Ditch the bottled water to save money and the environment. According to MSLK’s Watershed art piece that raises awareness about the consumption of bottled water, the US consumes 1,500 water bottles every second. Yes that’s every second. That comes out to 64,800,000 (~65 million) water bottles a day and 23,652,000,000 (~23.65 trillion) a year. The Watershed also states that 80% of those water bottles end up in landfills even though there are recycling programs available. Those are some very sobering facts about the waste the the US is creating just from bottled water.

Personally I’ve been bringing a water bottle with tap water to work everyday instead of drinking bottled water. It makes even more sense to use a water bottle now since New York implemented the 5 cent deposit on bottled water. I did a little basic math to figure how much money I’m saving using a water bottle.

32 bottle case of Poland Springs from BJ’s Wholesale Club
$4.99 per case = $0.15 per bottle
$0.15 per bottle + $0.05 deposit = $0.20 final cost per bottle
Estimate consumption per week at work
5 bottles per week = 260 bottles per year
My Annual Cost of Bottled Water at Work
260 bottles X $0.20 = $52.00

Minus the cost of purchasing a water bottle, that roughly cost about $5.00, the grand total comes out to be around $47.00 per year. Not a huge number in savings, but that’s money in the bank for me. On top of that I think my estimated bottled water consumption would also be on the lower end of those who drink bottled water on the regular.

Ditching the bottled water not only saves you money and the environment, it’s probably safer too. Tap water is highly regulated from local, state, and federal levels for quality compared to bottled water which has no real governing body. There hasn’t been enough evidence yet but there have been concerns that the chemicals used in the plastic of bottled water could seep into the water itself. The simple answer is tap water which relieves all of those concerns. You may actually be drinking tap water – Bottled water isn’t always pure – It’s not clear where the plastic container ends and the drink begins – Our country’s high demand for oil isn’t just due to long commutes, learn The Truth About Bottled Water.

Other Sobering Facts

• Out of the 50 billion bottles of water being bought each year, 80% end up in a landfill, even though recycling programs exist.
• 17 million barrels of oil are used in producing bottled water each year.
• Bottled water costs 1,000 times more than tap water. Drinking 2 Litres of tap water a day only costs 50 cents per year.
• Plastic leaches toxins into the water, which have been linked to health problems such as reproductive issues and cancer.
• New York City tap water surpasses all federal and state health standards.

- via Treehugger via MSLK

If you think about it you’re buying expensive water that’s available from your tap at a higher quality. A simple easy change that saves you money and the environment, what more could you ask for.

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