Time to Stop Buying Bottled Water

[lame54]

http://www.buzzflash.com/articles/interviews/119

BuzzFlash: Elizabeth, you've written Bottlemania: How Water Went On Sale And Why We Bought It. Many years ago I was in the Coca-Cola Museum in Atlanta. And I was absolutely fascinated because it very forthrightly gave the history of how a carbonated beverage that was invented in the late 1800s became an internationally recognized and consumed commodity. Yet it has no nutritional value. It's not needed by anyone. What you see in the Coca-Cola Museum is how they created a sense of aspirational need. Not need for the product, but what they associate with the product through advertising. Is there a parallel to that with bottled water?

Elizabeth Royte: Certainly. The hundreds of millions of dollars spent on bottled water advertising were aspirational. They used models and they used celebrities and they used athletes to get people to think that by consuming this product, they would be more like these healthy, beautiful people. They sent us subtle and not-so-subtle messages that drinking bottled water would make us thinner, or have shinier hair, or do our yoga poses better.

BuzzFlash: And isn't there an idea of purity associated with this water? It's getting back to nature. The implication is that this water is better than the water that you could drink out of your faucet, which may or may not be true.

Elizabeth Royte: Right. They use images and words to suggest that the water is more pure or more natural. It's coming straight from nature to you.

BuzzFlash: Why is this bad for the environment?

Elizabeth Royte: It takes 17 million barrels of oil to make the bottles used in this country for one year's worth of bottled water. And it takes even more oil to transport the water around, to keep the water chilled in the refrigerators, and to send trucks around to collect the empty bottles for disposal or recycling. Some anti-bottled water groups have complained that pumping ground water to fill these bottles, for the spring water brands, has depleted aquifers and dried up wetlands, lowered water tables, dried up wells, and, in some cases, harmed fish populations because they're taking cold, fresh water from headwater streams from fish habitat.

Those are some of the charges made by bottling opponents, but it's difficult to definitively link water extraction at one point with harm to the surrounding environment.

The other aspect to the bottles is that most people don't recycle them. Fewer than 15% of bottles make it back into recycling systems. The rest of the bottles are being buried in landfills or burned in incinerators where they have various negative environmental impacts. If they're not buried or burned, they're often littered. It's very difficult to walk around a city without seeing empty bottles lying in the street, on train tracks, or in waterways. They're also making their way out to sea, where they break up into tiny pieces and, in the Pacific, end up in the infamous garbage patch, which is now twice the size of Texas.

BuzzFlash: We live in Chicago and generally Chicago tap water is known as being quite good in terms of purity and not having too many harmful contaminants. I know that's not true for every city, and you deal with the issue of public water systems and public water supply. But the logic to me when I see a truck delivering these cases of water, and I see them in the supermarkets and see them sold at the convenience food stores, is that it takes a tremendous amount of gasoline and resources just to move all this water around, when I could just go to my sink and get it.

Elizabeth Royte: Drinking water from your tap is essentially a zero waste proposition. There is no container to dispose of. There is no truck delivering that water. It's coming through pipes that deliver water to tens of thousands of people at the same time. There was a Swiss study done recently that compared the impact of bottled water to the impact of tap, and they found tap has about one half of one percent of the climate-warming impact of the most benign bottled water, and less than a thousandth of the impact of the most energy-intensive bottled water.

More...

[DailyGrind51]

1. I filter my tap water and refrigerate it, it tastes just as good as the stuff

sold in plastic bottles!

[ThatsMyBarack]

11. Me, too!

I have a special water bottle that I put a frozen orange stick into--Keeps the water ICE -COLD! ;)

[mod mom]

16. me three. and I bought sigg bottles so we can take it on the go.

[DailyGrind51]

45. It makes great ice tea and coffee, filtering out the crud that screws

up drip grind coffee makers, too!:-)

[JNelson6563]

43. Same here.

I've got a pitcher with a filter and I just keep filling it and then, for traveling, I fill my re-usable travel thingy.

Julie

[Lorien]

65. Probably safer too. It doesn't have cheap plastic leeching into it

few things taste better than chilled, filtered tap water from a glass container. One of my friends slices up an orange and cucumber and lets the slices sit in the water overnight in the fridge. It's surprisingly refreshing and delicious!

[Kablooie]

69. My refrigerator does it for me.

[slackmaster]

75. Same here - I have an under-sink Reversis Osmosis filter

It produces excellent purified water for cooking and drinking.

