Water We Doing? Reasons Not To Use Bottled Water

**This was Triogenius' very first blog entry in April 2012.
We've taken on lots of topics since then, but this one is still valid......

Do you buy water in bottles?

Why?

OK, we know we need to be drinking plenty of water every day. In fact, an adult should have between 8 and 12 cups of water every day, more if you are exercising or otherwise losing water through sweat. Drinking more water helps hydrate your joints and tissues, helps keep your skin healthy, helps flush out germs, and generally is completely fabulous, not to mention the water we use for play: Pools, Watering the lawn, decorative fountains, ice.....

But….

Did you know that lots of bottled water is nothing but tap water? Yep, it’s true. Did you know that Dasani is a Coca-Cola product and Aquafina is from Pepsi? Perrier, Poland Spring, and Deer Park bottled water are distributed by Nestle. All of them are originally from municipal water supplies—simply put, water out of a faucet. It may have been filtered or processed in some fashion, but it originally was just obtained by turning on a faucet and filling up the container. At least 25% of bottled water sold in the United States is tap water (tap water is water that comes from a faucet).

The company selling the bottled water is required to put “Municipal Water Supply” somewhere on its label, and is not allowed to use the term “All Natural” unless the water has had absolutely no processing or altering. Check out the label of the last bottle of water you bought.

For more water facts to think about, check out this National Geographic video:  http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/env-freshwater-whycare
When you pay your local ‘water bill,’ you pay for the processing of the water that comes out of your faucet: Local water purification cleans the water adds fluoridation for the health of your teeth.

Remember that lots of people in the world don't have easy access to clean water. We never give a second thought to turning on a faucet and expecting that.

It’s important, too, that we make the effort to buy less plastic bottles for any liquids: They're used to package juice, milk, soft drinks, 'power' drinks, sauces, items used in baking, and soaps, and they come in lots of different colors. Consider getting a re-usable drinking water container (preferably not made of plastic!). You could get two, one you’re using and one that’s ‘in the wash.’ Simply wash it with hot, soapy water, clean out the ‘mouthpiece part’, and let it air dry or just refill and use again. Because…think about this:

To make plastic, you need petroleum. Petroleum is the base substance that can eventually be made into fuel such as gasoline. It is a limited resource. Is it worth wasting that natural resource for our convenience? And once it’s made, a plastic water bottle tossed in the garbage will last in a landfill an estimated 450 years before it degrades, if at all. Imagine that times the millions of plastic bottles that will be tossed in the garbage today. Recycling plastic is great, but it also takes heat and (believe it or not) chemicals to be re-used in another way.

Ironic: Using plastic water bottles creates plastic pollution in our water supply. Wait, what?? 

 

A small step can make a big difference. Make the effort to stop using bottled water today!