Will you stop drinking Bottled Water

[monsoon]

Most people who drink bottled water do not realize that the bottled water business, which has become huge in the USA is also a fairly significant source of pollution and does lasting damage to the environment. First there is the direct amount of oil needed to product the bottle and once this bottle is produced 3 out of 4 of them end up in landfills where they will not decompose. But on an indirect basis, there are huge costs associated with the the transport of this water. First the bottles are produced in places such as China, filled with water in places such as Figi, then transported thousands of miles to retail locations. All of this transportation dumps significant amounts of fossil fuel exhausts into the air. Water is a very heavy substance so this transport is resource intensive. Finally for every gallon of bottle water sold, 3 gallons of fresh water are needed to produce the product. This water is often polluted once the process is complete and is a shameful waste when you consider that 2 billion+ people on the planet don't have access to any decent supplies of water.

So the question is, after reading all of this, will you stop drinking bottled water?

[suburban george3]

So the question is, after reading all of this, will you stop drinking bottled water?

[Raintree21]

I hardly ever drink bottled water unless I am deployed somewhere and there is no guarantee of fresh water. I keep a case of bottled water in my basement for emergencies but besides that it is good old tap water for me and water from the fountain wherever I go.

[Alabadrock]

I can't remember which company it is that makes it, but, they make the bottle out of corn. So, whenever I get bottled water, which is very rare, I get it. The bottle degrades so, I've done a little bit to keep the landfills from overcrowding.

[Lowerdeck]

Back when I was in college, I would never go out and buy individual bottles of water unless I was out and about. I would usually buy gallon jugs and just keep refilling small bottles for personal use.

I don't think bottled water should be singled out either. The 20 ounce soda bottles (and the smaller, the worse) are rather wasteful like bottled water.

[Jasoncw]

I'm REALLY bad. I actually take bottled water (if it's from my basement), and I dump it out and fill it with tap water, because old bottled water tastes funny.

But I usually do this for car rides (and usually back and forth from college), and afterwards I re-use the water bottle for a week or two going to class. But it would really be better if I just got a water bottle.

[suburban george3]

I don't think bottled water should be singled out either. The 20 ounce soda bottles (and the smaller, the worse) are rather wasteful like bottled water.

[ohioaninSC]

My tap water usually has a funky taste, so I do buy cases of bottled water to drink. Unless my city improvest he quality of its water, I won't stop. I do recycle all my plastic, glass, paper, and aluminum cans though, so none of mine end up in refuse yards.

[suburban george3]

My tap water usually has a funky taste, so I do buy cases of bottled water to drink. Unless my city improvest he quality of its water, I won't stop. I do recycle all my plastic, glass, paper, and aluminum cans though, so none of mine end up in refuse yards.

[Mith242]

I wish we never got away from the returnable glass bottle. Soda tasted better out of them and usually they were bottled much closer to the market sold(heck, many moons ago almost every town of significance had a bottling plant for Coke and Pepsi.) However, as things have consolidated, we now have 15-20oz bottles transported hundreds of miles to our shelves. I take a 2l to work and keep in my cubicle shelf, I do use 20 oz on the road though. I can assure you all my plastic is being recycled.

[Captain Worley]

I drink bottled water at home because I don't trust the local water (high cancer rates), but I reuse the bottle when I go to work, and use tap water to fill it there. Also, the water I drink is bottled right here in SC, so the transportation end of it isn't an issue. Additionally, we recycle the bottles.

[JDC]

Certainly an eye opener. I hardly ever drink out of plastic bottles anyway, but we usually take some bottles with us when we travel. At work, I refill a glass Nantucket Nectars bottle with water from the cooler down the hall. Water tastes so much better in glass than in plastic IMHO.

[nashvillwill]

Have you tried a filtration pitcher or system? That has helped me in the past with the 'funky water' taste...

[seicer]

I purchase bottled water from places like Whole Foods or a local co-op where environmentally friendly packaging is used -- at least 75% post-consumer content is typically what I see -- or I purchase bottles constructed of non-petroleum materials. I am not very trusting of the public water supply -- from the flouride that is dumped in to the chemicals and "flavor enhancers" that are used -- it is enough to make anyone distrusting of the public utility. My parent's house, for instance, had a bulletin sent out from the city just last month warning of a high level of a certain chemical (I wish I saved it...), and that they were warning the citizens to limit their water intake. Too bad that, according to the notice, had been happening for over a month already!