I am quite sure that the tap water here is not very good. It's "safe" in that it won't kill you right away, but it has a lot of crap in it.

[Beacool]

2. I don't buy bottled water for the house.

I only buy bottled water if I'm out on the street, but at home I have a filter. The water tastes just as good and it saves me money. I also refill a few water bottles and keep them on the fridge to take with me whenever possible.

Not only does it take millions of gallons of oil to manufacture the bottles, but the chemicals in them permeate into the water itself and are not good for our health.

[Indenturedebtor]

31. You should get some travel thermoses. Our local "outdoor store"

Sells recycled plastic hiking bottles and we take those with us when we're out and about. I think they cost like 3 dollars each.

Another problem with bottled is that water is left in the bottles as they're thrown away... all that water just sits locked up in plastic for 1,000 years in a landfill!

[Beacool]

32. Thanks for the suggestion about the thermoses.

The water stays in the bottles for decades??? How come it doesn't evaporate over time?

[Indenturedebtor]

38. Bottles are designed to keep the water in :(

I remember reading about it a few years back. They recommend that you always take the lids off of your bottles.

[Beacool]

41. OK, thanks for the explanation. n/t

[Lisa0825]

3. I buy the large jugs, like 5 gallons, not small bottles.

The reason I don't like my city's tap water is that it is salty. I can taste the difference when I use the water for ice cubes or to make drinks, but not in my cooking.

Unfortunately Brita doesn't remove salt.

[BadgerKid]

4. Word.

Our city water is very good. By refilling bottles I don't need to buy bottled water.

[Ian_rd]

5. Bottled water is a racket

Think of all the waste that goes into the bottled water business: Plastic to make the bottles, gas to ship them everywhere, plastic gets tossed into the landfill. And so much of it is just tap water anyway.

It was a fad - nothing more - that is hopefully waning.

[RaleighNCDUer]

6. I have one case of bottled water in pint bottles -

it's part of my emergency/hurricane preparedness kit.

I never buy water for daily use.

[Lisa0825]

7. Does anyone know if I can do something to lower the salt content in my tap water?

I would stop buying bottled for drinking and ice if my tap water didn't taste salty. As it is, I only buy a 5 gallon jug once a month or so. I have searched before (and again this morning) and haven't found the answer. Brita doesn't remove salt. A couple sites mentioned steam distillation, but that sounds like 1) a lot of trouble and 2) expensive.

[Ilsa]

23. Is your source a well? If you are on city water, I believe they

have to notify/publish water chemical content pretty frequently. Is it what you are tasting (maybe you're a sensitive taster) or is it really salty? I don't know of anything that would change the flavor.

I find softened water to be icky tasting. I prefer ground water with some mineral flavor to it. It seems to quench my thirst.

[Lisa0825]

39. I am on city water system.

For ice cubes, the salt rises to the surface as it freezes. If you lick one, it is really salty. :P

[hogwyld]

26. I'm not too sure how salty your water is

but you might consider a reverse osmosis filter system.

[Lisa0825]

42. I looked at those, but they were not in my budget.

The cheapest one I have found is $169, plus I'd have to pay someone to install it. I am saving to have my my falling-apart kitchen fixed up. Maybe I'll be able to have that installed at the same time. Previously when I looked at them, they were $300 or more.

[Ilsa]

47. What about your plumbing? Could something be interfering with your pipes?

HAve you had the water in your home tested? Is something leaking into your water system?

I know, too many questions, and not enough money to pay to get them answered.

[Lisa0825]

48. I just had all the pipes in the attic and walls replaced. $$$

I think that's just how the water is around here. It always has been. The signs at our city limits say our system is "excellent," but sodium isn't a toxin, so I doubt they weight that much when testing. I wonder if it is because we are on the Gulf of Mexico. I don't know if salt water leeches into the local land and water table. I am not educated about this, but being so close to the salty beach, it made me wonder.

I don't notice it when cooking, but for drinks, if you use regular ice, you can tell the flavor is "off." I'll drink it to take a pill, but if I want to quench my thirst, I just don't like it enough to drink it.

[Ilsa]

56. Oh wow! You are not too far from me.

I'm further southwest, in Victoria. Our water supply used to be icky about 15 years ago, but it is pretty good now.

