The Bottled Water Debate

There is a debate between nutritionists, environmentalists, scientists and companies over whether we should be drinking bottled water or water from our kitchen sink. What is healthier, and are the pros and cons on the environment with bottled water?

The bottled water industry is a $22 billion a year business and rising. The main reason for the climb is because people no longer trust their local water source. So the question is, are we protecting ourselves against pollution or are we just causing more problems?

1.5 million tons of plastic bottles end up in landfills every year. Some scientists believe that bottled water isn't that much healthier for you. In fact some have found traces of antimony when water is stored for more than 6 months. Symptoms of antimony poisoning are headaches, dizziness, and depression. Canadian environmentalist David Suzuki has told people that he only drinks tap water. He believes that the increased use of plastic for packaging the foods we eat and drink are most likely the source of many of our modern diseases.

Since we are talking about the environment consider the CO2 burned during the transportation of bottled water. Water bottled locally will have less of a impact than water coming from the French Alps.

The ideal scenario would be to boil your tap water no matter where you live to kill any bacteria. If this seems too weird and you hate drinking tap water, consider buying your water from those --- gallon jugs that were filled locally. Take your water with you in a non-disposable container. At least in this situation you are not causing plastic waste and little CO2 is produced in bringing your water to your home.

Source: USA Today & CBC News

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[ READER COMMENTS ]

1

Lauren said:

Wow. Okay, I never even thought of that before. Well maybe there will be a new type of material that is good for the environment and the human body. Then, we wouldn't have to go through the trouble of boiling our tap water.

Posted at 11:47 AM, on June 23 2007

2

Johnson said:

This site gives information about whether bottled water is healthier or kitchen sink water is better. In my view bottled water is much healthier than kitchen sink water, for more information just log on to...
http://hubpages.com/hub/water_bottles

Posted at 05:40 AM, on August 10 2007

3

Stan said:

Its pretty funny how people throw away their empty plastic water bottles into the water(sea, rive, etc.) and that body of water is usually the source of the water they just drank

Posted at 08:13 PM, on September 12 2007

4

Katie said:

Drink your tap water. Get a filter. Stop wasting money on plastic bottles and buy one or two aluminum containers and RE-USE them! The money we spend and the waste we are creating from buying one or two bottled waters every day for EACH person is insaine.

Posted at 07:50 PM, on May 19 2008

The Bottled Water Debate

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