How I Ditched the Bottled Water Habit

I used to fill up a recycling bin every week with bottled drink containers.  Most of those containers were water bottles.

In Israel, we drank bottled water because even when filtered, the water had a distinctly rotten egg flavor.  We originally had a bottled water service, which though more expensive, was appealing since the company reuses their jumbo-sized plastic containers.  I figured that had to be better for the environment than all those little bottles.

But then I noticed that the big bottles were plastic #7, which is known to contain BPA (Bisphenol-A, a nasty organic compound that is both a carcinogen and an estrogen disrputor, among other things.)  The litre-and-a-half bottles were plastic #5, which is considered a “safe” plastic (although I’m starting to wonder if there is such a thing), so I switched back to the smaller bottles. And recycled a couple of dozen every week.

When we moved back to America, the water mercifully smelled and tasted a lot “cleaner” — and frequent testing does indicate that the vast majority of drinking water in the States is both clean and safe.  So we were able to ditch our bottled water service and save a pretty penny in the process.

The truth is, though, that I still had a bit of a bottled water addiction — to those little half-litre size bottles that are oh-so convenient when you are out running around.  And Costco sells them so inexpensively, that it almost seemed unfrugal NOT to buy them.

Even still, I obviously knew that spending $.50 for a bottle of water was still 50 cents more expensive than drinking tap water.  Plus, I reasoned, a bin full of tiny little drinking bottles just couldn’t be good for the environment!

So like any other bad habit, I just quit buying those teeny bottles cold turkey. I forgot to bring the kids’ sippy cups a few times, and that generally entailed a lot “I”m thiiiiirsty” whining. The kids were completely unimpressed when I tried to show them how to make a cup out of their hands and drink some water from the bathroom sink. I quickly learned to remember to refill their sippy cups before we left the house.

Even if you go and invest in a BPA-free bottle for every member of your family (I’m putting the Kleen Kanteen on my Hanukkah wish-list), breaking the bottled water habit will save your household — and the planet — a good deal of green. Which is why it is my thrifty green tip this week.

Now as is the way with good Internet karma, I happened to read a post about this very same topic on No Impact Man (now there is a serious environmentalist!) just as I was composing this Thrifty Green post.  Apparently the New American Dream is asking all Americans to take the Break the Bottled Water habit pledge, which goes:

I pledge to Break the Bottled Water Habit by Thinking Outside the Bottle and using a reusable water bottle instead of buying bottled water. I also pledge to support the efforts of local officials to stop spending public funds on bottled water and prioritize strong public water systems over bottled water profits.

If you aren’t sure about taking the pledge, here are some facts about bottled water that may just push you over the edge:

• In 2006, Americans consumed 31.2 billion liters of bottled water. That’s an average of 167 bottles for every man, woman and child.

• Manufacturing those plastic bottles takes 900,000 tons of plastic.  It takes more petroleum to produce those bottles than it does to fuel 100,000 cars for a whole year.

• Bottling water is ironically very water-intensive.  According to the Pacific Institute, it takes three litres of water to produce just one litre of bottled water!

• 86% of water bottles are not recycled (I found this stat particularly unnerving).  It takes 700 years for a plastic bottle to even begin decomposing in a land fill.

• If just three times a week, you filled a glass of water from the tap rather than grabbing a bottle of water, you would save more than $230/year. (Run your own numbers to see how much you could save at the bottled water calculator.) Now I’m thinking $230 would buy an awful lot of organic produce!

When you decide to take the pledge, leave me a note in the comments section — and leave a link to your own blog post about taking the pledge. Come on guys…let’s take this thrifty and green campaign viral!