As consumers hunker down to cope with hard economic times, an environmental group in Washington has offered a suggestion for saving money: Get your water from the faucet not a bottle.
That's what we suggest, too. Bottled water costs on average $10 a gallon and mostly comes from the same sources that tap water comes from. Last year, Americans spent more money on bottled water than they did on Ipods or movie tickets: $15 billion! What a waste of money!
In a time of economic instability, we all need to think of ways to save money.
Top 10 Ways to Save Money:#1: Kick The Bottled Water Habit!
Check this interesting story from the New York Times:
New York Times Editorial, October 17th:
The Environmental Working Group released a report Wednesday that charged that some bottled waters were “no different than tap water.” And it found fertilizer residue, pain medication and other chemicals in some major brands.
While a lot of bottled water may be as pure as promised in those alluring commercials, the real problem is telling which is which. Public water supplies are regulated by the federal government. Not so for bottled water. The Food and Drug Administration does have some oversight, but bottled water is not very high on their long list of priorities.
The International Bottled Water Association, which represents most of the industry, has voluntary standards to make sure there are no contaminants. The association encourages (but does not require) bottlers to release pertinent information about what’s in their water when consumers call and ask.
Among the states, so far only California has set strict standards to make sure carcinogens and other contaminants are not being sold as something purer than that mountain stream usually pictured on the labels.
Some metropolitan water is better than others, of course, and New Yorkers are proudly unafraid to ask for their four-star tap water at the fanciest restaurants. The federal government requires all public water works to tell consumers once a year what is in their water and whether it meets federal standards.
Those public reports are not always as helpful as they should be. Some are printed in ant-size type and best understood by chemists. But at least they are readily available, and the same detail should be publicly available for bottled water.
For the extra cost and the promise of added purity — and the mound of plastic in landfills — that bottled water should be as good or even better than the less-expensive stuff that comes out of a tap. And consumers should be able to see certified data that prove it.
