Stop Drinking Bottled Water

Bottled water does not seem very harmful at first glance. However when you start looking at the entire process of getting that bottle of water in your hands, you will quickly realize that drinking bottled water has a tremendous negative impact on our environment. First there is the problems and waste caused by water extraction. Water extraction can lead to water shortages in the area of extraction, causing water shortages for local populations and for farmers. Then there is water purification, in which water is wasted and energy is consumed.

Next, to the bottles themselves. The process of creating plastic water bottles uses massive amounts of water and energy, also creating waste in the process. The plastic bottles are made using oil... over 1.5 million barrels of oil every year! Then the finished water bottles, filled with water, have to be transported long distances to the point where they are purchased, wasting even more oil and polluting the environment with CO2 emissions.

Once the bottled water is consumed and finished, the plastic bottle is either recycled or it ends up in a landfill. Recycling is obviously the better option here, but recycling also uses water and energy. Plus, it is estimated that over 80 percent of all plastic water bottles are thrown away and never recycled. So for all of the good intentions, most plastic bottles end up in a landfill.

So what do you do? Get a reusable water bottle and use your tap water. For the water bottle, I would recommend a good stainless steel water bottle. Worried about the safety of your local tap water, or do you simply not like the taste? Then also invest in a good water filtration system. Or you can get something like the water filter systems built into water filtration pitchers. Either way, you will remove contaminants from the water and improve the taste considerably.

Still not convinced? Well, stopping drinking bottled water can save you money. Bottled water is dramatically more expensive than drinking filtered tap water, even after the costs of the filter systems and water containers. Depending on what type of bottled water you drink and how much, you can save a couple hundred dollars to several hundred dollars every year!

-BeeHawk-