When we think about local food, we tend to think about...well... food. But in a Homer Simpson slap-to-the-forehead "DOH!" moment, we realized that good ol' tap water also needs to be on our radar screen. Last year, we made the decision to buy BPA-free water bottles to use with our filtered tap water in an attempt to (a) drink more water by keeping track of it, (b) stop purchasing an appalling number of plastic bottles, and (c) save money in the process. Mission accomplished on all three fronts, but more importantly, we've learned that we are also drinking cleaner, healthier water in the process.
Most communities in the U.S. have strict monitoring requirements for tap water; it turns out that bottled water is actually subject to less testing than tap water in the U.S. For example, while there are regulatory standards limiting phthalates in tap water, there are no legal limits for phthalates in bottled water because of the bottled water industry's successful campaign to stop the FDA from setting a legal limit.
Environmentally, the billions of single-use plastic bottles contribute to global warming on the production and distribution side, and they clog landfills and even the ocean on the disposal side. Most bottles aren't recycled, and even those that are require additional fossil fuel in the process. And here's a really crazy stat for you: according to The Pacific Institute, it takes 3 liters of water to produce 1 liter of bottled water.
There are many environmental and food choices that are complicated and difficult to implement, but this one is pretty much a no-brainer. Obviously, there are many situations when we can't avoid disposables; but for the most part, you'll find us hauling around our snazzy REI waterbottles, feeling healthy, virtuous, and frugal.
For a very thorough discussion of this issue, go to Mother Nature Network.
