More and more people are realizing the importance of living a healthy life, taking care of yourself and the importance of paying attention to what you eat and drink. We have seen a growth of people working out, veganism has grown 500% since 2014 in the U.S. and as this is the first year when bottled water consumption has surpassed the consumption of soft drinks.
While these statistics prove a change which should be supported, more people are living a health-conscious lifestyle, there’s another side to it. When we make our choices on what we consume, health shouldn’t be our only concern. In order to be able to keep our health in the future, we also have to think about sustainability.
The word “sustainability” sounds dull and most probably the majority automatically connects it with obligations, limitations and difficulties. While there are new trends, like zero-waste lifestyle which do require focus and determination, but there are several ways we can reduce our ecological footprint, reduce the toll we take on the environment. It all comes down to the little things in our daily habits.
Just asking the waiter to not put a straw in your drink can already make a difference. Did you know that 500 million straws are used every day in the U.S. alone which is 175 Billion a year? What use is the use of a straw in our drink anyway? Same applies to bottled water. Not only are we polluting but we are also wasting an enormous amount of money.
One can say that bottled water is worth it, because it is healthier than tap water. This is a general mindset our society has because of the advertisements but actually, there’s more to it. In the United States, tap water can be considered safer and healthier than bottled water because while tap water is controlled by the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency), bottled water is considered “food” from a legal point of view and is therefore regulated by the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) which has less strict regulations than the EPA.
So if it’s not a health issue, then why are we drinking bottled water? Some say it still tastes better, which is a personal opinion but it is then still to decide if that is worth the price difference. Bottled water can cost 2000 times more than tap water. And if not for health or an economical reason, we should avoid drinking bottled water to help the environment. We drink 11.7 billion gallons of bottled water a year which contributes strongly to the 79 million plastic bottles we discard every single day. To read more shocking facts like these, take a look at the following infographic!
What this really shows us that paying attention to details really pays off, may that be taking a closer look at what we eat, what we drink and how we do it. Let’s try to live a healthy life, healthy for us and for the environment.
Great article as always!!! But perhaps there are additional things that come to play in the story of water.
* Where I live the local water treatment plant has failed in a number of past years to pass EPA standards… WHOPS
*Tap water still requires a container. Use a paper cup? You have now traded straws for paper cups. No won ever uses a cup more than once. Use a plastic or glass container…hum, that means extra water plus pollutant dish soap and extra water treatment… maybe not so good!
Additionally… here we are said to have a water shortage. Doing extra dishes or worse extra loads in the dishwasher so as to have the necessary drinking vessels may not be that good.
* Tap water has fluoride, bummer! So get a whole house water treatment system. No floride in the shower or used in cooking. That sounds good… A bit expencive. Renters may not want the expense. You still need glasses to drink. Okay so go to your local market and refill gallon jugs for in home use and don’t shower.
And finally… I tend to enjoy spring water. Unfortunately my tap does not offer that option.
I do not have the answeres and perhaps there are several to choose from depending on your situation. It is my hope that you are smarter than the avarage water drinker and will arrive at a GREAT answer.
I think I will sit and think while I sip a Pellagria with lime.
If your city water is not good, you could always try to source out a local spring and use glass carboys to fill up. We can only do our best.