Drinking bottled water is expensive for the individual, the community, and the environment. It is a huge waste of money and creates a lot of waste for the environment, without any real benefits over tap. It ultimately could lead to even bigger problems for our society and even contribute to the widening gap between the lower and upper class.
I read this great article in defense of tap water here.
Basically, it comes down to a few key things. The first point being that it is expensive, over $.05 per ounce in most cases. Compare this to gasoline which is currently hovering around $.02 per ounce in most states. Corporations love to get into the bottled water industry, as it is relatively cheap with a huge profitability! Most bottled water is filtered tap water from somewhere local to where it is being sold. There are no costs to move it around.
The fact that is generally not being moved very far brings us to another very important point about it: it is generally not FDA regulated. While most consider bottled water healthier or safer, it often goes unregulated as it is not being transported around the country. Tap water, on the other hand, is regulated by mandate and must comply with certain standards. Tap water costs the community about $.01 per gallon and is thoroughly checked for toxins and chemicals.
Probably the most obvious reason that drinking bottled is wasteful is because drinking bottled leaves you with all those empties! As the demand for bottled water continues, so does the need to make the plastic bottles that are unnatural. They are costly environmentally to produce, necessitating millions of gallons in oil. Sadly, though they are recyclable, 80% are irresponsibly thrown away. The garbage has become a huge threat to animal life and ecosystems. Much of the plastic ever made still exists.
Finally, the last two reasons everyone ought to drink their local tap water are actually issues of social justice. As more people drink bottled water, and if that trend continued, less attention would be paid to our public systems. They might become irrelevant or obsolete or without money or interest. Generally, people who are drinking bottled water are those who can afford to do so. These people are also the people who can afford to put money into local water systems, and who might have power and authority and are able to ensure that things are up to standard--if only because they demand it. Bottled water drinkers become detached from the fight for clean water systems as it is no longer personal.
Right along these lines, water should not become privatized or made a corporate matter. It is a public, free service available to everyone, and so it should stay. Everyone has the right to clean drinking water in their homes that they do not have to pay extra for. If we all switch to drinking bottled, where does that leave those that cannot afford bottled? It would just create one more way that the poor are marginalized, that people don't have access to the healthcare they need, and for injustices to occur. Water should not be a "class thing"--it should not be a status symbol. Our public, clean water is for all in the community, and in order to maintain the regulations and attention the water systems need, we must all drink tap water in order that those who cannot afford to drink privatized water that corporations are getting rich off of, are ensured this basic right, and this one attempt to equalize us all.
Giving up on tap water would just create one more challenge for those in poverty to face, one more divide between rich and poor. Free, clean, healthy, drinkable water is a human right.
Join me, pledge to drink your local tap water. Do it for your health, the health of our planet, and the health of your neighbors. Don't let corporations and the 1% get rich off our basic human rights.
--Megan
I read this great article in defense of tap water here.
Basically, it comes down to a few key things. The first point being that it is expensive, over $.05 per ounce in most cases. Compare this to gasoline which is currently hovering around $.02 per ounce in most states. Corporations love to get into the bottled water industry, as it is relatively cheap with a huge profitability! Most bottled water is filtered tap water from somewhere local to where it is being sold. There are no costs to move it around.
The fact that is generally not being moved very far brings us to another very important point about it: it is generally not FDA regulated. While most consider bottled water healthier or safer, it often goes unregulated as it is not being transported around the country. Tap water, on the other hand, is regulated by mandate and must comply with certain standards. Tap water costs the community about $.01 per gallon and is thoroughly checked for toxins and chemicals.
Probably the most obvious reason that drinking bottled is wasteful is because drinking bottled leaves you with all those empties! As the demand for bottled water continues, so does the need to make the plastic bottles that are unnatural. They are costly environmentally to produce, necessitating millions of gallons in oil. Sadly, though they are recyclable, 80% are irresponsibly thrown away. The garbage has become a huge threat to animal life and ecosystems. Much of the plastic ever made still exists.
Finally, the last two reasons everyone ought to drink their local tap water are actually issues of social justice. As more people drink bottled water, and if that trend continued, less attention would be paid to our public systems. They might become irrelevant or obsolete or without money or interest. Generally, people who are drinking bottled water are those who can afford to do so. These people are also the people who can afford to put money into local water systems, and who might have power and authority and are able to ensure that things are up to standard--if only because they demand it. Bottled water drinkers become detached from the fight for clean water systems as it is no longer personal.
Right along these lines, water should not become privatized or made a corporate matter. It is a public, free service available to everyone, and so it should stay. Everyone has the right to clean drinking water in their homes that they do not have to pay extra for. If we all switch to drinking bottled, where does that leave those that cannot afford bottled? It would just create one more way that the poor are marginalized, that people don't have access to the healthcare they need, and for injustices to occur. Water should not be a "class thing"--it should not be a status symbol. Our public, clean water is for all in the community, and in order to maintain the regulations and attention the water systems need, we must all drink tap water in order that those who cannot afford to drink privatized water that corporations are getting rich off of, are ensured this basic right, and this one attempt to equalize us all.
Giving up on tap water would just create one more challenge for those in poverty to face, one more divide between rich and poor. Free, clean, healthy, drinkable water is a human right.
Join me, pledge to drink your local tap water. Do it for your health, the health of our planet, and the health of your neighbors. Don't let corporations and the 1% get rich off our basic human rights.
--Megan
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