One of the fastest growing businesses over the past 10 years has been bottled water. At first, it just seemed to be an unnecessary fad, and then it turned into a pretty nice convenience for those that enjoy hiking, camping, and exercising. After all, rather than having to find a drinking fountain or a clean stream, you could just pull out your bottle of water and know exactly what you’re drinking.

But then, it actually went far beyond just that. Bottled water companies have done a great job marketing their product and also in destabilizing our certainty in our very own tap water. I recently heard an ad that explained how clean and pure their bottled water was, and then they posed the question, “Do you really want to know what you’re drinking from your faucet?” They made tap water sound so bad with that question, but they of course didn’t back up that question with any factual evidence that proved there was anything wrong with tap water. So, today, you’ll not only see bottled water in the hands of everyone while they’re out on the road, but you’ll also see refrigerators stocked full of them! Is this really necessary? And this can’t be eco-friendly, can it?

Bottled Water is Just Water

While there are claims from every bottled water company that their water is the best and the most pure, their water is still just water, and is hardly any different than what we drink from our tap. But, by claiming that their water is superior, they are able to charge a huge price compared to your tap water. For instance, let’s say that you can find a bottle of water for $1. It sounds like a good deal compared to that $4 Frappuccino or your $2 soft drink, but that still leaves your with a cost of 5 cents per ounce, which equates to $6.40 per gallon. Do you know how much your tap water costs? About $0.01 per gallon. That bottled water is a rip-off.

Terrible For the Environment

Do you have any idea how much plastic waste is created each year just from bottle water alone? 1.5 million tons of waste per year! Not only are we overspending on the water, but we are loading up our landfills at record rates! You might be thinking, “But I thought that many of these plastic bottles are recyclable?” While this is true, the bottles actually have to be recycled in order to be reused. Many of the bottles are just thrown away (about 80% of them), and still others are just thrown alongside the road and into our streams and oceans. Overall, these bottles are not improving our environment. Nope, they are in fact hurting it tremendously.

So What Can You Do?

Quite obviously, the first step is to stop buying those plastic bottles. Instead, go to your local store and pick up a stainless steel water container. Fill it up with that tap water and you’ll not only be saving yourself a bunch of money, but you’ll also be saving the environment at the same time!

 

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