Why do we... buy bottled water?

Why do we... buy bottled water?

Recently I have been reading about bottled water and I’m trying to answer why we buy so many bottles of water each year. (estimate is about USD 4 bnl.)

Yes, I am ware of the advantages of having 8 glasses of water a day. Yes, I know it’s good for your body, your blood, etc. The downside however is that it’s just not very good for my wallet or for the environment. Here's an easy tip to save money and the environment: read this blog, watch the video below, and you'll be convinced.

My wallet:

I use to to to this lunch place where I buy a sandwich and a bottle of water. Last week I came there again but I did not have enough cash on me to buy the bottle of water (USD 1.29). So just a sandwich this time. However, a friend of mine told me I can get some water out of the beverage dispenser. When I asked the cashier she told me it was only 20 cents to fill any cup. So bottled water is 600% more expensive!!! I didn’t know it was possible to get water out of an ordinary beverage dispenser. I checked at Panera, Ikea, etc, most of them do offer tap water.

The environment:

When getting the water of the beverage dispenser I thought about the huge difference for the environment between getting tap water from the water dispenser or buying a bottle of water. Let’s say you buy a bottle of Everest Water . It comes from an industrial area in Texas. (the same goes for e.g. Aquafina (by Pepsi company), basically it’s the same as a regular Pepsi, without any cola flavours!) So, let’s see what happens when I buy a bottle of Everest Water here in Florida:

1. water gets bottled in Texas.
2. water gets transported to a hub in Florida
3. water gets transported from hub to every single lunch place in Florida
4. I drink the water
5. I throw away the plastic bottle that has to be recycled.

Now let’s see what happens when I buy the water from the dispenser:

1. I drink the water
2. I throw away the carton cup that has to be recycled (keep in mind that I use a reusable water bottle most of the time)

There is a huge diffe rence in energy usage to drink the same amount of water!!

Now I know that there are people who believe that bottled water taste’s better than tap water (this would still not explain the 600% premium they charge though!!!). Have a look at this video from Penn&Teller: The craze of bottled water is a national obsession but tap water is usually safer for you, and often better tasting too. Using a hidden camera, Penn & Teller will take a look at the obsession. (see below)

Using a hidden camera they showed that in NY, 75% people liked tapwater better than the bottle, it’s hilarious.

They also explained the fact the public water is more heavily regulated than bottled water. Additionally about 33% of the brands selling bottled water, violated the industry standards.


Well, I’m definately going to stop buying bottles when possible, save money, save the planet and doing things that make sense...

CeeJay


Below are some pictures of how to get water out of a beverage dispenser