Bottled water is something you can and should give up!
Posted on Tuesday, October 9th, 2007 at 12:57 pmJust in case you are still on the fence about bottled water, here are even more reasons to give it up and use a reusable bottle for water on the go instead.
- Drinking the recommended daily amount of water using bottled water can cost up to $1,400.00 per year; drinking the same amount from the tap costs around $0.59 for the year, according to an article in the New York Times.
- In 2005, 800 thousand metric tons of carbon equivalent (MTCE) were released into the atmosphere in the process of making approximately 50 billion new PET bottles from virgin rather than recycled materials.
- It actually takes THREE gallons of water to produce ONE drinkable gallon of bottled water.
- According to government and industry estimates, about one-fourth of bottled water is actually bottled tap water (and by some accounts, as much as 40 percent is derived from tap water)—sometimes with additional treatment, sometimes not.
- Not all tap water requires a filter. According to the EPA, over 90% of tap water in the U.S. meets or exceeds water quality standards.
- Millions of gallons of additional water are needed for plastic production and the toxic runoff from this production often ends up polluting local environments.
- The Journal of the National Cancer Institute recently published that chemicals found in plastic bottles contribute to the obesity and diabetes epidemics by producing Bisphenol A and Tributyltin which disrupt hormone function leading to weight gain, diabetes, and cancer.
With information and a call to action, Americans can quickly break their reliance on bottled water. “This is a solvable issue. It’s very easy to attach a water filter right to your kitchen faucet and use a refillable, non-toxic container for water on the go. By breaking the bottled water habit, Americans can reduce carbon emissions that contribute to climate change, help preserve our ever-shortening water supplies, and since bottled water is so expensive, save money doing it,” says New American Dream Executive Director Lisa Wise.
A Chinese man transports plastic bottles and containers for recycling in Haikou, China, on January 29, 2003. China is the world’s third largest consumer of bottled water, according to a new report released by the nonprofit Earth Policy Institute.
Photograph © China Photo/Reuters/Corbis
You should check your facts - you are incorrect in stating that the bottles used for bottled water contains Bisphenol A. PET, which is the type of plastic that most water bottles are made of, DOES NOT contain Bisphenol A. Bisphenol A is a chemical used in polycarbonate plastics (NOT PET). Ironically, many re-usable plastic bottles that you propose we use instead of the PET bottles are made of polycarbonate plastics.
posted on October 9th, 2007 at 1:45 pm“Ironically, many re-usable plastic bottles that you propose we use instead of the PET bottles are made of polycarbonate plastics.”
To clarify, Bisphenol A is a chemical component of polycarbonate plastics (#7). We here at The New Dream recommend that we all give up bottled water and switch to non-toxic stainless steel bottles, or aluminum bottles with a non-leaching liner (some SIGG products).
However, other nasty chemicals ARE found in plastic throw-away bottles. Tributyltin, for example, is found in PVC plastics which are more commonly used in disposable food and beverage containers than polycarbonates.
Dr. Fred Vom Saal at the University of Missouri has been conducting plastics research for years, and he is so convinced of the negative impacts of the chemicals that leach from water bottles, he has eliminated them from his life completely. Dr. Vom Saal’s research focuses on the effects of low-dose fetal exposure of plastic leachates.
Bottom line: nasty chemicals leach out of plastic and they can’t be good for our bodies or our planet.
posted on October 10th, 2007 at 2:37 pm