Bottled water: overflowing on the environment
Learn about bottled water bans and policies
Tap Into Tap
When it comes to bottled water, go with the “do it yourself” kit—a refillable bottle and that dependable little spigot above the kitchen sink (find out if you need a water filter). Rediscovering tap water is a lot cheaper and a lot better for the environment than manufacturing, shipping, and discarding all those plastic single use bottles.
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Klean Kanteen - Lightweight stainless steel water bottles. (These are single-walled, so don’t use them as a thermos.) |
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Nubius Organics - Fantastic selection of Klean Kanteen and SIGG reusable bottles, including one-of-a-kind designs. Unique reusable totes, bags and accessories in recycled materials, all designed to promote a healthier lifestyle and cleaner planet without compromising quality or style. |
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We've got SIGG leach-free reusable bottles for all ages, a variety of bottle top styles, and SIGG reusable Thermos mugs and Thermos bottles. |
| SIGG | Light-weight aluminum bottles (with water-based internal linings) |
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Fashion-forward and fair-trade manufactured, Think Outside the Bottle stainless steel water bottles save the planet and spread the word about the corporate control of water. |
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The Wellness H2.O bottle's purification and enhancement technology filters out 99% of contaminants and adds exotic Japanese minerals, replacing 1,100 wasted plastic bottles and saving $1000 per cartridge. |
| Zero Water Pitcher | Zero Water high-performance filter is made from 95% recycled materials and the cartridges may be sent back for recycling. |
Refillable Bottles
Display your frugality by reusing that empty soda bottle? Show your colors with a cool, tinted camping bottle? Neither. Recent studies show that many commonly used plastics leach chemicals into the water—chemicals shown to be hormone disrupters and carcinogens. So if you wanna play it safe go with glass, ceramic, or stainless steel.
If you stick with plastic, some choices are better than others. Look for the numbers on the bottom.
AVOID (notorious leachers) |
BETTER |
| #3 (PVC) | #2 (HDPE) |
| #6 (polystyrene) | #4 (LDPE) |
| #7 (a catchall category—includes polycarbonate hard plastic camping and baby bottles) | #5 (PP) |
Home Water Filters
Even though tap water is often as safe or safer than bottled, a filter is sometimes advisable for both purity and taste reasons. If you decide you need a filter, a variety of home filters are available at local grocery and home improvement stores. Facts About Water Filters from the Real Money newsletter provides an excellent overview to help you decide whether you need a home filter and if so, what kind to buy. For a quick rundown (with pics) of filter choices, see Consumer Reports' comparison of water filter types. For more in-depth info, see the Greener Choices guide to water filters. Zero Water offers refrigerator-sized pitchers and larger filtration systems made from recycled materials with a 5-stage ion-exchange filter and a cartridge-takeback.program.
Why it’s important
In 2004 the global consumption of bottled water reached 41 billion gallons, up 57 percent from five years earlier. According to the Earth Policy Institute, "Even in areas where tap water is safe to drink, demand for bottled water is increasing—producing unnecessary garbage and consuming vast quantities of energy.”
The United States consumed 17 percent of that total—more than any other country. Making bottles to meet Americans’ demand for bottled water requires more than 17 million barrels of oil annually, enough to fuel some 1 million U.S. cars for a year. Worldwide, some 2.7 million tons of plastic are used to bottle water each year.
According to the Container Recycling Institute, 86 percent of plastic water bottles used in the United States aren’t recycled. Incinerating used bottles produces toxic byproducts such as chlorine gas and ash containing heavy metals. Buried water bottles can take up to 1,000 years to biodegrade.
Learn more...
about why you should give up bottled water
- 5 reasons to give up bottled water
- Bottled water calculator - how much is your bottled water habit costing you?
about water filters
- Consumer Guide to Water Filters – by NRDC
- Water Filters – by The Green Guide
about plastic and health issues
- Common Ground article on plastic leaching
- The Green Guide product report on plastic containers
- The Green Guide product report on baby bottles
- Bisphenol A Portal on the plastic contaminant BPA
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