Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Ditch the Bottles

"Nearly 90 percent of water bottles are not recycled and wind up in landfills where it takes thousands of years for the plastic to decompose.

So the next time you feel thirsty, forgo the bottle and turn to the tap. Because the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s standards for tap water are more stringent than the Food and Drug Administration’s standards for bottled water, you’ll be drinking water that is just as safe as, or safer than, bottled.

If, however, you don’t like the taste of your tap water or are unsure of its quality, you can buy a filter pitcher or install an inexpensive faucet filter to remove trace chemicals and bacteria. If you will be away from home, fill a reusable bottle from your tap and refill it along the way; travel bottles with built-in filters are also available. Credit: Tree Hugger, a Discovery Company

14 comments:

  1. I agree with you, I don't waste money and earth resources to buy bottled water.

    Do you rad Save the Earth, Small Footprint's posts?

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  2. I'm a tap water drinker (except in China...). As you say, it's often the best water you can drink, just maybe get it cold enough or chilled.

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  3. You can still find water in glass bottles here, but it is a marginal use now.

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  4. A nice point. We get about 2 m of rain each year, but there are still those who buy water. Maybe it is "cool"...

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  5. we got a prepackaged salad the other day that came with plastic plates. Stamped on the bottom of the plates was 'made with 90% recycled bottles' and made with 40% energy from the sun'. That that was pretty strange, but neat.

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  6. I'll drink to that! (tap water, please)

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  7. I am constantly amazed by people that spend a small fortune on a bottle of water and then complain about the price of a gallon of gasoline.

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  8. Don't get me started on those blasted plastic water bottles.The empties are nearly everywhere. I find them all over along the Mississippi Rive and the Coon Rapids Dam Park and trails. I found them floating in ponds, in the marsh and scattered throughout the woods. It appears that bottled water drinkers drink and toss; such pigs. When did drinking expensive bottled water become so fashionable?

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  9. I have never understood the need to drink bottled water. Sometimes a bottle is handy when you're on the go, but I try to use a sports bottle in those cases.

    I like your post today!

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  10. Anonymous12:58 PM

    Am still down and out but saw your post and wanted to say that a few years ago the government announced some of the heavily advertised bottles of spring water were filled from the tap in New York City.

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  11. Don't forget they also end up in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Pacific_Garbage_Patch

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  12. We have GREAT wter here in our well.

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  13. Good supplement on water in the Economist (the one that Katie Couric reads...) this week.

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  14. I never thought about plastic bottles this way. Thank you for the info.

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