Bottled water is so convenient, isn’t it. In fact, many billions of dollars have been spent on advertising campaigns to show us how cool you are if you use bottled water. But the tide is changing. More and more people are speaking out against bottled water, and even banning it in some places. Why the change?
Did you know that when a study was launched to find the best tasting water in America, the winner was did not come from a spring somewhere in main but the from the taps of New York City? I am not kidding. Growing up in New York, it took me quite a while to get used to water elsewhere, and to this day, despite our modern well water treatment system and filtration, my father brings his own tap water when he comes for a visit.
Bottled water contributes excess waste to the planet, it costs valuable resources to manufacture, process and ship, and may even be hazardous for you. According to the organization Food and Water Watch, as much as 40 percent of bottled water is really tap water anyway. And while city tap water must be tested every quarter, bottled water is only tested once a year.
Other health hazards to bottled water include chemical compounds that make up the bottles themselves, such as BPA, which has been shown to cause a number of developmental issues and health concerns, especially in children. DEHA, BBP and bacteria due to the porous plastic are all concerns.
There is also another dark side of bottled water. As consumers increase their consumption of bottled water, there is less of a need to support funding for public water systems, and this could be disastrous in terms of having clean, safe, plentiful water available to all of us. Invest in a safe, reusable BPA-free water bottle and learn more at www.foodandwaterwatch.org.
You can read more blog posts by Mary Ann Romans here!
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