Bottled water: overflowing on the environment
Tap Into Tap
When it comes to bottled water, go with the “do it yourself” kit—a refillable bottle and that dependable little spigot above the kitchen sink (find out if you need a water filter). Rediscovering tap water is a lot cheaper and a lot better for the environment than manufacturing, shipping, and discarding all those plastic single use bottles.
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Klean Kanteen - Lightweight stainless steel water bottles. (These are single-walled, so don’t use them as a thermos.) |
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Nubius Organics - Fantastic selection of Klean Kanteen and SIGG reusable bottles, including one-of-a-kind designs. Unique reusable totes, bags and accessories in recycled materials, all designed to promote a healthier lifestyle and cleaner planet without compromising quality or style. |
| SIGG | Light-weight aluminum bottles (with water-based internal linings) |
Refillable Bottles
Display your frugality by reusing that empty soda bottle? Show your colors with a cool, tinted camping bottle? Neither. Recent studies show that many commonly used plastics leach chemicals into the water—chemicals shown to be hormone disrupters and carcinogens. So if you wanna play it safe go with glass, ceramic, or stainless steel.
If you stick with plastic, some choices are better than others. Look for the numbers on the bottom.
| AVOID (notorious leachers) | BETTER |
| #3 (PVC) | #2 (HDPE) |
| #6 (polystyrene) | #4 (LDPE) |
| #7 (a catchall category—includes polycarbonate hard plastic camping and baby bottles) | #5 (PP) |
A few additional plastic pointers:
Camping gear giant, Nalgene, for one, sells mostly hard plastic, tinted polycarb bottles but also offers an opaque #2 HDPE bottle. It’s less stylish, but apparently better for you.
In response to customer demand for plastic bottles made without Bisphenol A, Nalgene has developed a new line of BPA-free bottles.
If you have a #1 plastic bottle you're thinking of using, this type is also considered relatively safer, but isn’t commonly used to manufacture reusable containers. It is used to make soda bottles. However, #1 bottles are hard to clean thoroughly. And just refilling your soda bottle over and over might net you a not-so-healthy swig of bacteria with your cool beverage.
Home Water Filters
Even though tap water is often as safe or safer than bottled, a filter is sometimes advisable for both purity and taste reasons. Facts About Water Filters from the Real Money newsletter provides an excellent overview to help you decide whether you need a home filter and if so, what kind to buy. Consumer Reports also provides an in-depth comparison of the pros and cons of various methods of home filtration—from simple pitchers to under-the-sink installations.
Note that most water filters, Brita, Pur, etc. are readily available in many chain stores, even CVS.
Why it’s important
In 2004 the global consumption of bottled water reached 41 billion gallons, up 57 percent from five years earlier. According to the Earth Policy Institute, "Even in areas where tap water is safe to drink, demand for bottled water is increasing—producing unnecessary garbage and consuming vast quantities of energy.”
The United States consumed 17 percent of that total—more than any other country. Making bottles to meet Americans’ demand for bottled water requires more than 1.5 million barrels of oil annually, enough to fuel some 100,000 U.S. cars for a year. Worldwide, some 2.7 million tons of plastic are used to bottle water each year.
According to the Container Recycling Institute, 86 percent of plastic water bottles used in the United States aren’t recycled. Incinerating used bottles produces toxic byproducts such as chlorine gas and ash containing heavy metals. Buried water bottles can take up to 1,000 years to biodegrade.
The "Break the Bottled Water Habit" pledge was part of the Carbon Conscious Consumer (C3) campaign. Visit the C3 blog to learn more about incorporating carbon-friendly practices into your daily life.
Learn more...
about water filters- Consumer Guide to Water Filters – by NRDC
- Water Filters – by The Green Guide
- Common Ground article on plastic leaching
- The Green Guide product report on plastic containers
- The Green Guide product report on baby bottles
- Bisphenol A Portal on the plastic contaminant BPA
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