Buying bottled water is not the way to save money

There are a few things that every one does every once in a while that does not save any money or help the environment.
Buying bottled water is one of those things.

There are so many other things that you can do than buy a bottle of water with your dollar (or two if you’re buying Evian or Fuji). In my opinion, bottled water is an expensive fad that the bottling companies make more than $30 billion worldwide on. In 2006, bottled water surpassed coffee and milk in volume sales just behind sodas.

One of the things about buying bottled water is that most bottled water actually comes straight from the tap of the bottling companies. In 2005, the NRDC tested 1,000 bottles of 103 brands that made bottled water and found out that some of the brands were contaminated, actually about a third of the bottled waters had levels of contamination. The chemicals and other contaminants that were found in the water included organic chemicals and ARSENIC (in one sample that exceeded limits that are considered allowable under the bottled water industry).

If you’re not getting chemicals in your water then you’re likely getting some other kind of bacteria based on the fact that this tap water sits in the bottle for months (if not longer). I have actually seen pictures from blogs across the internet of “objects” that have shown up in bottled water (including Vitamin Water) that just look gross; and most of it comes from the water settling and sitting on a shelf for months at a time.

Not only could bottled water be potentially harmful to you because of the levels of contamination, it could also be quite harmful to the environment. Most people do not recycle their plastic bottles, and they take hundreds, if not thousands, of years to break down in a landfill. If they are recycling, then it wastes even more fossil fuels to actually break down the plastic to recycle it.

So what is the alternative?

Well, my family has started to save money (and the environment) by buying a Brita pitcher and making our own “bottled” water by using BPA-free bottles. If you don’t want to try to find a BPA free plastic, an aluminum bottle will do the same trick. You can make GALLONS of bottled water on one filter, and really, the filters only cost between $6-$10 each. If your family enjoys the lack of taste in bottled water, I’m sure that filtered water will also get their attention, and it will end up saving you a bunch of money in the end.