The other day I rushed into a grocery store to grab a snack for my daughter and her friend before taking them to track. 
As we waited in line to pay, Lily (the friend,) asked if I could buy some water for her. I must have looked at her in horror, as I haven’t bought a plastic bottle of water in a looooong time and honestly the thought of having to pay for a plastic bottle filled with nothing other than filtered tap water was super-irritating. Having visions of her telling her mom that Lola’s mom wouldn’t buy her any water when she was gasping with thirst, I had to oblige and made her promise to recycle it. World water day is this week and the bottled water industry is getting a mighty hard time from consumers who are sick of having the wool pulled over their eyes. I love The Story of Bottled Water Video, created by the producers of The Story of Stuff. It’s hugely entertaining, especially for children and I made sure that the lovely little Lily got to see it when she next came over to play.
Bottled water really is an eco-nightmare and a con. Most plastic bottles wind up in the landfill and even the ones that we diligently recycle, often end up in someone else’s backyard (India or China). A high percentage of bottled water in the US is simply filtered tap water and interesting the filtering method used is Reverse Osmosis, which wastes an incredible amount of water. The other thing I dislike about Reverse Osmosis is that it not only removes pollutants, but also the good minerals too. One of the best investments you can make is a water filtration system that uses granular activated carbon. These systems remove what you don’t want and retain the calcium, magnesium and other minerals that your body needs. I highly recommend a LifeSource Water System – an great extremely green company too.
So if you haven’t already, (and I’m sure I’m preaching to the choir), get a stack of reusable water bottles for every member of your family. Get large bottles, so you’re unlikely to run out during the day. My personal favorites are BPA-free plastic bottles, as I like to be able to see that the bottle is clean (harder to see with stainless steel). My exception is when I want to get really fancy with a beautiful US Canteen (pictured above), which is a gorgeous stainless-steel old-fashioned style canteen in a very stylish carrier. It’s great for hiking, as there’s a little pouch for you iTouch/iPod and a zippered pocket on the back for keys. My daughter is dying for one – but I explained that it’ll be quite a few weeks of getting that chore chart ticked off before we can even consider such an indulgence!
I also highly recommend going to Food and Water Watch this week to support their Take Back The Tap Campaign.
Dear Sophie: I to hate bottle water.I recently purchased bpa free reuseable water container.However I still have a battle with my teenage daughter who continues to buy bottled water because thats what her friends do.They think its a good thing to buy all these fancy waters because they are cooler or better for them.So buy example I am hoping to encourage my daughter to stop buying bottled water.My husband and I are looking into getting a water filtration system put in for our home.I hope this will encourage our family to drink more water without the use of buying needless water bottles.The cost of making and shipping a bottle of water to the consumer is expensive.Its like pouring a quarter cup of oil in each bottle a person buys,that is how expensive it costs.Needless water bottles fill our landfills to.So I am going to keep positive and make sure I dont buy bottles of water..