Bottled Water

It's time for us to have "the talk." The talk about water and its commodification. Selling water is the nadir of modern consumerism. Water should be a right, not a privilege denied to even a single human being.

Yet human rights concerns are not the only reason to avoid bottled water. For starters, there's often no difference between bottled and tap water. Some water bottling companies, like Pepsi's Aquafina and Coke's Dasani, literally take water directly out of the tap. Think Outside the Bottle says, "Up to 40% of bottled water comes from the same source as tap water, but is sold back to consumers at hundreds of times the cost."

And companies who do not get their water from public tap water are even scarier. The Think Outside The Bottle Campaign website says,

"Bottled water corporations spend tens of millions of dollars each year to convince us their products are safer and more pure than tap water. But studies have shown bottled water is on average no safer than tap water and can sometimes be less safe. Both tap water and bottled water are evaluated using similar standards, but tap water is tested far more frequently and has more independent oversight by state and federal environmental authorities (EPA and DEP). Lacking adequate capacity to regulate bottled water, the government relies on bottled water corporations to police themselves, which in some cases has resulted in bottled water contaminations that have lasted for weeks before the public was warned."

So forget it if you think there are taste or health issues at stake.

How does this fit into a blog on sustainablitliy? Well, the carbon footprint of bottled water is enormous. From Think Outside the Bottle:

"Producing bottles to meet Americans’ demand for bottled water required more than 17 million barrels of oil last year – enough fuel for more than 1 million U.S. cars for a year - and generated more than 2.5 million tons of carbon dioxide."

Even people who are aware of the hypocrisy, environmental devastation, and general unsafety of bottled water may still be making mistakes that are harming themselves and their families. If you find that you've ended up with a bottle of water, don't re-use it! PET plastics are thought to be leaching dangerous BPA chemicals into your drinking water. BPA has been proven to be an endocrine disrupter, which means it screws up your body's hormones. DANGEROUS.

Instead, look for a water bottle that is meant to be reused:

SIGG is an excellent option. These are stainless steel bottles, so they keep water cold for a long time. They may be slightly heavier than plastic options, but I carry mine in my purse and/or backpack every day. Ben and I each have one (thanks to my little sister's generosity!) and each use them every. single. day. EarthLust is a comparable brand of stainless steel bottles with lots of really chic design choices.

Platypus makes insanely lightweight, BPA-free, fully-collapsible "bladder"-type bottles that are tough enough to be frozen or boiled. Especially perfect for situations where you can't bring drinks with you (airport, amusement parks, etc.) but don't want to be stuck buying water bottles inside. Easy to stick in your pocket and fill up at a sink/water fountain. I have one of these, too, and like it a lot.

Nalgene bottles are now, due to great public pressure, BPA-free. If you have an old one, however, it has BPA in it, and you should consider retiring it in favor of a healthier alternative.

Love Bottle brand water bottles. They are reusable glass bottles that couldn't be cuter. The fact that they are glass means they are probably not the best choice for really young children. But for the rest of us, they make really good water bottles. They even offer little bottle carriers with straps to make it easy as pie to bring your water bottle everywhere. If fashion is important to you, check these out.

For other options, this is a pretty good review of some of your eco-friendly and HEALTHY choices out there. Just be careful that you get a bottle that is BPA-free!

Please check out the Think Outside the Bottle campaign to challenge corporate control of water. Take the pledge, and fight back against the commodification of a basic human right.