A great John Stossel report that compares NYC tap water with 5 bottled waters, ranging from Evian to the Kmart brand.  It’s really surprising to hear how “unsafe” people believe their water is.  If they really feel that way, wouldn’t it make more sense to buy a simple filter?  They’d save money and eliminate the possibility of any leaching.  Do they realize that 25% of bottled water is just tap water anyway? Check out the 20/20 Bottled Water Taste Test

Check out this hilarious Bottled Water Taste Test by Penn and Teller on You Tube.  How easily people buy into “Mount Fuji Water!”

Rodin's Thinker understands the impact of a small, mindful choice!

Being mindful of our actions is something that I try to impress upon my kids. But it’s not just being mindful about the big things.  Small changes can add up to a huge difference.  If you’ve been buying one case of 1/2 Liter disposables for $6.00 a week, by switching to a reusable water bottle from H2Ox2.com, you would have…

Saved yourself $312.00. (I didn’t add in the 31 cents that the same amount tap water you would have   to pay for!)  If you don’t like your water, that will pay for a $118.00 filter and leave you lots of extra!

Saved 156 liters of oil! It takes 1/4 of a bottles volume in oil to produce it.

Saved at least 624 liters of water! To produce these bottles, estimates are that it takes between 2 and 3 times their volume in water waste.

Made a great choice - to deny our evergrowing landfills of more plastic waste.

Made a great choice to have one less bottle recycled!  While we support recycling, the better choice is to REDUCE!  Remember, they aren’t made into more plastic bottles…why do you think fleece is so cheap?

Think about it…Living a mindful life can be very inspiring.  It doesn’t take a huge change to make a huge difference.

The ecological impact that disposable PET bottles have on our environment is pretty simple and widespread.  The economical impact that giving up the disposables can bring is fantastic.  Did you know that bottled water costs about 1,000 times more than tap water and is not as well regulated.  Don’t like your tap water?  Buy an inexpensive filter.  It doesn’t take too many trips to Costco to stock up on bottled water to pay for a new filter.

For each gallon of water that’s bottled, estimates are that it takes an extra two bottles to process it.  So, it’s wasting money and water.  Top that with the amount of oil it takes to produce and distribute water bottles and you’d use enough to fuel 1 million cars in our country for a year.  Oh, and their production creates of 2.5 million tons of carbon dioxide.

Anyway you look at it, it just doesn’t add up.  Convenient and trendy - but certainly not fiscally or environmentally responsible.

Take the Pledge to Break the Bottled Water Habit.

I pledge to Break the Bottled Water Habit by Thinking Outside the Bottle and using a reusable water bottle instead of buying bottled water. I also pledge to support the efforts of local officials to stop spending public funds on bottled water and prioritize strong public water systems over bottled water profits.

Check out the Break the Bottled Habit website for useful tips and information to make your switch to reusable bottles even easier as well as even more reasons to stop buying them. Click here for your link.

Take a few minutes to make yourself heard.  We’ll give you 10% off of the bottle of your choice throughout October if you do Break the Bottle Habit! Just send us a comment and let us know you’ve done it and we’ll send you the coupon code!

The people at www.foodandwaterwatch.org have created the following tip sheet about why we should all use tap water instead of bottled.  Check out their extremely informative website and take their pledge to Take Back The Tap!   Follow this link to take the pledge:  http://www.democracyinaction.org/dia/organizationsORG/fwwatch/petition.jsp?petition_KEY=569

Common Questions and Answers About Tap Water

Water is one of few common resources on which all of us depend for life, so it’s important for us to be responsible stewards. Read on to learn about some of the potential dangers hiding in your tap, what you can do about them, and how you can be drinking in a cleaner, healthier community.

Q: Why should I drink tap water instead of bottled water?

A: Over the course of a year, tap water costs hundreds or thousands less than bottled water and is just as clean and healthy as bottled water.

Q: How do I find out whether my tap water is safe?

A: Contact your local utility to request a copy of the Annual Water Quality Report, also referred to as the Consumer Confidence Report. This report is required by law to provide information about contaminant violations in the water system. EPA posts many of these results on its website.

Local health departments often provide testing services or have lists of accredited laboratories that do the testing.

Q: What can I do if my water is contaminated?

A: Select a filter that removes the particular contaminants that are present.

Q: Can a filter remove chlorine and fluoride?

A: When it comes to chlorine, the answer is “yes.” Most water filters remove or reduce this chemical disinfectant.
On the other hand, fluoride is more of a challenge. Typically, only reverse osmosis filters and distillation units reduce or remove it.

Q: My water tastes funny. What can I do about it?

A: Odd tasting water does not necessarily mean that it is unhealthy or contaminated. The taste could be due to chlorination or to the mineral content in the water, depending on the region of the state or country. A home filtration system is the best solution to this problem.

Q: What kind of reusable bottle should I use to carry tap water?

A: Many people have concerns about plastic food containers and beverage bottles because some chemicals in the plastic can leach into the contents. For this reason, Food & Water Watch recommends either stainless steel or lined aluminum bottles.

Q: Should I reuse disposable plastic bottles?

A: The disposable PET #1 plastic bottles in which beverages are sold cannot be properly cleaned and, over time, may leach plastic components into the water. Therefore, they should not be reused.

Q: What is a contaminant?

A: Water is very rarely pure H2O. It tends to grab particles from things it passes and brings them along for the ride. Whether flowing in a mountain stream or pouring out of your faucet, water usually contains more than just oxygen and two hydrogen atoms. Some of these piggybackers are harmless, but many are not.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, which oversees the safety of tap water, currently regulates 87 different contaminants. The agency recognizes but does not regulate an additional 51 contaminants.

It seems that people are starting to understand the environmental and financial impact of bottled water.  Bottled water sales are flattening out as consumers realize they can save serious money and drink tap water that’s better regulated.

Watch CBS Videos Online‘ >Is Bottled Better?

CBS News report about bottled water versus tap.  The conclusion is no surprise.