bottled water-- WARNING: ?political issue

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I accidentally sent this message before I finished it, so this is actually the complete message. I don't want this to become a divisive issue on the list, so if anyone who wants to debate this with me, email me privately at mamadogrose@....

First off, I want to say that I am not a radical environmentalist, but I do try to help reduce my household waste & I definitely try to save money. This message started out as a simple suggestion & turned into more of a political issue, perhaps. We've had an ongoing struggle with a landfill issue here, so I guess that has influenced my choices.

Terri, I use a filtering pitcher, not so much because I'm worried about water quality, but because the filtered water definitely tastes better. I have 3 gallon milk jugs that I fill with filtered water. I use it for drinking, making tea, coffee, Koolaid, etc. I don't use it for ice cubes; I haven't noticed a difference as the ice melts & since I drink a lot of ice water, I'd be making filtered water all the time. As it is, about once a week, I fill my 3 jugs, when I'm working in the kitchen anyway. It takes about half an hour of filling the pitcher, letting the water filter through, pouring into the jugs, refilling the pitcher. Then I keep the pitcher in the fridge. My grandkids drink a lot of water, which makes me happy. I have a 1-liter reusable sports bottle with an insulated holder. I fill it half-way & keep it in the freezer, then fill to the top to take with me. If I'm going to be gone for several hours, I use a half-gallon insulated jug with a shoulder strap. It really doesn't take much time or energy, and I know it saves me money, even without considering the environmental impact. I only have to buy filters a couple of times a year & they are inexpensive. I'm not willing to spend money buying bottled water, especially since recent reports indicate that most bottled water, even expensive brands, is basically just tap water. I also worry about all those bottles going to landfills. Only about 15% of them are recycled & they don't degrade. For those interested in more info, here are a few websites:http://www.pmmag.com/CDA/Articles/Feature_Article/BNP_GUID_9-5-2006_A_10000000000000120137http://www.chicagotribune.com/services/newspaper/premium/printedition/Sunday/chi-water_bdjul22,0,4662510.story?page=1 This article is good for helping us weigh pros/cons & make our own decisions:http://www.blackwomenshealth.com/Water.htm And for you Canadians, here's an article from Toronto:http://www.citynews.ca/news/news_11772.aspx

And lastly, here is a quote from e.magazine.com ('e' for environmental):

Pat lin, the executive director of the Container Recycling Institute (CRI), says nine out of 10 plastic water bottles end up as either garbage or litter—at a rate of 30 million per day. According to the Climate Action Network, when some plastic bottles are incinerated along with other trash, as is the practice in many municipalities, toxic chlorine (and potentially dioxin) is released into the air while heavy metals deposit in the ash. If plastics are buried in landfills, not only do they take up valuable space, but potentially toxic additives such as phthalates may leak into the groundwater. “It’s ironic that many people drink bottled water because they are afraid of tap water, but then the bottles they discard can result in more polluted water,” says lin. “It’s a crazy cycle.”

I hope no one is offended, but I think that many of us don't realize that the questionable benefit of bottled water probably doesn't outweigh the expense & probable harm.

Ramblin' RoseModerator A merry heart is good medicine. Proverbs 17:22

"How far you go in life depends on your being tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving, and tolerant of the weak and the strong. Because someday in life you will have been all of these."

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