If I _did_ drink tap water, I would require a whole house filter.

[ShapeShifter]

Why the hell do they need to obtain water from the most pristine glaciers of the damn earth?! Who cares? It has the same chemical make-up as H20 here after it is purified! *throws bottle at assistant* "I only drink Fiji water!!!" -Sarah Silverman

[Neo]

I drink at least one bottled water each day and sometimes two. My reason for this is that I hate sodas and I can't stand the taste of the water here in my city. Anytime food is made at home such as pasta I always get filtered water from the fridge to cook with and I use filtered water for my coffee. I do go the extra step however and recycle every single thing possible and even dig through the trashcans at work for any empty water bottles, etc. and take those home to recycle. Yes, I'm aware that bottled water is bad for the environment and I try to offset that as much as I can by using filtered water when available (like at home) instead of bottled water and by recycling as much as possible.

My taste buds simply can't stand the crud that comes from the tap.

[Neo]

But I usually do this for car rides (and usually back and forth from college), and afterwards I re-use the water bottle for a week or two going to class. But it would really be better if I just got a water bottle.

The problem with this is that you're giving a chance for bacteria to grow now that you've opened the sterile water bottle. I believe experts are on the fence whether or not this is necessarily a health issue. I wouldn't reuse the same glass for a week that I drank out of for dinner one night and I see no reason to treat a water bottle the same. I do keep one at work and keep reloading it with tap water to feed the plants in my office, IMO that's the only good use for unfiltered tap water.

[teshadoh]

I certainly won't stop drinking bottled water. Though I do drink a variety of bottled beverages, it is just necessary to drink water. Obviously the option being that I could drink tap water using a paper cup or my own bottle - but I prefer spring / filtered water that is cold & in a convenient to carry bottle.

Lastly, no one should feel guilt for drinking bottled water, there is no one single way to 'save the environment' (or more accurately to slow down the destruction of the environment) but there is also no single way that anyone is destroying the environment. But discontinuing purchasing of bottled water is certainly one small way of assisting in the curbing of the destruction of the environment, but in my view - common sense is your best tool. I certainly don't habitually purchase bottled water (though my wife is a bottled water junkie) but will purchase bottled water from time to time when I need it.

[Jasoncw]

The problem with this is that you're giving a chance for bacteria to grow now that you've opened the sterile water bottle. I believe experts are on the fence whether or not this is necessarily a health issue. I wouldn't reuse the same glass for a week that I drank out of for dinner one night and I see no reason to treat a water bottle the same. I do keep one at work and keep reloading it with tap water to feed the plants in my office, IMO that's the only good use for unfiltered tap water.

[monsoon]

As it turns out, Coke, Pepsi, Nestle and other national brands have said they will print on the bottles the source for their bottled water are various municipal water systems. i.e. tap water.

[Lowerdeck]

Pepsi had it encoded already, but made it more official starting today.

Last night I was at a concert and the place was charging four bucks for a 20 ounce bottle of Aquafina. I might as well have asked for a cup and some tap water from the sink faucet. Same thing really, woulda saved a ton of money in the process.

But here's my thought though... this place probably isn't bothered to have separate recycling for plastic bottles, and much of the client

[monsoon]

There is no definition as to what "filtered" means. Given that most if not all tap water in the USA goes through some processing steps to remove certain items, it could be considered filtered. From a sustainability point of view bottled tap water would seem to be a very bad choice.

[sean]

Only when its free; I just can't bring myself to pay for a bottle of water after I already pay a monthly water bill.

[Raintree21]

The Charlotte Observer has an article today about Nalgene and Brita water filters have teaming up to promote their use and to discourage the use of bottled water. They have made a website at www.filterforgood.com.

[Raintree21]

Saw a billboard for Diet Coke the other day that reminded me of this thread. Something along the lines of Diet Coke: 99% water, 1% greatness. Which brings me back to the topic of the thread. Seems there is is all this backlash against bottled water, but what about soft drinks that are in plastic bottles. They use the same plastic and use water as their key ingredient as well.