Boycott Bottled Water

Boycott Bottled Water

I recall my dad joking 25-30 years ago about how ridiculous it would be to bottle and sell water.  After all, fresh, clean water flows practically free from our pipes for endless enjoyment.

These days, however, bottled water is a huge industry.  But its costing the environment.  From the great, floating garbage patch in the North Pacific, to the millions of bottles that are not recycled each year, plastic containers – made from petroleum products – could be choking the planet.  Its time for us to boycott bottled water!

Lest you believe that you are putting your health at risk, and/or sacrificing the convenience of water on the go, there are many options for green-minded people that want to drink fresh.  But first, let’s review the alleged health concerns of tap water.  While its true that there are some minerals in municipal water supplies (including lead, iron, calcium carbonate, copper or mercury), these have been treated to levels that are deemed to be safe for human health.

Instead of buying bottled water, why not install a Brita water filtration device?  These can literally snap right onto the kitchen faucet, for the very low cost of around $20-25.  Culligan also sells a filtration device.  Easy to install, without tools, there is even an LED light that indicates when the filter needs to be replaced.

Safe, reusable water bottle

If you are heading to the gym or for a bike ride, you’ll want to pour your filtered water into a safe, reusable water bottle.  This does not include bottled water containers, designed for single use.  The plastic will leach harmful chemicals if you use it more than once (and if you wash it in the dishwasher) and may also harbor icky bacteria growth inside, since you can’t get them adequately clean.

Still to be avoided, are Naglene bottles, made of polycarbonate.  Don’t know what I’m talking about?  Well, maybe you’ve heard of BPA, which is a synthetic hormone that can cause cancer.  Again, do not re-heat these bottles because the harmful chemicals will be released at an even higher rate.

I was alarmed recently to discover that my sturdy, plastic hiking water bottle included BPA.  So, I promptly discarded it.

You should do the same thing!

What should you buy for a reusable water bottle?  Bottom line is aluminum or stainless steel.  They can be used many times over, without the concerns of leaching or bacteria growth (provided you wash them).  Add in some freshly filtered water, and you need not ever go to the store again for bottled water.

70 million bottles of water are sold each day in the U.S.  The fuel spent just in transporting these from plant to market is enough to power 1 million cars a year.

Don’t you think its time to boycott bottled water for a cleaner, greener and cheaper alternative?