Is drinking bottled water the solution?
Evidently, many people believe so.
Drinking bottled water opens up a whole new set
of health and environmental concerns.
Bottled water represents, by far, the fastest growing segment of the beverage industry with annual sales exceeding $11 billion.
How has the bottled water industry created such a demand for a commodity that's available for free?
By slick marketing tactics and taking advantage of lax governmental regulations.
Playing the message that bottled water is cleaner, and therefore healthier, the bottled water industry has successfully created one of the most incredulous scams of the century.
Here's how you've been duped:
- Studies reveal that about 40 percent of bottled water is actually regular tap water with possibly no additional filtering treatment.
- The EPA standards that apply to public water supplies do NOT apply to bottled water
- There are no restrictions protecting against a source of bottled water being located near industrial facilities or waste dumps.
- Overall, bottled water is less regulated than tap water.
- A recent Environmental Working Group test uncovered 38 contaminants in 10 brands of bottled water, including DBPs, nitrate, caffeine, arsenic, Tylenol, bacteria and industrial chemicals.
The Problem with Water Bottles
In the time it takes you to read just this one short sentence, over 8,000 empty water bottles are being thrown away worldwide.
According to the Container Recycling Institute, in the U.S. alone, more than 67 million plastic water bottles are discarded each day. That's enough empty plastic water bottles to…
- Fill 5500 garbage trucks each day.
- Bury Manhattan Island one foot deep each day.
- Wrap around the planet 149 times each year!
Not easily degraded, empty plastic water bottles have become a major contributor to worldwide pollution.
In fact, water bottles make up a sizable portion of the garbage patch of discarded plastic swirling in the Pacific Ocean just a few hundred miles off the coast.
This enormous plastic "stew" is currently larger than twice the size of Texas and growing rapidly!
The waste issue is not the only problem. According to the Sierra Club, the U.S. alone uses 1.5 million barrels of oil to produce all the water bottles we toss each year.
And along with oil, comes unwanted toxins. The processing of plastic water bottle releases toxic compounds such as nickel, ethylbenzene, ethylene oxide, and benzene into the environment.
What I Believe is the Best Way to Protect Your Child (and Yourself) Against Unsafe Drinking Water
As I mentioned earlier, I believe that the best way to protect you and your child against the uncertainty of drinking water outside your home is to pack clean water you trust from home.
And, of course, you want pure and clean water in a safe, non-toxic, and reusable container.
My personal favorite, and the kind I use myself, is glass. Glass is non-toxic and does not leach any undesirable contaminants.
That's why I am now offering a 27-ounce glass bottle. It's the perfect alternative to plastic water bottles. Not only will you be saving the environment from excessive garbage, but you'll also be saving your family from potentially harmful toxins.
If breakage concerns you, you can get a Tote to slip on the outside to protect the bottle. It'll also help keep your beverage cool.