Where does your water come from??

Earth Day is next week, so here's some inspiration to be more eco-friendly... AND save some money while you're at it! (Who doesn't love that!?)

Here's an article (from Reader's Digest) about bottled water that is very enlightening.
http://www.rd.com/your-america-inspiring-people-and-stories/rethink-what-you-drink/article51807.html

I was never much of a drinker of it anyway, due to the fact that I find it hard to spend money on something I could get for free. After I learned about the production that goes into the bottles and the fossil fuels used to transport it, I gave it up for good and invested in a reusable aluminum bottle.

Another informative article full of inspiration:
http://planetgreen.discovery.com/food-health/donot-drink-bottled-water.html

And if you don't feel like reading, this documentary looks interesting:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=72MCumz5lq4
Movie trailer for "Tapped"

My favorite quote from the trailer:
"Bottled water is the greatest advertising and marketing trick of all time."



Some interesting points from the Reader's Digest article (in italics):

• "...But more than 25 percent of it comes from a municipal supply...This year Aquafina will begin stating on labels that its H2O comes from public water sources. And Nestlé Pure Life bottles will indicate whether the water comes from public, private or deep well sources. Dasani acknowledges on its website, but not on the label itself, that it draws from local water."
  
  Surprise! You're drinking tap water.
  
  
  
• "In 1999 the NRDC tested more than 1,000 bottles of 103 brands of water. (This is the most recent major report on bottled water safety.) While noting that most bottled water is safe, the organization found that at least one sample of a third of the brands contained bacterial or chemical contaminants, including carcinogens, in levels exceeding state or industry standards. Since the report, no major regulatory changes have been made and bottlers haven't drastically altered their procedures, so the risk is likely still there."
  
  And..... it might be worse than your own tap water.
  
  
  
• "It's not just where you store your water, but what you do with it as you carry it with you. Many people sip from a bottle that's been sitting in a hot car, a potentially dangerous move. 'Leaving bottled water out in the car changes the chemical equilibrium so that the materials from the plastic go into the water faster,' says Smith."
  
  Mmmm...... plastic.
  
  

It seems like the biggest reason I am told why people drink bottled water is: "It's convenient!" Maybe to some it's convenient to spend money on something that costs more than gasoline (in some cases), but could easily be obtained for free? Rather than using, you know, a thermos. Which is a one-time purchase. Because that would be totally inconvenient.