Would you spend $1500 for something you can now get for 50 cents?

[Atman]

You might already be doing so.

Bottled water.

Consumer Reports and virtually every other independent tester has determined that bottled water is often no better (and sometimes worse) than the water already flowing from your tap. Yet, American consumers have been conditioned to think that bottled water is somehow "pure" or at least, purer than tap water. So they spend $1 or more on small plastic bottles of a "product" that is already piped directly into their homes and costs practically nothing.

A New Yorker who followed the eight-glasses-a-day suggestion would spend about $1500 a year on bottled water, water which is often not even as good as the water NYC already makes available to residents for about 50 cents.

AND, in this era of Al Gore, Live Earth and oil wars, who can honestly justify the continued toll on the planet the manufacture and distribution of bottled water takes? Industry studies say less than 2% of plastic water bottles are recycled (most states don't require return deposits on them).

These insipid things have been a pet peeve of mine for years, and even more so as water becomes more and more of a corporate brand being re-sold to us a boutique item. So, if you still have a few empties rolling around on your car floor or clutter up your bin, call a moratorium right now and don't buy any more of them...just rinse 'em and refill 'em from your tap until they disintegrate. Which they won't, because they're not bio-degradable.





Either that, or this whole new campaign is a plot to get us all back on the public water supply, so when they drop the mind-control tablets in... :tinfoilhat:






Seriesly...it's time to get off the bottle. If BushCo hasn't already caused you to give up water for the hard stuff anyway.

Peace.

.

[TheFriendlyAnarchist]

1. Heh, I'm kind of scared to drink UNFILTERED water here

I use to always get bottles, but then we got a fridge with the cooled filtered water. Our tap not only has nasty water, but there have been numerous reports about ground and water pollution from a nuclear facility (which they claim to have cleaned up :eyes: )

[Atman]

7. True, not everybody is in a safe place anymore

Especially in the Appalachians and the coal-producing areas, ironically places are way less likely to even have access to bottled water, let alone afford it. People on well water certainly have to very careful these days.

.

[soothsayer]

2. Take the mind-controlling flouride out of the water supply and I'll consider going back.

But we don't have tasty water in DC. NYC has GREAT water, for instance.

[Donnachaidh]

3. NY water has alwasy been good, I wouldn't have a problem there

But Atlanta's water is nothing more than filtered, HEAVILY chlorinated sewer water. I wouldn't let my pets drink pool water for fear of kidney shutdown, I'm not going to ask my family to drink it.

[Clark2008]

4. This is why we got a water filter.

Sure, we pay about $20 for a new filter every three or four months, but it's still cheaper than $1,500 a year.

Oh - and when we're out and DO buy bottled water, we DO reuse the bottle for water from the filtered tap. That way we can stick it in the fridge and have cold "bottled" water. :)

[rucky]

16. That's the way to do it!

safe and cost effective.

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

I stopped buying bottled water for the most part a few years ago. I have delicious

water here (same area as the NYC reservoirs) and slapped a filter on my faucet. Very rarely, if I'm out and it's brutal outside, I'll purchase a bottle.

What isn't being discussed is the projected worldwide water shortage in the future. There is a move in privatization of water, most noticeable in South America (Bechtel is a big player) now. I sometimes think that the pushing of bottled water is a way we are being prepared to pay big bucks for it in the future. :tinfoilhat:

[Justyce]

5. Years ago when the fad was first starting,

I saw an episode of 60 minutes or 20/20 where they showed the bacteria under a microscope in tap water vs. bottled water -- the bottle water sits for so long that it was full of bacteria. Really hard for me to stomach now -- I always picture the little squiggly things... However, our tap water tastes like bleach, so we use a Brita filter. Seems to work pretty well.

[TommyO]

11. The water where I live now is great tasting out of the tap

though I still use a Brita filter, at my old place using a filter was necessary since the water was sourced out of the Delaware River and treated with so much chlorine that it reeked to high heaven.

