Wednesday, October 1, 2008

Break your bottled water habit

Oh, how I loathe plastic water bottles. I really really do. They are a sign of the incredible waste of our culture. And the laziness. And the stupidity. I have very strong opinions on water bottles. Can you tell? If you love the earth at all, stop using water bottles of the non-reusable kind. There are exceptions, of course. These exceptions should add up to maybe 5 bottles of water a year. (“I was in the desert, unprepared, and I couldn’t find my car. But, lo! There was a water bottle stand. I bought one.”)

Here's a good resource with more information:
http://www.newdream.org/water/

From that site:

Top Five Reasons to Give Up Bottled Water
  1. Disposable plastic water bottles are not meant for multiple uses.
  2. Bottled water is full of oil.
  3. Bottled water is expensive!
  4. Your tap water is fine to drink.
  5. At least 40 percent of bottled water is tap water anyway.
Top Five Ways to Break the Bottled Water Habit
  1. Check your water utility’s “Consumer Confidence Report.”
  2. Have multiple reusable bottles available to suit all your life’s needs.
  3. Encourage your local city officials to create a policy to limit municipal spending (i.e., your hard-earned tax dollars) on bottled water to emergency needs only.
  4. Talk to your office manager about the water situation at your workplace.
  5. Spread the word to friends and family about the environmental and financial problems with bottled water.
There's much more info on each of those points on the site.

2 comments:

arlopop said...

Our fridge comes with a water filter for the in-door dispenser. We drink nothing else. I have a bottle I fill throughout the day and carry with me. It's what the kids drink. We replace the filter every nine months or so.

I can't imagine buying the bottles anymore.

Anonymous said...

In addition to all your very good reasons for drinking tap water, let's not forget the energizing burst of self-congratulatory bliss that comes with every sip! What a buzz!

I saw an add for vitamin-enhanced bottled water for dogs yesterday.