If you are using a distributor like the Culligan Man, or something, then they are recycling that plastic, aren't they? In that case, you aren't creating waste. It's all the small bottles that creating the mess, from what I understand.

[Lisa0825]

57. Hi neighbor!

:hi:

No, I don't use Culligan. It's just me, so I doubt I use enough for it to be economical to have it delivered. I just buy a large container at the store. I try to remember to bring them with me when empty to refill, but I admit I am not that good at remembering. And the refill station is a pain. I never get it right. I end up spilling and splashing. Maybe I will try a different kind of jug and see if it works better.

[CrispyQ]

72. We bought an in-line steam distiller about 10 years ago for $800.

Best investment we ever made! We distill 1-2 gallons a day. It takes 3 hours to distill one gallon. Our electricity bill went up approx $5-6 a month. The water runs through a carbon filter first to remove the chlorine, since chlorine has a higher boiling point than water. We store our distilled water in one gallon glass jugs. Many health experts say that steam distilled is the healthiest water to drink. We use to purchase distilled water, but it was $2 for 2.5 gallons & we had all those plastic containers to recycle.

Blowing the Lid Off Distilled Water Myths http://www.durastill.com/myths.html

[unblock]

8. look for the bottled water corporations to start fighting for inferior tap water

i'm sure they're already at it, but dollars to donuts they've got people looking for ways to destroy the evil free competition from the government. within 10 years they will have convinced us that tap water will make you sick or kil you or turn you into a mutant. and they'll be fighting to "save you tax dollars" by underfunding water treatment projects and lowering the health standards.

[verges]

14. My city does have water problems.

Just this past week, the water was yellow. A couple of years ago there was a serious algae problem. Many people, myself include, got sick. And it always tastes like crap. I simply don't trust it! That's why I drink bottled water.

[lame54]

20. Where are you?

[verges]

77. Akron, OH

[unblock]

22. sorry to hear that, but look for it to become the norm.

there's simply too much profit, and therefore a currupting influence, on bottled water.

they'll be calling tap water "socialized water" before too long.

[CrispyQ]

73. A little off your topic, but sort of related.

I saw a story on CNN a couple of months ago. The 'expert' was saying that you didn't need to drink nearly as much water as we've been told. "Wait until you're thirsty to drink water," she said. ??? I've always heard that when you're thirsty, you're already dehydrated. My husband commented, "They are starting to condition us to drink less water."

[unblock]

76. it's that "eight 8-ounces a day" thing that's overstated

i know i don't drink enough water, but for me, that's just an insane amount of water.

your body doesn't care where it gets its water, and you get quite a lot of h2o eating fruit, pasta, even meat, etc., never mind other drinks.

plus, the one-size-fits-all think is silly, hydration needs shoot up on a day when you're really physically active and/or out in the hot sun a lot.

[Cassandra]

9. I used to buy a liter bottle once every couple of weeks...

clean and refill it with tap water. I gave that up and now have a Sigg bottle for tap water. NYC tap water is good and I'm glad not to be buying bottles. The only time I get stuck with bottled water is when I'm flying and I don't think I can take my bottle with me, empty or not.

[trof]

10. When did we start 'hydrating'?

Walk down any street today and you see damn near everyone with that plastic bottle of water in their hand.

Go to any kind of business meeting, conference, etc. and there's likely a bottle of water at every place.

When I was a kid, nobody 'hydrated'.
Never heard of it.
We survived.
Most homes kept a bottle (glass, reusable) of water in the fridge.
If you got thirsty you ran inside for a drink.
"DON'T DRINK OUT OF THE BOTTLE!"
Yes, m'am.
:-)

Or you (OMG!) turned on the hose, let the hot water run out, and gulped to your heart's content.
I don't remember any deaths or illnesses.

If you were downtown, there was always a water fountain handy.
Even outside in the park.
I don't remember ever being thirsty for more than a few minutes.

Now advertising, in and of itself, isn't a bad thing.
But read Vance Packard's "The Hidden Persuaders", written back in the 50s, to see how we got where we are today.
Still a fascinating read, even after all these years.

[dysfunctional press]

12. some of us never started. there's a REASON that evian is 'naive' spelled backwards.

nt

[RebelOne]

13. I use the Brita and Pur pitchers to filter my water.

I even filter my dogs' water. If you saw what comes out of my tap, you wouldn't even want to give it to a dog.

