There are two sides to this argument (and an argument it is indeed). I know this because during my quest for better quality tap water, I ended up researching the bottled water market. Why? You ask.
Because I used to buy a LOT of it, and in fact I didn’t use tap water unless it was for washing dishes, clothes or me.
It wasn’t until I looked at my faucet one day and wondered why it was that I spent lots of money (and muscle) on bottled water each week.
It then dawned on me that I didn’t trust what was coming out of my tap. This led to further research, and I want to share my findings with you:
Bottled Water Isn’t Good for the Environment
As with any industry, there are costs associated with it and bottled water is no different. What does your water come in? That’s right, plastic! Did you know that in order to make the bottles that contain water over 47 million gallons of oil are used every single year? If you didn’t you do now.
Fossil fuel is quickly diminishing across the planet, and if we did away with bottled water imagine how much oil that would save in the next 10 years. Plus, because of the complexity of plastic used with bottled water a lot of what we recycle isn’t actually recycled at all. In fact a staggering 85% of all bottles end up in landfill AND it’s not biodegradable.
You also have to think about transportation.
Billions of bottles have to make their way from factories to our grocery shelves every year which means the consumer is helping to contribute towards greenhouse gases, let alone the amount of fuel that’s used so trucks can get from A – B.
Bottled Water Isn’t Necessarily Safer than Tap Water
As you browse the reviews on my website you will notice the abbreviation EPA comes up all the time. If you don’t know, this stands for the Environmental Protection Agency. What you should know is the rules and regulations associated with the quality of tap water are much stricter than those of bottled water!
You should also be aware that almost 40% of bottled water starts life at municipal sources, is filtered and even has substances added to it so bacteria from plastic can’t invade what’s inside. This is no different to what happens with your tap water. Actually, you’ll probably find tap water is safer because it’s better regulated.
There are many other comparisons I could make, and I’m not saying that bottled water isn’t convenient from time to time. For example, if you’re on a long car journey a bottle of water (or two) can come in very handy. What I am saying however, is I think it’s time that as consumers we should really think about making use of a resource that’s at our fingertips.
Think about it this way. If you are worried about contaminants and spend a few hundred dollars (or less) on a system that will do away with them so you can have peace of mind when you drink a glass of water from your faucet, how many times would it pay for itself over the course of 1 to 2 years?