Six Interesting (and somewhat scary) Facts About Bottled Water

· Buying one gallon’s worth of bottled water is three times more expensive than buying one gallon of gasoline. – emagazine.com

· 30 million water bottles are thrown away every day, and each one of them takes 1000 years to biodegrade. – emagazine.com.

· Nearly 90 percent of [water] bottles are not recycled. – SeattlePI.com

· An estimated 25 percent or more of bottled water is really just tap water in a bottle—sometimes further treated, sometimes not treated at all. – Allaboutwater.org

· It takes 15 million barrels of oil per year to make all of the plastic water bottles in America, according to the Container Recycling Institute. Sending those bottles by air and truck uses even more fossil fuel. - emagazine.com.

· Bottled water, because it is defined as a “food” under federal regulations, is under the authority of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) while the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)—under much stricter standards—regulates tap water. Thus, bottled water, depending upon the brand, may actually be less clean and safe than tap water. The EPA mandates that local water treatment plants provide city residents with a detailed account of tap water’s source and the results of any testing, including contaminant level violations. Bottled water companies are under no such directives. - Allaboutwater.org

Now, here are tips for alternatives to buying bottled water:

· Get a filter for your tap (unless your tap water is quite good in the first place). There are many ways to go about doing this, from getting a Brita-filter to go over your faucet spout to installing one right into the sink system.

· Nalgene bottles are great.

· Brita pitchers are also really great for those who can’t get the faucet filters (e.g. college students).

· For barbecues, parties, and other events, use pitchers or water dispensers that you can use over and over again. In conjunction with these, try to also provide reusable cups instead of disposable cups, and if you must use disposables, try to get recyclable disposables.