We need to drink water to keep hydrated. My doctor told me that if I feel thirsty, I'm getting dehydrated and need to drink more water. Do I need bottled water? Or, is the water from the tap OK to drink?
When we lived in Chicago, we'd occasionally buy large jugs of water for the kids' lacrosse and soccer games. (Buying bottled waster was fashionable then and the locals decried the quality of our tap water. I thought it was fine.) I like to read labels. The label on the five gallon jug read: Source: Chicago Municipal Water Supply. What I almost bought was tap water that some enterprising group simply put into a generic water jug and sold for twice the (then) price of gasoline. Tap water! I passed on buying the water. I had big Thermos coolers at home. At the checkout, I couldn't help but notice that the chap next to me had the same water in his cart. I asked him if he knew where the water in the jug came from. He didn't. I suggested he read the label. When he did, his face turned red and he exclaimed: "What? I'm buying tap water? This is a ripoff!" He bought it anyway. P.T. Barnum was right. There's a sucker born every minute.
Bottled water has become a huge, worldwide business. By some estimates, over 200,000,000,000 half-liter water bottles are sold every year. (That's 200 BILLION) So, how many is 200 billion? If you put them end-to-end, that's enough to go from the Earth to the Moon and back - about 40 times. Side-by-side, it's a two-lane road for cars - to the Moon and back. And 80% of those empty bottles end up in the landfill.
Do we really need to drink water from the Alps? Or, Italy? Or, Fiji? Or, France? Is Eau du Mineral important? Do I need that water in a glass bottle with a fancy, color-painted label? Glass is heavy. Add in the weight of the water and I wonder what the carbon footprint is for schlepping water from across the seas to my home or restaurant table? I don't buy that water.
New York City is famed for the quality of its tap water. I really like it. It's clean, crisp and tastes good. And, it isn't chlorinated. NYC has one of the most protected water sheds on the planet. When I checked into a hotel two weeks ago in The Big Apple, I politely refused the two bottles of water the front desk clerk tried to give me. And, I told her why I was refusing it. She still insisted I take the bottled water. I still refused. I refuse to contribute to an unsustainable practice of drinking bottled water. If I'm in a location where drinking the water might make me sick, that's another matter. But in most of the USA, I'm happy with tap water.
If your tap water doesn't taste good, or it isn't healthy, let's fix the problem with the municipal water system. Instead of buying bottled water, you can buy a home water filter which will save you BIG money versus bottled water. At $8.00 per gallon - or more, and twice the price of gasoline - bottled water is VERY expensive.
For your consideration ... you might want to call your local water company and ask what they're doing to improve the quality of your drinking water. Ask your elected officials what they're doing. Go to your City Council meeting. If they're drinking bottled water, ask them - in public - why they're not drinking city tap water from a reusable glass and a water pitcher. And, remind them that 80% of the bottles go into the community landfill.
I'll save the discussion on how much oil is used to make plastic water bottles for another blog.
The next time you're thirsty, think about your the choice you have: bottled water or tap water?
The next time you're thirsty, think about your the choice you have: bottled water or tap water?
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