Sustaining Us

It turns out tap water is safe to drink. After years of effective marketing and clever packaging, bottle water has replaced tap water as the water of choice for millions of Americans. While convenience plays a major role in the bottle water market, it’s not the entire story. In the beginning, bottled water needed an angle, and what better way to reach Americans than with body image, it’s better for you. Bottled water companies purported that with minerals added and advanced filtering, bottled water couldn’t be beat. This was wildly successful, what ensued can only be described has unfortunate. While water consumption in general is better for Americans, it most often replaces carbonated or sugary drinks, it’s delivery into the American home, may be damaging. Fresh water is in short supply and being diminished as evidenced in plain site at the Hoover Dam. So when, it takes three times as much water to create a bottle that will transport water, we should begin to rethink our uses, but that’s for a later part to this series.

What is relevant to this series is the argument for tap water. Undoubtedly, tap water is a safer product than bottled water, if for no other reason than regulation. Tap water is tested hundreds of times a day while bottled is tested maybe once a week in a bottling plant. Bottled water faces more lenient standards when being tested for bacteria and parasites as well. While both bottled and tap are tested before delivery to the consumer, it would be irresponsible to neglect to mention the swath of research available suggesting that plastic leeches chemicals into the product itself, contaminating bottled water after initial testing.

So what about tap??? If there are lingering concerns about what to do about this moral dilemma, there is a solution. If you live an area where you are unsure about your water quality, a Pur horizontal faucet mount should quell your fears. It covers a few more chemicals and heavy metals than Brita, and is generally reviewed better. But what about transport. Perhaps the biggest savings in using tap water over bottled water, is the opportunity to reduce trash. Even with companies proactively stepping up recycling efforts, see Coca Cola 100% recycling goal, Americans need to avoid plastic. Americans consume 28 billion bottles of water a year. The amount of energy required to create these bottles, transport them, refrigerate them, return them for recycling, and reprocess them is enormous. Just check out this post about FIJI water… The expense is monstrous, especially when there are much more efficient alternatives. Although there are a great number of non-plastic metal and alloy alternatives, I am biased. I have been very satisfied with my Sigg Bottle. It’s an aluminum bottle with a kitchen/food-safe enamel on the inside. Filling my reusable container over the past month, I estimate that I’ve saved over 100 plastic bottles and cups, and $75 dollars in bottled water costs, easily recouping my initial $40 investment for two bottles.

Next, Part II - Conservation

Trackback URI | Comments RSS