Ditch the Bottle

We live in a nation with one of the safest and most thorough water treatment systems. City tap water is checked regularly for to make sure it meets the safety standards. Fluoride is added to tap water (it's good for your teeth!).

Concerning the amount of water you normally drink and cook with, tap water is basically free. Now, how expensive is bottled water? One bottle from a vending machine can easily cost over a dollar. Bulk packages are a little easier on the wallet but by no means cheap. I recently bought a 24 pack of water for a road trip and even on sale, it was over 5 dollars with tax.

Sure, the bottled water companies try to dazzle you with their products. They design the bottle to be all slim and appealing and use catch phrases such as "spring water" and "pure and fresh." Did you know that a lot of bottled water really just comes from tap? It's really important to read the source on the side. A Dasani bottle says it is produced by the Coca-Cola company in Atlanta, Georgia. Hmmmm....don't remember any mountain springs located down there.

There's a new bottle design out, one that curves inward in the middle. It's supposed to use 1/3 less plastic and calls itself eco-friendly. This is one of them. Though it may be better than the old kind, its far removed from just plain old tap. Remember, not only does plastic require oil, but also the entire process of manufacturing the bottles requires energy. These bottles could end up in landfills, or use more energy in the recycling process. Energy= fossil fuels and fossil fuels= bad for the environment.

So, suck it up (literally) and try your tap water. I promise it isn't as bad as you might think.

This image is from Living Small.