Forget the milkman! Getting water delivered is the new way to prove your eco credentials as Gen Z shuns tap water and plastic bottles for refillable glass (but it could cost you more than £1,100 a year)
Environmentally conscious millennials have already fueled the comeback of the traditional milkman because they love reusable glass bottles, and now they've found another way to show off their green credentials to the neighbors in the form of bottled water deliveries.
Younger generations are endorsing weekly water deliveries amid fears that nanoplastics from plastic bottles could contaminate vital organs and claim the UK water supply contains potentially toxic 'forever chemicals'.
Instead, having water delivered – using a bicycle cart, of course, to save emissions – is seen as a chic, environmentally conscious choice, as the bottles can be left out for collection and reuse, just like the service provided by a traditional milkman.
But unlike tap water, a spring water subscription comes with a hefty price tag, with customers spending more than £1,100 a year on their luxury hydration habit if they receive daily delivery.
Millennials and Generation Z are turning their backs on tap water and plastic water bottles. Instead, they want water from glass bottles. Services have popped up to meet the demand, including the one pictured above in Manchester by @beardedwatersommelier
But for the social media generation, the price tag is no detriment, and people have used TikTok to show off its supply of natural resources.
On TikTok, eco-friendly account @elovuk shared a clip of a glass bottle spring water delivery service by cargo bike in Manchester.
The video was captioned: 'Fresh spring water on the bike, refill and reuse glass water bottles, zero emissions, refresh yourself.'
Eco-warriors can get their supplies from Milk & More, which delivers hassle-free water to your door before 7am.
They offer water from Belu and Wenlock Spring, which arrives in refillable glass bottles that the milkman collects to replenish and reuse, just like milk bottles.
Customers choose the days of the week they want to receive their water and leave their empty bottles for the next delivery date. But it comes at a cost.
If you buy two 750ml bottles for one day, this works out to £1,095 for a year's supply of Belu water, or £1,168 for Wenlock Spring's H2O.
Meanwhile, Crag Spring Water is offering a glass bottle of water subscription, delivered straight to your home via a delivery service called The Modern Milkman.
Sourced from the Peak District, the spring water comes in refillable glass bottles and travels back to Crag to be washed and refilled – and they even recycle the aluminum caps from the bottles.
California-based Farryn tried to make her home plastic-free, turning to a glass water bottle delivery service
Crag is taking environmental awareness to another level in some locations, such as Manchester, where water is delivered by bicycle to counter any environmental issues posed by a van.
Across the pond in California, Alive Water specializes its service even further, providing water in a chilled glass for £17.40 ($22) per glass carafe.
Customers make a one-time purchase for their glass vessel, priced at £89 ($112.47) for a 2.5 liter dispenser, and can enjoy refills whenever they want. Delivery personnel replace the customer's chosen vessel with a new one for each delivery.
It has proven so popular that they have a two-week waiting list for new water delivery customers.
But why do Gen Z and millennials spend money on a natural resource?
Three-quarters of Britons aged 16 to 19 drink bottled water, compared to less than a third of consumers aged 65 or over, according to Mintel.
Meanwhile, three times as many young consumers think bottled water is safer than tap water.
Another content creator named Denise, who goes by @tropicalseductions, also encouraged her users to use a spring water delivery service via glass coolers
Denise, who goes by the name @tropicalseductions on TikTok, apparently had water delivered by the service for a week
Farryn chose a modern spring water service in California that provides reusable glass water coolers
In one case based in the United Kingdom Rahim warned: 'Stop drinking tap water immediately. No wonder people are always sick, I don't even trust the tap water in my house anymore.'
“Chemicals have always been found in drinking water sources across England and this is potentially toxic,” she added.
Rahim referred to a 2023 report from the Guardian which found potentially toxic 'forever chemicals' in 17 of 18 water supplies in England, leaving experts 'alarmed'.
The Guardian has found per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in samples of raw and treated water. PFAS are a group of approximately 10,000 man-made chemicals commonly used in industrial processes, firefighting foam and consumer products.
Elsewhere on TikTok, Tim Graywho claimed to be 'Britain's biggest biohacker' shared similar ideas with around 30,000 followers.
“Tap water is not healthy,” he said. Tim continued, “It's full of man-made chemicals that cause health problems.”
Chlorine, fluoride, heavy metals, synthetic hormones, antibiotics and pesticides are all chemicals that Tim says flow through the UK water supply.
He based this on research by University of Exeter which stated that a fifth of fish in Britain's rivers are now 'transgender' due to chemicals in human waste.
The male fish showed 'feminized traits' and even produced eggs.
The chemicals thought to cause these changes are transferred to the water supply by flushing down the toilet and include ingredients in the birth control pill, cleaning byproducts, plastics and cosmetics.
But there is not only a demand for spring water, it is spring water from glass bottles.
Earlier this month, new research into water stored in plastic revealed why.
The findings are likely to shock anyone who switched from tap to bottled water, believing it was better for their health.
Scientists used the most advanced laser scanning techniques and found an average of 240,000 plastic particles in a one liter bottle of water, compared to 5.5 per liter of tap water.
The particles – nanoplastics – are much smaller than the microplastics previously found in bottled water. However, the particles are considered potentially toxic because they are so small that they can enter directly into blood cells and the brain.
These microscopic particles contain phthalates – chemicals that make plastics more durable, flexible and have a longer shelf life.
Exposure to phthalates is blamed for 100,000 premature deaths annually in the US. The chemicals are also known to disrupt hormone production in the body.
Younger generations have clearly lapped up the benefits of glass bottled water, but the environmental impact is potentially equal to the devastating effects of plastic.
Globally, plastic production continues to threaten the environment – with 400 million tonnes produced each year.
However, glass bottle production can often be more energy and resource intensive than plastic production.
In 2020, researchers from Southampton assessed the impact of different types of drinks packaging, including glass and plastic bottles, aluminum cans and milk cartons.
They concluded that plastic bottles are definitely bad for the environment because their production requires significant amounts of energy.
Furthermore, they last a long time once removed and have the potential to break down and spread as microplastics which are believed to be harmful to health.
However, the team concluded that the overall impact of glass bottles is worse when the energy footprint and damage from mining are taken into account.
Furthermore, glass bottles are now all too often thrown away after a single use, despite having the potential to be reused 12 to 20 times.
The most environmentally friendly beverage packaging, the team concluded, were milk and juice cartons and 100 percent aluminum cans.