“The purpose of human life is to serve and demonstrate compassion and a willingness to help others. » -Albert Schweitzer. Currently in the United States, environmental activists are trying to ban bottled water. Their reasons are very understandable. Water bottles spend years in landfills after being used, which is bad for the environment, but people depend on bottled water manufacturing. Through statistics and opinions, this article will show you the importance of bottled water and how people around the world are so dependent on bottled water, even though it doesn't affect you or me. For some people in third world countries, bottled water is a life or death necessity and they could not survive without it. Scholastic's article, Is Bottled Water Really Better? raises the startling statistic that worldwide 780 million people do not have access to clean water and that a portion of these people rely on bottled water to stay alive. If we banned bottled water, that portion of 780 million people would have to rely on their own resources, which could cause them to become seriously ill or even die. Every year, 1.4 million children die from lack of clean drinking water; and 3.6 million per year from water-related illnesses, 84% of children, 98% of whom live in developing countries, according to digitalcommons.liberty.edu. Children are dying because they don't have access to clean water, children who could grow up to do something great in this world. But they don't get the chance to do so because they end up dying. We are losing so many people and if we provided them with bottled water we could reduce that number. Some parts of the world rely on bottled water to keep this from happening to their children; if...... middle of paper ....... Works Cited "Is bottled water a waste of money and resources given that most communities in the United States have l 'tap water safe?' Debate.org. NP, 2013. Web. Nov.-Dec. 2013. “Is Bottled Water a Waste of Money and Resources, Given Most U.S. Communities Have Safe Tap Water?” » The first online debate website. Np, and Web. November 29, 2013. Klessig, Lance. “Water is Life – Bottled Water Industry.” Water is Life - Bottled Water Industry.Np, and Web. December 7, 2013.Starkey, Monterey. “The water crisis in third world countries”. Thesis. Liberty University, 2012. Digital Commons at Liberty University. Liberty University. Internet. Nov.-Dec. 2013. Tarshis, Lauren. “Is bottled water really better?” Scholastic Scope Magazine April 8, 2013: 2021. Print. “The Bottleless Truth About Bottled Water Jobs.” » General monitoring of drinking water. Np, June 25, 2008. Internet. November 29. 2013.