[DainBramaged]

15. I stopped years ago

[NightWatcher]

17. if you have to carry water, use a Camelbak bottle and filter your home water

[FloridaJudy]

18. Walgreens has nice stainless steel bottles

On sale right now, three for $10. Pay for themselves in a less than week if you're used to lugging a bottle of water around, which I am, being that it's July in Florida. I used to reuse the plastic ones, but apparently there are some health issues with those.

[Oilwellian]

19. A photo that depicts 2 million plastic bottles

The number used in the United States every 5 mins:



If you haven't seen Chris Jordan's extraordinary work, I highly recommend you check his website out.

www.chrisjordan.com

[progressoid]

24. Yep - extraodinary

I would love to see his stuff in person.

[Blue_Tires]

71. thanks for that link

those works are incredible!

[lame54]

21. Confession...

We are planning a BBQ for this Sept.
We will supply bottled water for our guest.
Want to make our guest comfortable.
The only time I buy it - when we entertain - which is not that often.

[AwakeAtLast]

25. There are times when it's very useful

I wouldn't beat yourself up over it, but I do think this article will make us all reexamine our choices. :pals:

[AwakeAtLast]

I'm amazed we all lived just fine without it

Yes, that's :sarcasm:

Somehow people managed to stay hydrated using reusable thermoses and jugs. :shrug:

[a la izquierda]

27. Our water tastes like crap straight out of the tap

and once I filled our fish tanks and it darn near killed them. We bought a tap filter and some Nalgenes. We filter the water for our dogs too, because if it nearly killed the fish, I don't even want to know what chemicals are in there. I never buy bottled water anymore, unless I'm in Mexico and I run out. Fortunately, my landlord down there has a water cooler, so I just fill up each day.

[lame54]

29. Where are you?

[a la izquierda]

30. Norman, OK

I have never, ever tasted water like it before. It's atrocious! It tastes like a mixture of pepper and dirt.

[fishwax]

58. Hi, michele77 -- I used to live in Norman as well, and agree the water sucks

worse at some times than at others, apparently when lake thunderbird turns over from the changing temperatures. :puke:

I could never stand drinking it from the tap, and often it was bad enough that cooking with it was out of the question too :( When I lived there I'd buy the refillable gallon jugs at Albertson's so that I wouldn't go through tons of plastic bottles--it was cheaper that way, too.

How're things in Norman, other than the water?

:hi:

[a la izquierda]

64. It's not too bad here right now.

Hasn't rained in awhile, though we're about due for a storm tonight I think. And the college kids are getting ready to come back, so it's still pretty quiet (I'm a grad student so I don't count :) ). I'm actually getting ready to leave the hubby and dogs for several months to do research in Mexico. I'll miss my adopted town.

The water was really bad a few years ago, but now I can at least cook with it and the filter seems to take much of the horrid taste out. But it really did nearly kill my fishies a few months ago.

[mcg]

28. Great Pacific Garbage Patch (Wikipedia)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Pacific_Garbage_Patch

"In many areas of the affected region, the overall concentration by mass of plastics was greater than the concentration of zooplankton, the principal neustonic organism."

[MorningGlow]

33. Not me, not yet

We live in a village that's still on well water, and we are always receiving alerts that it has, once again, failed the safe water test. That means that although it's not ACTUALLY a health risk at this moment ( :eyes: ), it can become contaminated at any time. The village is "looking into" other options, like hooking up with the county water supply, but they haven't done anything yet. (And they've been "looking into" it for years.) Plus, we have a chemical company and a metal factory really close by. I wouldn't trust a filter with this stuff. I'll let Coca Cola purify my water for me--for now--and keep recycling the plastic bottles.

[TexasLady]

34. Our water is horrible, I get distilled water.

I live in a really small community and the water tastes disgusting. My son is only 15 miles from me, and his water is great.

My parent's water, from a well, is the most vile smelling hard water EVER. But as kids, we drank it. Hot water was a wonderful sulfur smell for our baths. Awful.

But I always wondered if that hard water kept all of us from ever getting cavities, because none of us had any until we moved out.

[begin_within]

35. I have Pure Flo water bottles delivered because the tap water in San Diego is horrible

Especially in the warm months, the tap water in San Diego tastes like a combination of chlorinated pool water, sea brine and pond scum. 90% of San Diego's water supply is imported from faraway places. I can't drink it, so for drinking and cooking purposes, we have Pure Flo deliver bottles on their regular route.

