• NPR Morning Edition, Wednesday, April 15, 2009 11:15 AM

If ever there was an industry in need of a PR campaign, it may be bottled water. Not too long ago, it seemed to be proving the point that Eskimos will buy ice if it's marketed clevery. But after years of double-digit increases, sales have stopped rising, Nancy Eve Cohen reports.

While the sale of most nonalcoholic beverages fell last year because of the receding economy, bottled water is also under increasing pressure from environmentalists, as well as competitors such as Brita, which sells water filters, for its impact on landfills.

Kim Jeffrey, CEO of Nestle Waters North America, however, maintains that environmental concerns aren't having much of an impact. "The problems we're seeing right now are very much attributable to the economic downturn, not to the fact that people are leaving bottled water in droves -- because it's just not happening," he says. Nonetheless, Jeffrey says his company is using less plastic resin in its bottle, and he believes there should be universal curbside recycling.

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