Post by Bozur on Mar 20, 2009 23:43:27 GMT -5
Reasons to Skip Bottled Water
agreenliving.net — Ways to skip the bottled water and help the environment. More… (Environment)
--------
18 March
Reasons to Skip Bottled Water
Posted by Green Life Staff
The bottled water consumed by people worldwide has increased so much in the last several years; it generates billions of dollars a year in the U.S. alone. The craze of drinking bottled water for the dietary benefits as well as the taste have had an effect on the amount of water that people purchase.
The years between 1997 and 2005 have seen the amount of water being consumed more than double nationwide. When facing the facts about the amount of plastic this puts into the landfills and waste centers we are slowly taking over our planet with trash.
There are many ways to skip the bottled water and help the environment and our future generations. Here are a few ways you can do this and after you find out why bottled water is not quite as good for us as we think, you may decide to opt for one of these methods:
- Find a reusable and washable bottle to take your water in. Put it in the freezer the night before and it will be ready to go when you are.
- If not, try a thermos. They can keep drinks cold as well as hot.
- Install a water filter in your home. They can improve some of the worst problem water and deliver much cleaner water than bottled water.
- If less people drank bottled water, the problem of what to do with all the empty bottles would no longer be a problem.
Many plastic containers are recycled but this also has an effect on the air we breathe. Although the newer version of plastic bottles are made of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) instead of the PVC which released chlorine into the air when it was melted for recycling processes.
If you want to make sure the water you are drinking is good for you rather than opting for mineral or spring water which is costing millions of dollars each year, consider installing a filter on your tap water source. If you have city water they do have certain regulations that have to be followed when it comes to the water they supply to the consumer. However, that does not mean it will taste good. But it may make a difference in exactly what you are drinking and there are filter systems which can improve the taste of your water.
If you think bottled water is better, here are a few facts that just might change your mind. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is the regulatory agency at the federal level for bottled water. They allow bottled water to have certain amounts of fecal coli forms. What is this, you ask?
According to the Encarta World English dictionary, “Fecal coli forms are rod-shaped bacteria that are normally found in the colons of humans and animals and become a serious contaminant when found in the food or water supply.” The Environmental Protection Agency which regulates city tap water does not allow fecal coli forms in city water.
Which water would you rather drink now? Violations of the FDA standards are routine and often not even reported and when they are the water may not be recalled until some 15 months or more after the water was bottled, shipped, and sold.
Not only do we not know what we are drinking when it comes to bottled water but the removal of large amounts of mineral water or water from natural springs is tampering with ground water aquifers. Streams and other sources of water are becoming threatened with the extreme removal of water for bottling purposes.
agreenliving.net/reasons-to-skip-bottled-water/