Bottled Water is bad for the Planet! What’s the Alternative?

The Bottled Water industry is now a 15.5 Billion dollars business in the US alone. But have you ever thought about what drinking all that bottled water does to the planet? Here’s a little food for thought.

Americans toss 38 billion water bottles into landfills every year! That’s 2.7 million tons of plastic, taking about 1000 years to degrade. Bottles that are incinerated produce toxic byproducts such as chlorine gas entering the air, and ash containing heavy metals enters the soil.

Manufacturing the water bottles necessary to meet Americans' demand for bottled water requires more than 1.5 million barrels of oil annually. Just think: that is enough energy to fuel about 100,000 cars for a year, running up demand for oil. In addition, more clean water is wasted in the production of the bottle than the bottle holds while a sixth of the world has no access to potable water.

Each week here in the US we are moving 1 billion bottles of water around in ships, trains, and trucks. That is a weekly convoy equivalent to 37,800 18-wheelers burning up fossil fuels just to deliver water! (Water weighs 8 1/3 pounds a gallon. It's so heavy you can't fill an 18-wheeler with it--you have to leave empty space.)

The Alternative? So simple!
• For your Bottled water needs for water coolers or crocks, filter your tap water where you use it with a high quality water filter such as PureCool. Not only is this choice a blessing for the planet – it will save you lots of cash to boot!
• Install a quality water filter under your sink. This provides the safest water and costs far less than bottled water or pitcher/canister type filters. The best one I’ve found is Legacy 105 which lasts a full year without giving it another thought. It has the highest flow rate on the market and only costs a couple of pennies per gallon.
• The best choice of all is a whole house filter. With this choice, not only do you “Break the Bottled Water Habit,” but you eliminate chemical absorption through your skin - making you feel and look better! An added bonus from this choice is that your water-using appliances will last up to 50% longer, meaning your filter pays for itself is savings. Be careful to choose a filter such as the SMF Whole House water filter that takes care of chloramines and health related contaminants such as cysts and VOCs.
• Get yourself a good reusable stainless steel personal water bottle (or 2 or 3) and refill the same bottles every day. There are extremely light and durable ones available now that can last you a decade! New Wave has the best value I’ve found. It‘s a great investment, again, saving you thousands of dollars over the life of the bottle.

None of these alternatives requires you to give up a thing – in fact they are money savers. Yet each one will have an enormous impact on the planet if each of us does our part!

About The Author-- Donna Hoffman is the owner of ezClearwater.com, provider of the highest quality, earth-friendly water purification products for home, office, pool and spa. Donna is dedicated to supplying healthy water for drinking, bathing, and recreation by sharing products that are “Good to You and Mother Earth Too.”

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