The phenomenon of bottled water has given rise to the creation of a billion pound industry. The cost of bottled water can be many times higher than that of tap water. (21) , 53 billion gallons of bottled water are consumed each year. This is a shocking (22) , when considering the fact that much bottled water is actually from municipal water sources; in other words, taps.

In addition, the process of bottling and (23) the water can have harmful effects on the environment. Last year over 16 million barrels of oil were used in the production of bottled water. This is enough oil to fuel over half a million cars for (24) entire year. Finally, statistics suggest that only one in six plastic water bottles is recycled. In this way, the bottled water industry can be seen as not only overly expensive for consumers, but also as (25) for the environment.

The first vehicle that resembled the bicycle was put together in 1645 in France by Jean Theson. It was, however, a four-wheeled machine. A two-wheeled contraption was invented in Germany in about 1816. To ride it, the passenger sat on a seat and propelled himself by running on the ground.

The two-wheeled bicycle as we know it today was invented in Dumfriesshire, Scotland, in 1839 by a blacksmith named Kirkpatrick Macmillan. It had a steerable 30-inch front wheel and a 40-inch rear wheel. This bicycle had no pedals or chain-activated gears. There were, instead, two foot pedals attached to rods that connected to the back wheel. The alternate movement of rods on either side propelled the bicycle.

Unfortunately for Macmillan, his invention never became popular. It was left to a French father-and-son team, Pierre and Ernest Michaux, to build the bicycle from which the present popularity of the vehicle is derived. By 1865 the Michaux family was producing 400 bicycles a year.