Back when I was a kid we always drank water from the faucet and when I first heard of a thing called bottled water it just seemed strange.  Things have changed, big time! In the past 50 years or so more and more people are concerned that toxins are seeping into our water system and bottled water has become the norm.  

I am ashamed to admit that after moving to Europe over 2 decades ago I fell into the trap of buying bottled water for use at home. Our family has since purged ourselves of this "habit" and have now implemented other strategies.

There is an area of plastic the size of Texas floating in the Pacific Ocean. Photo credit

The above graph shows bottled water consumption world wide in billions of liters. Image credit

 Is Drinking Bottled Water Really a Solution or is it Just Propaganda?   

What are the facts about bottled water?  

• While some bottled water does come from springs most is just filtered tap water!
• PET plastic bottles take 700 years just to start decomposing.  
• Only 1 out of 5 plastic bottles is recycled while the rest just becomes litter or a disposal problem 
• There are more than 100 million plastic bottles used in this world every day!   
• In the U.S alone, it takes 1.5 million barrels of oil a year to manufacture plastic water bottles
•  Every second about 1,500 plastic bottles end up in landfills or thrown in the ocean.  
• In the Pacific Ocean there is an area of plastic the size of Texas which has come to be called The Great Pacific Garbage Patch  
•   Plastic is the greatest threat to our marine ecosystem.     
• Plastic bottles contain Bisphenol A which has been linked to diabetes, obesity and cancer. 

All of the above facts make it abundantly clear that bottled water is not a viable solution for providing clean drinking water.

Vortexes cause these two vast areas of accumulated plastics known as The Great Pacific Garbage Patch.  Image credit

  What Can You And I do About This Problem?  

• Take your own container to a place where you can refill it 
• Use a filtration system to purify your tap water  
• In many cases a water test will show that your tap water is actually of higher quality than bottled water

I Saw This Water Dispenser on my Recent Visit to Bra in Italy

On our recent visit to Bra Italy we saw a water dispenser that was located just outside the "downtown" area. In the short time that we were there we saw several people using it to fill up their own re-usable glass bottles. It seemed like a great idea but the dispenser was so vandalized and dirty that I would never feel comfortable using it. 

This could be have been a good idea. Thanks but no thanks! Photo by @kus-knee

Here is the price list to fill the bottles. 3 Euro cents for a liter of natural cold water. I have to say that even the instructions look a little dodgy! I have however, seen similar machines in good condition inside grocery stores where they can be better supervised.

To Lighten Things up Here is Comedian Jim Gaffigan's Routine on Bottled Water!

In conclusion: 

I must say that we should do all that we can to avoid buying water in throw away plastic bottles. In our home the tap water is quite good but we do use a secondary filtration system and I am looking into purchasing a good quality gravity fed filter.

What do You Think About This Problem?

• Are you hooked on using bottled water?
• Are you looking to break the habit?
• What is your source for drinking water?

I hope that you enjoyed this article on "The Shocking Facts Behind Bottled Water!"

Until next time,

@kus-knee (The Old Dog)