When I was growing up, I lived in an area that was right near a river. My family always drank from the tap, and having bottled water made no difference to me. In fact, it often just didn’t taste as good. But most people don’t have the advantage that I had.
Most people don’t live right near a fresh water source. Even if they did, they may have been told for their entire lives that tap water was at best, not as tasty and at worst, actually bad for you. It’s time to bust those myths and banish bottled water forever.
- It’s even worse for the environment than you think. It takes enormous amounts of fossil fuels to produce these bottles, up to 17 million barrels of oil per year. And unfortunately, recycling the bottles just isn’t enough. Most people either don’t have a recycling service or just end up trashing them. Even if you do stick that bottle in the recycling bin, most “recycled” bottles of water either aren’t recycled efficiently or just end up trashed.
- The water may come from the tap—or worse. 25 percent of bottled water is just purified water from a municipal source. Brands like Dasani and Aquafina are some examples. And if they are bottled from a natural source? That may be even worse. Nestle routinely bottles water from areas protected by conservation laws or sources in drought-ridden areas. Despite the fact that it takes 1.39 gallons of water to produce one water bottle, Nestle continues to insist that this isn’t a problem. Whether it’s glorified tap water or water that’s running out, there’s just no winning.
- Bottled water doesn’t actually taste better. Bottled water consistently fails or comes even with tap water in blind taste tests. Claims of “water purity” shouldn’t be heeded either, as all of the flavor and nutritional value comes from minerals in the water.
- Chances are, there are more toxins. While there are no tests that show that bottled water is “toxic,” studies have shown that several brands have higher levels of arsenic then are recommended for public health. And there’s now plenty of evidence that chemicals from plastic water bottles can leak into the bottle if it’s left in significant heat.
When it comes to the choice between tap and bottled water, there really is no excuse to pick up a bottle of water. Living in an area with an unreliable or tainted water supply should really be the only time you opt for that plastic environmental disaster. Especially with home water filtration systems and reusable water bottles, sustainable and tasty water consumption is right at your fingertips.
How does the tap water taste where you live?
Photo Copyright © 2015 Daniel Orth/Flickr
