Saturday, January 5, 2013

What You Don't Know About Your Water Bottle

FriendsForAGreenWorld wants to spotlight your choices which move us toward a 100% sustainable energy future.  Let us know what YOU choose, today and everyday, that brings us closer to this goal.  Large or small - your choice makes a difference.

One important choice we each make everyday: drinking water. Buying disposable water bottles is harmful to you and to the environment. The solution is to use green products and make eco friendly choices.

According to the American Water Works Association bottled water costs up to 1,000 times more than municipal drinking water.  Even if it were only 100 times more it would still be an extremely expensive water delivery system.  In fact, it's shown to be as high as $10 per gallon - making even our current gas prices look downright affordable.

The global consumption of bottled water reached 154 billion liters (41 billion gallons) in 2004 and making the bottles to meet Americans' demand requires more than 1.5 million barrels of oil annually.  The Earth Policy Institute reports that this is equivalent to the fuel used by 100,000 cars for a year.    A YEAR.

It's been estimated that we currently use up to 2.7 million tons of plastic globally each year to make the disposable water bottles.  The types of plastic varies and with each one our environment's toxic burden increases.  As an example, PET generates more than 100 times the toxic emissions compared to the same amount of glass.  It weighs less, so transporting it generates less emissions, but it's  damage to the environment overall is greater due to it's higher emissions and disposable nature.

What are the options?  All have an energy price tag.  Stainless steel, glass, LDPE - all require energy, oil, etc., but they have one big plus.

Kleen  Kanteen
The major benefits of the three listed above is that they last so very much longer than any disposable water bottle available.  By the very nature of their shelf-lives they limit the cost to our environment.  The Nalgene LDPE bottles I recently purchased from ReusableBags.com have lasted 4 years, our Kleen Kanteens - even longer.

Take a moment to make this small choice - we'll all be so glad you did. 

Then let us know, so we can share it with everyone.  When others read about your action, they will be inspired and your personal choice will be made more powerful.

Remember, doing a little is more fulfilling than
thinking that a little won't matter.



1 comment:

Anonymous said...

How about getting your water from an in-home water filter that over time is less expensive than bottled water and only has to be transported to your house one time.

I have a Nikken PiMag water system in my home; my water costs me less AND is the best water I have ever experienced as it makes me feel so alive and good. Double benefits!
Carol P