Bottled Water

How green is buying and drinking bottled water?  Not very I am afraid.  How healthy is buying and water in a bottle?  We should all know by now that drinking lots of water is very healthy.  But does it have to come from a plastic bottle?  Of course not.  The bottle is for convenience and nothing more.

Bottled water is the worlds fastest growing commercial beverage.  They all claim it to be a healthy and natural drink, no calories or caffeine, good for everyone.  This is all good and true but it is no healthier or more natural than tap water.  In fact, there are more stringent standards regulating tap water than there are bottled water.  There are many reasons for this, one of them being importation from overseas, but it should be enough to say that it is no healthier than filtered tap water.

Here is just one example, out of many, that would cause me great concern about consuming water from a manufacturing plant, as opposed to my own tap.  A report written by the Environmental Working Group found that out of the 200 popular bottled water brands only 2% furnished three important facts on there labels.  Those facts are the water's source, chemical pollutants and purification methods.

Filtered tap water is exactly what is in the good majority of those plastic bottles full of clear liquid that we buy.  This could be done at home with a moderately priced water filtration system.  The water could be put into a reusable container and place into the fridge.  It could then be taken out of the fridge and taken with you wherever you go.  It is still just as healthy, almost as convenient and a whole lot greener.

It is very possible for the water in those plastic bottles to have become contaminated due to various reasons.  Lack of cleanliness at the bottling plant could affect the quality of the water, as would the length of time the water has been stored.  The longer water sits around the more chance there is of it becoming contaminated.

But if you don't mind paying about a thousand times more than you need to for a drink of water, if you don't mind taking the chance of drinking contaminated water and if you promise to recycle all of that plastic then I guess drinking bottled water is OK.  Just not for me.

Important news from Copenhagen about bottled water.  This is big news and proves that maybe pages like this actually do some good.  Bottled water is an eleven billion dollar a year industry and for the first time in 30 years sales are decreasing.  This decline in sales is said to be in part because of the green movement and the concerns regarding disposing of all this plastic.  Another reason could be the growing awareness of the possible health effects caused by the chemicals in plastic.  Our soft economy may have something to do with it but the news is good regardless.