Replace bottled water with filtered tap water
Why This is Green
Bottled water is a convenient way to rehydrate, but it hides a dirty secret: Every top we pop pours a little bit of the environment down the drain.
Americans drink about 30 gallons of bottled water each every year and use some 29 billion bottles in the process. Experts estimate that between 75 to 87 percent of these bottles end up in landfills and making them uses about 17 million annual barrels of petroleum. Add to that the 50 million barrels of oil (or their energy equivalent) needed to obtain, transport, and refrigerate bottled water supplies.
Here’s another reason bottled water is all wet: It can cost up to 10,000 times more than tap water even though that’s literally often all it is! Roughly half of the bottled water sold in the U.S. comes from ordinary municipal water supplies, not unspoiled mountain springs, and tests have shown it’s often no cleaner—one study of 10 major brands found contamination from 38 different pollutants.
To repeat: bottled water is often just tap. That you’re paying for.
Learn More
- Rodale.com: New Research Finds BPA In Plastic, Sand, Water—And In All of Us
- Environmental Working Group: Bottled Water Quality Investigation--10 Major Brands, 38 Pollutants
- Must Watch Video: The Story Of Bottled Water
- HuffingtonPost.com: Bottled Water Industry Combats Anti-Green Perceptions With Pretend Journalism
- Consumer Reports: Water Filter Buying Guide
- Mother Nature Network: 5 Reasons Not To Drink Bottled Water
- FoodAndWaterWatch.org: Bottled Water Costs Consumers And The Environment
How To
Still thirsty? The good news is that we’re surrounded by sustainable bottled water alternatives, i.e. tap water--in a glass or a reusable bottle.
If you don’t have any, obtain a few reusable, BPA-free water bottles. If you like your home’s water supply: fill ‘em up! If your tap water is less than sparkling, install a filter or use a filtering pitcher and you’ll have a home-grown supply that won’t drown the world in waste.
