable plastic items (e.g., straws, cutlery, and plates); certain food and goods packaging (e.g., film, heat-sealed and multi-layered laminate bags) and containers (e.g., non-PET, HDPE, and PC bottles and tubs). In addition, PET plastic bottled water containers are the most recognized by consumers as being recyclable, which is likely the reason why they are the most recycled containers in U.S. curbside recycling programs. PET plastic bottled water containers are a valuable resource because they can be recycled and used over and over again.

Recycling facilities know that there is a huge industry demand for post-consumer PET and HDPE plastics. Many bottled water companies use recycled PET and HDPE plastic to create new bottles, which helps to reduce their environmental impact further because they aren’t using virgin plastic.

Bottled water drinkers recycle more often than drinkers of other beverages. Of all the PET containers recycled through curbside collections systems, bottled water containers make up approximately 49%. Empty bottled water containers should always be returned or placed in a recycling bin, but when they are not, they make up 3.3% of all drink packaging that ends up in landfills, and only 0.02% of all landfill waste.

Studies have shown that bottled water containers are also not a major source of ocean pollution and microplastics. The vast majority of ocean plastic comes from sources other than the United States. In fact, if the United States were to completely eliminate ALL plastic use, the effort would only result in a 0.25% reduction of ocean plastics, data from Oxford University’s Our World in Data website shows. A striking statistic is that bottled water accounts for less than 1.58% of all plastics used in the United States, which means we are talking about 1.58% of 0.25%.

“Consumer preference for healthy hydration and bottled water is really good news for public health,” says Culora. “This is particularly important as the nation continues to experience high rates of obesity, diabetes, and heart disease.”

“Helping people make healthier choices is at the core of the bottled water business,” says Culora. “Consumers have made it clear that there’s a demand for safe, healthy, and convenient bottled water, as they are responsible for propelling bottled water to the title of America’s most popular packaged beverage, by volume.”

Whether you are at home, in the office, or on the go, IBWA encourages all consumers to make healthy hydration a part of their lifestyle and select bottled water as their beverage of choice and always recycle their empty containers—with the caps on.

For more information about bottled water, visit IBWA’s website: www.bottledwater.org