Earth Day Tip #6: Stop Buying Bottled Water!

NOT buying bottled water is probably one of the MOST effective things that you can do for the environment. How and why?

• Bottled water is not actually any better for you than tap water: Especially in the developed world, water systems are well-regulated and tested for bacteria and toxins several times a day by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Bottled water is regulated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) only once a week.

• Bottled water creates more garbage in landfills: Almost 86% of all plastic bottles never get recycled, amounting to 1.5 million tons of waste EACH YEAR. Plastic also degrades at an extremely slow rate. This means that it's going to be in a landfill for hundreds, possibly thousands of years. To add insult to injury, plastic emits harmful chemicals into the atmosphere as they decompose in the sun. So it's bad for the earth AND the air.

• Bottled water costs you money: If you drink the daily recommended amount of water using bottled water, it will end up costing you almost $1,400 a year! Ouch! Drinking from the tap will cost you around 49 cents a year. Now there's a smart way to get rich quick!

• Bottled water depletes natural resources: Every aspect of making a single bottle of water uses up precious fossil fuels. Making the bottle, filling the bottle, shipping the bottle, storing the bottle, it all requires the use of natural resources. The same resources that many of us are aware is in limited supply. Why are we using our valuable natural resources on something that almost all of us can get for free at home?

• Bottled water is a waste of water: A staggering 16.5 billion gallons of water is needed to produce the plastic bottles!

Let's enjoy our water guilt-free and in a greener fashion. Buy a reusable water bottle (Sigg and Klean Kanteen are good options) and refill it with either tap or filtered water. Both brands come in fun and colorful designs, as well as small, kid-friendly versions. I would also recommend that you try to steer clear of the heavy-duty reusable plastic bottles. Plastic is still plastic.

© Connie Hum 2009