Sustainability

Most companies track carbon and energy but ignore the plastic waste from their breakrooms, and it is the easiest number in the report to move.

The energy math behind bottled water production is wilder than you think.

Madison charges $5.70 per thousand gallons. Bottled water averages about $3 a gallon. Here is that gap done properly.

US bottled water hit 16.4 billion gallons in 2024. At the industry's own 0.21 megajoules per litre, that is roughly 13 petajoules a year before a single truck moves.

Your office contributes to massive plastic bottle waste yearly, but the recycling numbers tell a different story.

Run the bottle count for a 50-person office against the EPA's recycling rate and most of what you buy ends up in a landfill.

Peer-reviewed numbers put bottled water at 5.6-10.2 megajoules per litre against 0.005 for tap. That is the gap sitting in your breakroom.

Americans drank 16.4 billion gallons of bottled water in 2024 and recycled 29.1% of the PET. Your office breakroom is part of that number.

Coca-Cola and PepsiCo are making bold sustainability claims, but plastic bottles are still piling up in your breakroom.

Apple's water report is genuinely impressive. But most companies don't need 28 pages and a UN citation to fix their water problem. They need to look at their breakroom.

Plastic bottles, delivery trucks, K-Cups in the landfill. The average office breakroom is an environmental disaster hiding in plain sight.

PFAS, microplastics, and the stuff nobody thinks about when they fill up at work. Here's what's in the water and what you can do about it.