Enjoy Your Bottled... Tap Water?

Maldives is 99% sea. Much of the empty water bottles are thrown in the sea and end up destroying the beautiful reefs and other wild life.

fiЯas has contributed a photo to this story.

using plastic bottles is simply irresponsible.

L_aurenS_haw has contributed a photo to this story.

These are rows of bottled water at my local supermarket. Bottled water is a waste of resources. Tap water in a safe reusable container (e.g. stainless steel bottle) is best.

rakerman has contributed a photo to this story.

my shot

gabism has contributed a photo to this story.

My shot is here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/avirtualunknown/2818359001/

It is a Toronto Transit bus shelter that has an advertisement for Toronto Public Works to promote the use of tap water as a greener alternative to bottled water.

Definitely a good idea, even if you have a plastic bottle re use it! or recycle it!...the possibilties are endless...:) (perhaps only readers from the uk will get that...)

Just a Temporary Measure has contributed a photo to this story.

This is what I did here....the water I drink is only from the tap....

NYC tap water is rather tasty. Unexpected but true!

It's mind-boggling to me that we spend our hard-earned cash flow on a resource that's available to us at virtually no cost: yes, tap water! I recently read in the book "Green Chic" that 25% of bottled water is -- no joke -- tap water. Not only that, but since U.S. tap water is more strictly regulated, it's less likely to contain bacteria and other unpleasant chemicals. 

So, what exactly are we PAYING for with bottled water? Oh yeah: non-biodegradable planet pollution, escalating emissions, and increased oil prices. 

If you're still worried, just buy a filter (much cheaper than supporting a bottle habit in the long run). 

Then you know what to do: tap that glass! 

ticky23 has contributed a photo to this story.

Americans throw away 2.5 million plastic bottles an hour! This plastic takes millions of year to fully degrade, and most of it ends up in our oceans where sea animals confuse it for food thereby contaminating our very own food chain. Not to mention the harmful chemicals used to make and contained in everything made from plastic that can cause cancers, and birth defects.
Because of all of this I choose to use a Klean Kanteen, made from stainless steel to drink my water, and I always get that water from the tap.

seaotter22 has contributed a photo to this story.

i stopped buying plastic watter bottles many years ago, ever since i learned that plastic is not degradable, and that producing new plastic causes pollution. also i learned that you can only recycle plastic once or twice (and that process itself causes additional pollution). bottom line, we should all think about minimizing our plastic consumption. i drink tap water which taste good enough, and carry my pwn bottle whenever i go.

eliyah has contributed a photo to this story.

We've been refilling water bottles for years in our house. Paying for water is just STUPID.

Then recently, I discovered these Sigg water bottles. They come in all sizes, have different options for tops, and have way cool designs. And best of all, they are recyclable when the time comes to toss them away (after years of use!).

Wicked Stepmom has contributed a photo to this story.

Plastic not only damages the environment, it takes around 1000 years to break down if not recycled properly. If using plastic, use it wisely!

Rene

I have been reusing water bottles for years now. I am glad to see it is becoming more widely used and i hope everyone catches on.

celica8135 has contributed a photo to this story.

Everywhere I walk in our Aussie bushland I find used water bottles. Our tap water is perfectly safe to drink, but it seems trendy to have a bottle in your hand. Bottled water often has salt added and it isn't safe to reuse the bottles over and over. I have been drinking tap water for 61 years and I'm healthy and happy. We are so lucky to even have clean water..

61eternity has contributed a photo to this story.

I am an environmentalist of sorts and I understand everyone's argument about plastic bottles being bad for the environment, because they are, but I'm getting tired of hearing this nonsense about bottled water companies like Dasani being in the wrong because they bottle tap water.  First of all, they bottle REVERSE OSMOSIS tapwater, which is completely different and secondly, if you lived in the southwestern United States like I do, you would know the difference immediately.  Don't believe me?  Come to southern New Mexico and drink the tap water.  I dare ya.

This is a bottle of water that I used for three consecutive days sometime in June 2008. It fueled me that long because I was able to refill it instead of buying another one. PET bottles are more useful as containers for refill. So start recycling now.

yoradyl has contributed a photo to this story.

The only solution to rid bottled water is to fix water purification systems, and let pure healthy water run in from the taps in your own homes.

THE SO CALLED BOTTLED WATER IS JUST FILTERED MUNCIPAL TAP WATER IN FANCY PACKING SOLD TO US.......

Get me some contact details and i shall introducw a water purification system to eliminate the bottled water plague