The global consumption of bottled water reached 154 billion liters (41 billion gallons) in 2004, up 57 percent from the 98 billion liters consumed five years earlier. Even in areas where tap water is safe to drink, demand for bottled water is increasing—producing unnecessary garbage and consuming vast quantities of energy. Although in the industrial world bottled water is often no healthier than tap water, it can cost up to 10,000 times more. At as much as $2.50 per liter ($10 per gallon), bottled water costs more than gasoline.Appalled at this waste and our part in it, I have become sensitized to this issue and recently came upon this article about the life of plastic in the ocean.
And if none of the above is reason enough to question bottled water, picture this - a floating garbage phenomena whirling in our Pacific Northwest ocean where all the carried-by-the-wind, littered, lost, accidentally spilled and illegally dumped plastic trash swirls together where two currents meet. An end product oil slick as it were, as big as Texas (not an exaggeration), full of bottles, bottle caps, car tires and bits of broken plastic that birds mistake for food. Then when it breaks down to the size of a fish egg it's consumed by jellyfish and plankton, the food staple of sea life. So guess who, at the top of the food chain, is not only creating plastic, "disposing" of it, but may be eating it, too. It just never really goes away.Now if you are still with me this far I have a proposal. If you take the pledge to drink mostly tap water, or to install a Brita or other filter system instead of buying plastic bottles of water I will buy and send you your very own personalized Klean Kanteen. Then you will really be cool.
