Just Say No to Bottled Water

What’s (way) more expensive than a gallon of gasoline, even at today’s prices, that people buy all the time even when there is a much less expensive alternative? You guessed it – bottled water.

We reported on bottled water here at Hugg last year, and it is a message we need reminded of now and again: Generally speaking, store-bought bottled water is not a good idea.

According to FoodandWaterWatch.org’s Take Back the Tap project, not only is bottled water thousands of times more expensive than regular tap water, it is no safer (and potentially less safe) and often times nothing more than bottled tap water anyway. Bottled water also creates a mountain of plastic garbage, much of which will still be around long after we gone, along with a host of other environmental problems resulting from bottling and shipping water.

If you live in an area with clean drinking water (for the U.S you can check here and for information on Canadian drinking water visit Health Canada), tap water is by far the healthier and safer choice. In the United States, the Environmental Protection Agency requires municipal water systems to test their water hundreds of time a month. By contrast, the Food and Drug Administration requires only one test per week for bottling companies.

For many, of course, using bottled water is a mater of convenience for when you’re not near a tap and getting to one is not pratical at the moment (say you’re in a meeting, driving in your car, or out jogging). These are indeed perfect times to have a bottle of water handy, just not the plastic kind you buy in a store filled with water from which you are unsure of the source and that you’re paying far too much for. Using a stainless steel water bottle filled with tap water is the best way to go for these situations.

If you do live in an area where there are concerns about the safety and quality of the tap water, it is still better to use a proper water filtration system that to depend on bottled water.

We’ve said it before, and we’ll probably say it again – just say no to bottled water!

Sources and Further Reading:
Natural Resource Defense Council – Water 
World Health Organization – Guidelines for Drinking Water Quality
Food and Water Watch – Take Back the Tap
TreeHugger.com – The True Cost of Bottled Water

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· Greenpeace Guide to Greener Electronics
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