No More Bottled Water!

I don't usually get on my soap box but I've been bothered lately so I decided that I'd hop on up for a few minutes.  With the prices of just about everything on the rise and our home values plummeting many of us are left feeling rather helpless.  We wonder where we can cut back, how we can fill our gas tank and put groceries on the table without changing the lifestyle that we've all gotten used to.  I'm in that boat too but I've vowed to make at least one change in what I buy and use.  No more bottled water!

I can be rather thick at times.  It can take me a while to see what's right in front of me.  This week I had a revelation.  Why this week?  I don't know.  It's not like there is any new information that has not been said before, but this week I realized that drinking bottled water is just plain stupid and I really don't like to think of myself as a stupid person.

 

First of all, we've all heard about the negative effects of BPA which can leach from plastic bottles into the water we drink.  But did you know that it takes anywhere from 3 to 5 liters of water to bottle 1 liter?  Or, that enough oil to run 100,000 cars for one year is used in the manufacture of plastic bottles with more used to transport the water and bottles before and after they are filled?  And, 90% of all plastic bottles are not recycled!  Did you know that?  Neither did I.  There's much more that I didn't know and the articles on Wikipedia.org and Treehugger.org were eyeopening for me.

 

Imagine, for every plastic bottle or bag that we use we are causing gas prices to go up.  Well, maybe that's a little simplistic, but really, when I think of all the plastic water bottles alone that I've recycled since the January 1^st it's shocking.  Imagine all the other plastic products that we use and discard without even thinking twice about it.  I, for one, am ashamed of myself and I vow to change my wasteful ways.

 

I've begun with bottled water, no more for me.  I've always requested paper over plastic bags but even that is not good enough so I'm carrying reusable grocery bags from now on. There are many other things that we can all do and I hope you'll join me, starting with bottled water.

 

In this day and age there really is no excuse for us not to know what effects we are having on the world. The choices we all make have a direct effect on how we live, we're feeling it more right now, so let's all do something.  I think we can make a difference!

Comments

[Eirlys (AKA the Knackered Hackette)]

Bravo! This is a great opportunity to live a little more lightly. Here's to tap water (possibly home-filtered) in vintage glasses, and reusable shopping bags - relatively glamorous fabric versions are always an option. Imagination is the only limitation. Thanks for getting on your soapbox, just this once. Appreciated.