The True Cost Of Plastic Water Bottles

Although it is not as harmful for your health as smoking, the bottled water industry is becoming just as powerful as the tobacco business. While big tobacco is hurting your lungs, the bottled water people are turning our environment into one big landfill.

The true cost of plastic water bottles is harsh and there are many reasons you should stick to the tap. According to the Pacific Institute, bottled water consumes almost 2,000 times more energy than tap water. Also, in order to make bottled water, you need to use water, which increases the world’s water consumption.

To make one litre of bottled water, you need to use three litres of water. If you live in an area where it isn’t safe to drink tap water, buy a reusable bottle that you can refill with water from a filter. You can even buy reusable bottles that come with their own filters.

Let’s break it down further:

• The energy used to produce bottled water can power 190,000 homes.

• When you buy a pitcher with a filter, you are replacing 300 16.9-ounce water bottles yearly.

• Most water pitchers can filter about 240 gallons of water per year. This averages 19 cents daily as opposed to water bottles that can cost as much as $5 per bottle. If you drink a bottle a day every day for a year that’s over $1,800 down the drain.

• Reusuable bottles may seem like a frivolous purchase but for $10 you can get something that’s portable, easy to clean and lasts for decades.

• In the year 2014 alone, thirty-eight billion water bottles were left unrecycled worldwide and thrown into the regular garbage. These bottles made their way to landfills where they sit today, polluting the environment.

• The water bottling process has produced more than 2.5 million tonnes of carbon dioxide to date and will continue to produce more CO2 if demand keeps up.

• There is a common misconception that bottled water is actually better for you than tap water. Unless the area where you live has a strict no tap water policy, you’re probably getting more nutrients from the tap than the bottle. If your tap water is deemed clean to drink, you won’t be sipping from a possibly bacteria-laden bottle that was made at a plant.

You don’t have to go sticking your head under Niagara Falls to get the best water possible. It may be in your own tap, or if not, in your own filtered bottle. Doing so will help you save the environment, one sip at a time!