I still use some bottled water, but not where there is convenient tap water available (think home, work, and when visiting friends and family).

[Le Taz Hot]

6. I've been using a Brita pitcher

for several years now. The refills are dirt cheap at Costco. I make my own bottled water (for travel).

[jojo54]

8. I agree with Soothsayer.

But I also agree with that report, so I've been thinking about getting one of those filter units that gets installed right on the tap.

Think about this: for those of us who don't have wells, we're paying for water twice; once through the city, and once for bottled water.

[TlalocW]

9. Penn and Teller did an episode on this

On "Bullshit."

I don't know how accurate their science is, but they brought up some good points, and they did some unscientific taste tests in New York, which had most people picking New York tap. The funniest bit though was they filled several bottles (with various fake labels) with hose water and had an actor portray the world's first "water steward" to the patrons of a trendy LA restaurant, who were offered these different waters such as Fuji (made from melted snow from atop Mount Fuji - one patron said it had a "glacial taste"). The other waters were "harder" or "cleaner," etc. My favorite label, which they didn't remark on, was "Aqua del Culo," which means Ass-Water. The patrons all got a big kick out of it when it was revealed they were all drinking hose water.

TlalocW

[TygrBright]

10. Very good meme, Altman! May I steal it?

It drives me nuts to see all the water bottles in the recycling in our neighborhood. We have perfectly potable, if a bit mineral-y, water from the city system, a filter clears the minerals and we're not flouridated, so why pay for the plastic bottle?

I do occasionally buy a bottle when we're on the road and I'm not sure of the particulars of the local water supply, but those bottles come home with me and get filled and fridged to go in the garden with me.

And I buy fizzy PLAIN (unflavored, un-vitamined, un-electrolyted) water now and then to mix with juice for a "soda", but PLAIN fizzy water is getting so hard to find, except for the fancy expensive imported kinds, that I don't do it much.

Buying bottled still water for daily use is the most ridiculous waste of money!

agreeably,
Bright

[Yael]

12. Our water is disgusting

I used to filter it with a Brita, but that didn't take care of the fluoride (or the nauseating rust taste).

I switched to a 5 gallon jug/cooler and fill my travel bottles from that.

[Drifter]

13. Anyone who ...

buys and consumes 8 bottled waters each day is a FUCKING MORON.

I refuse to buy water outside of what is piped into my house.
The bottles are convenient, but by saving a few, and filling them with tap water is just as convenient.

Cheers
Drifter

[LynneSin]

14. No way am I drinking Wilmington Water

End of discussion.

But I am finding ways to cut down on the number of bottles I buy

[DireStrike]

15. Negative. Put a jug of tap in the fridge, that's delicious. eom

[Catherine Vincent]

17. If you're ever down in Hot Springs, Arkansas, make a point to visit the hot springs fountain...

you can bring some of their water home for free as long as you have your own plastic jug. It tastes great!

[DemGa]

18. A carbon filter does good things

but won't filter out the industrial waste--fluoride.

[stirlingsliver]

19. Does Anyone Hear Read Newspapers?

If you do, you are harming the earth just as much as people who drink bottled water.

Newspapers need paper -- and that paper comes from trees.

Anyone can read the newspapers on-line -- without any need to buy a paper copy of a newspaper.

[Atman]

20. Most newsprint is recycled these days.

Virgin pulp is something newspapers can't afford anymore.

.

[stirlingsliver]

21. And So Are A Lot Of Plastic Bottles

A lot of the plastic bottles that contain bottled water are also recycled.

Not all -- but a lot of them.

Same with newspapers -- a lot of newspapers are recycled. Not all of them, however.

There is NO reason to purchase a "paper" newspaper. If you do, you are just raping the Earth to satisfy your own selfish needs.

[gasperc]

22. I bought my house with a filter system

at the very least people should buy a braun filter system or something. Bottled water is already costing more than soda and juices.