You may have heard that bottled water costs more per gallon than gasoline.  This is a pretty staggering concept, made more shocking when you consider all the resources that go into processing, purifying and bottling drinking water.  Here are some highlights – or should we say “low points” – about bottled water:

BOTTLED WATER: BAD TO THE LAST DROP

    * According to the Earth Policy Institute, 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.
    * According to the Container Recycling Institute, 86% of plastic water bottles used in the United States become garbage or litter.
    * 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, and while they do they leak harmful chemicals into the earth, contaminating ground water – ironic, as this only creates more water pollution.

We’ve all gotten used to seeing celebrities and athletes toting bottles of “designer water” around.  In fact, in recent years, plastic bottles seem to have become the fashion accessory of choice, right behind pocket-sized miniature dogs.  Even while US sales of bottled water are rising (up by almost 10% last year as Americans consumed 8.3 billion gallons of bottled water – 26 gallons per person!), a nationwide backlash is gathering force.

Jennifer Aniston is the new spokeswoman for Smartwater.  Reportedly, her agreement with the company requires her to be photographed carrying their water bottles.

In April, the City of Santa Barbara banned all bottled water from municipal meetings and events.  Instead, iced water is served in carafes and consumed in biodegradable cups.  Likewise, in June, Mayor Gavin Newsom banned bottled water at all San Francisco city functions (the city spent about $2 million on bottled water last year).  Some citizens say that the high mineral contents in some municipal water supplies (specifically in Santa Barbara) give city water an unpleasant taste.  Yet everyone agrees that this is the right step for the environment, and SB City Hall is looking into investing in a new purification process that would improve the water’s taste.

And speaking of tap water … Many consumers are shocked to hear that about 40% of bottled waters actually start out as tap water!  (For example, Dasani and Aquafina are made from regular tap water.) In fact, drinking tap water may be healthier.  According to the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), the FDA’s bacteria guidelines for tap water are far more stringent than for bottled water.

To be sure, some bottled waters are sourced from natural springs, but these springs are located in Fiji and remote areas of Canada and Europe, frequently requiring vast transportation costs and the expenditure of more packaging materials, fuel and other natural resources.

To be fair, it should be noted that bottled water use should be encouraged in many undeveloped areas of the world where tap water is of substandard quality and poses possible health risks.  But the ideal long-term, cost-effective and environmental solution would be to create improved sanitation systems and better clean water distribution.

So, what are the solutions for everyday life?  There are many options, ranging from a total lifestyle overhaul to simply adopting some simple changes that will ultimately add up and make a difference.  Here are Tastybaby’s suggestions, ranging from big changes to small:

1.     Drink only tap water.  Fill jugs at home and carry a thermos with you.

2.     Invest in a home water filtration system (your pets & house plants will thank you, too!) Click here for more info

3.     If you must buy bottled water, opt for brands packaged in biodegradable corn-based bottles such as Biota which takes fewer than 3 months to biodegrade when composted.

4.     Refill your empty water bottle from a cooler rather than throw it in the trash.

And if you want to get involved as an activist or on the political front, get in touch with the NRDC which, in 1999, petitioned the FDA for better drinking water regulations after a 4-year study of the bottled water industry, including bacterial and chemical contamination, found major gaps in bottled water regulation and concluded that bottled water is not necessarily safer than tap water.

Sources:

NRDC

CNN.com

Santa Barbara Independent

howstuffworks.com

Plumbing & Mechanical Magazine

If you need to use a water bottle, read this

Reusable Water Bottles

Are Water Bottles the New Styrofoam Cups?

reprinted from the NRDC’s report, “Bottled Water: Pure Drink or Pure Hype?”

Why People Drink Bottled Water
(click the graph to see the full article)