[Maat]

49. I'm just north of you, Bob.

I agree.

We have large, reusable bottles that we fill with distilled. We do not use the smaller bottles. We do not use plastic bags or plastic or styrofoam containers (or plastic utensils). I use compostable products that look and feel like the real thing, when I have to use such things (http://www.biodegradablestore.com/cip/cip_plates.html).

If one lives near a military base, there is always a danger of perchlorate contamination; beware. Do your research on it.

[begin_within]

52. Pure Flo uses plastic 1/2 gallon bottles! But I don't know what type of plastic.

[Maat]

53. I'll check that out!

I'm doing my research!

Thanks.

[begin_within]

54. They also deliver large bottles, but I've never gotten that service.

The 1/2 gallon bottles are now $5.50 for 6 bottles. That's $1.83 a gallon, but it's better water than what comes out of the tap here. I only use it for drinking and cooking.

[Maat]

60. Thanks.

:)

[nam78_two]

36. Agreed.nt

[we can do it]

37. You Got That Right - I was Never Stupid Enough To Buy Into Bottled Water

What a freaking scam - they package tap water in plastic, and waste gas transporting it. DUH people wake the fuck up....

[otohara]

40. PUR Water Filters Work Great

we have a water dispenser and we fill it up from the sink - presto - nice cool water.

[jus_the_facts]

44. TRIHALOMETHANE....we've been warned it's at high levels for 4 years in our water system...

...so I'll keep buying bottled water...if only I could afford enough to bathe in too. :eyes:

http://www.des.state.nh.us/factsheets/ehp/ard-ehp-13.htm

[ProfessorGAC]

51. That's Cholorform (CHCl3)

Where's the chloroform coming from in your water supply? That's disturbing.
The Professor

On edit: The chlorines could be bromine, flourine, or iodine as well. Still, where are all those organohalides coming from?

[jus_the_facts]

61. The notices say it's a chlorine byproduct from mixing with organic matter...

...like leaves and grasses that get caught in the treatment systems. :shrug:


:hi: Professor!! :pals:

[ProfessorGAC]

46. I Can't Stop. I Never Started!

I thought it was silly when it first became fashionable. Then, i saw a local news expose' that showed a major supplier of bottled water merely opening a tap and filling the bottles with Chicago tap water. No extra filtering; no extra purification; nothing.

So, i'm glad i never got into that.
The Professor

[azmouse]

50. Bottled water tastes bad to me.

I've always drunk filtered tap water. It tastes fine.

[intheflow]

66. I know what you mean.

I can't use Nalgene bottles, either. Even filtered water gets nasty on hot days.

[pnorman]

55. Brita filter is what I use for all my beverage purposes.

Here's one of the units that I keep handy: http://www.amazon.com/Brita-35530-Ultramax-Dispenser/dp/B00009LHZH/ref=pd_bbs_sr_3?ie=UTF8&s=hi&qid=1217358269&sr=8-3 I keep a smaller one at my kitchen table, that I use for brewing coffee and tea. But for general cooking, the tap water is still okay.

When I first came to Downtown Seattle almost 30 years ago, the tap water was very good. But not any more; it not only has an "off" taste, but the Chlorine smell is quite noticeable. But no longer.

pnorman

[Lugnut]

59. We have a well.

The water is wonderful. We have no need for bottled water.

[iamthebandfanman]

62. i hafta buy distilled water

for my grandma's oxygen machine...


other than that...

[RedEarth]

63. Our family uses Klean Kanteens

http://www.reusablebags.com/store/klean-kanteen-stainless-steel-reusable-bottle-p-324.html

[Beaverhausen]

67. those of us here in earthquake central need to keep some bottled water around

but I did buy a Brita filter a few months ago.

[bedazzled]

68. i use a pur filter and have rubbermaid water bottles

i fill them with ice cubes, then water and keep them
in the freezer. they stay cold all day and they're
delish!

i can wash the bottles in the dishwasher, which
satisfies the clean freak in me.

[SoCalDem]

70. My hometown had drinking fountains every block

and every store, school, business had drinking fountains..

Germ-phobia drove them out, and in their place? Machines ready to SELL us water..advertising meets lobbying..

[krabigirl]

74. I don't buy it unless I'm out and forgot my SIGG at home. We just use filtered water.

[Raine]

78. My tap water is fine

I don't buy the bottled stuff.