Earth Friendly Water Blog

If Albert Einstein were alive today, there are many things about our 21^st century society that would confuse him. Our collective fascination with selfies, check-out lines, and the Kardashians would confuse even a great mind like Einstein. However, if you were to explain to Einstein that Americans spend billions of dollars a year on water transported over long distances in small, plastic bottles, he would think our society was collectively insane. 

Suzanne Havala Hobbs, an associate professor of Health Policy and Management at UNC Chapel-Hill, recently wrote about why we should all ditch bottled water. The reasons are simple: One, its horrible for the environment. Most bottled water comes in small, plastic bottles that end up in landfills. As well, the environmental cost of transporting bottled water over long distances is enormous.

The second reason is that by buying bottled water, you’re hurting your wallet. Spending a dollar or more on bottled of water on a daily basis gets expensive fast. You can save money by getting a reusable water bottle and ditching the plastic.

Imagine if we all used a reusable water bottle: Our wallets would be thicker, the environment would be better off, and Einstein’s hair wouldn’t be raised so high. A win-win all around!

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Newark Academy - Madison, New Jersey

AquaHealth's Healthy Beverage Program

Douglas Brower on Aquahealth, "The kids love it.They combine our sparkling water with other flavored drinks to create their own sodas"

Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson unabashedly shared his sentiments about bottled water: “Bottled water makes no sense, it's the greatest marketing scam of all time.” In an attempt to eliminate the cost and waste associated with this nonsensical product from Salt Lake City, Utah, Anderson has asked city employees to refrain from purchasing bottled water, and instead fill reusable bottles with tap water. Many other American cities have taken similar steps to keep the damaging effects of bottled water at bay. San Francisco is one such city.  Due to the efforts of Mayor Gavin Newsom, the city government no longer purchases bottled water for state employees, saving San Francisco $500,000 a year.  

Small town America is also taking responsibility for the messy state of the environment, as well as citizens, both young and old. Take historic Concord, Massachusetts, where the sale of bottled water is now illegal. 82 year old activist Jean Hill worked tirelessly to get this bill passed in Concord, lobbying neighbors and acquaintances for months to bring about the change. "All these discarded bottles are damaging our planet, causing clumps of garbage in the oceans that hurt fish, and are creating more pollution on our streets. We only have one planet and I just don't want to see it spoiled," said Hill.

Erik Olsen from the Natural Resources Defense Council also believes that bottled water is environmentally irresponsible. “It (the sale of bottled water) causes 60 million plastic bottles A DAY to be manufactured, transported and then disposed of in U.S. landfills. It’s killing our planet, and for no good reason.”  On top of being damaging to our environment, bottled water is also expensive, with the lowliest of brands costing at least $1.00 for a half-liter bottle. However clever the marketing, most bottled water is simply rebottled tap water, and certainly not worth the selling price.

Here we have it: Bottled water is dirtying up our planet and thinning out our wallets, while providing hydration equal to that of tap water.  Isn't it time to choose an Earth Friendly Bottled Water and eliminate the damaging plastic waste?  Are you ready to jump on "ban the bottled water" bandwagon?  If so, here are some great resources to check out:

Food And Water Watch

Take Back The Tap

The Story Of Bottled Water

Ban The Bottle

Tapped The Movie

Inside The Bottle