And here are just a few reasons why you should……
1) Single water bottles are contributing to our waste dilemma. About 1/5 of those produced don’t get recycled, and those that do get recycled still require significant amounts of energy to be repurposed. Even with companies like Poland Springs introducing new designs that used less plastic in their water bottles, they still use plastic to bottle a resource that is readily available in most U.S. homes.
2) Bottling water is incredibly inefficient. The resources, both raw materials and oil, used in the production, packaging, transporting and recycling of water bottles is criminal. The Pacific Institute estimated that in 2006, 17 million barrels of oil were used to produce water bottles to satisfy the US demand (this does not include the energy involved in transporting a heavy commodity like water), creating 2.5 million tons of carbon dioxide (and this does not include that created disposal in a landfill or recycling center) and, this one is shocking, it took 3 liters of water to produce 1 liter of bottled water!!! That is just crazy. Particularly where so much of the world’s population does not even have access to clean drinking water, but I digress……
3) Plastics can be harmful to your health. It is recommended to not reuse single use water bottles as toxic chemicals known as BPA’s can be leached from the plastic.
4) The standards for contaminants are as strict if not stricter than those for bottled water, so you are not necessarily getting a ‘purer’ product. In addition, some of that bottled water you are buying is actually filled from a tap.
5) It is cheaper! Forgo the $1.29 bottle of water and just fill up from the tap. You’ll be paid back on your investment in a stainless steel or BPA-free water bottle in no time. This from the New York Times: “If you choose to get your recommended eight glasses a day from bottled water, you could spend up to $1,400 annually. The same amount of tap water would cost about 49 cents.”
6) Many claim they use single use water bottles because they are more convenient, but I would argue that my Sigg water bottle is far more convenient. Last minute road trip? Instead of going to the store to pick up a water bottle, I simply grab my water bottle from the cupboard and fill it up with ice cold water from the fridge and I am good to go. And I can refill at the next stop.
7) There are so many cute water bottles out there to choose from!! Check out REI’s inventory of BPA free water bottles or Klean Kanteen’s, EarthLust, Enviro and Siggs lines of stainless steel water bottles. Just got a sneak peek of the 2009 line of Siggs waterbottles, and they are gloooorious!!
Who: Soda Stream; Cherry Hill, NJ
Who: Thomas Paul, 459 Broome Street, NYC
