You probably know this all ready but today is Earth Day. (Can you believe that Earth Day is 45 years old? Almost as old as me!) But what you probably don’t know is that I have a secret. It is something that has been bothering me more and more over the past few years and today I’m finally going to confess and make a promise to change my behavior.
You see, I’m a drinker of bottled water.
It started when I lived in New Mexico. Our pediatrician said the local water had too much fluoride in it and that my sons shouldn’t drink it so we got a bottled water dispenser and spent our 7 years there drinking bottled water.
It doesn’t help that I grew up on well water and that city water tastes funny to me. Somewhere between funny and downright gross. I’m very fussy about the taste of my water.
But I’ve been feeling badly about all of the water bottles I throw in the recycling. I drink a TON of water!! Every time I take the recycling out and hear those water bottles rattling around my stomach gets tied in a knot. It honestly makes me feel that bad- and then I ran across this statistic today.
If you drink your daily recommended 8 glasses of water per day from the tap, it will cost you about 50 cents per year.If you choose to drink it from water bottles, it can cost you up to $1,400 dollars.
Not only is it costing the earth but it’s costing me more money too.
I decided it was time to get rid of the bottles. TODAY.
Because that’s how I do things.
So I went out and bought two Bobble water bottles. I washed them and I washed and put a filter in my Brita Pitcher. So far today I’m drinking double filtered water and I’m doing OK. It’s not great but I can add things like lime or lemon to it. I’m sure it will just take some getting used to. But I’m determined to stop buying bottled water. It’s my Earth Day Promise.
Do you have an Earth Day Promise? Is there a habit you could change to help the earth?
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I’m so lucky here in western Washington because the city tap water is excellent. When I lived on a boat for 5 years I didn’t drink from the tanks. I cooked with it, washed, etc., I just didn’t like the taste. That’s when I started drinking bottled water. Now that I’m back in a house, I still keep bottled water on my nightstand, but have felt guilty about it. I recycle everything I can, and I’ve been trying to make a sincere effort to avoid plastic packaging, but haven’t quite made the break with bottled water. You’ve inspired me to follow your example, Vicki, and I’m going to try a couple of those Bobble bottles. Thanks!
~Kris~
Oh Kris,
I’m like you and I do my best to be green but that bottled water habit felt so wrong.
Let me know how you do with the tap water. It’s good to know I have you for support!
Day two and counting. 🙂
Vicki
Keep it up, Vicki! We’ll work on it together because the planet needs every little bit of help we can give it! 🙂
~Kris~
Add strawberries & cucumber for even more lovely flavor!
I will definitely try that Laura! 🙂
We have a water faucet filter here at home so we rarely purchase bottled water unless we’re traveling. I loved the infusion with sliced orange idea. Being diabetic we’re very conscious of how much sugar we ingest. I like to put a little Cystal light in my water. Mango tangerine is my fav.
Thanks for the ideas Barbara. I will have to try them ALL! xoxo
We have a faucet water filter.
I have a gallon size pitcher and when I fill that thing with water and slice up an orange into it, we all go crazy drinking it the next day. So much better and more refreshing than lemon.
When the mint is growing wild outside my door, I will bruise a pile of it and throw it in there with a bunch of watermelon chunks (seedless) and that is the bomb diggity the next day. Sometimes I’ll make “to go” water like this in quart mason jars. So. Freakin. Good.
I hope you find a way to not only make this resolution work, but to love it.
It’s a good idea to prepare the flavored water the day before Kelley! Now to remember to do it. 😉
♥
There is a “happy medium” ground. We have well water – high in sulfur – and who knows what else… A few years back we had a reverse osmosis filtering system installed in the house that pumps filtered water anywhere we want it in the house. Google reverse osmosis. It’s exceptionally pure water, tastes great and the cost is a fraction of your bottled water figure. Many of the local water companies can give estimates and demontrations. That’s the water companies that install softeners and deliver water. After intallation, the only cost is the replacememt filters. How often you replace filters depends on how much water you use.
Carol,
Our water isn’t BAD I just don’t like the taste of it. I’m very fussy that way. 😉 ♥
I drink from the tap and add sugar-free flavoring to my water [well water], as well. Sometimes I get bored with it, so sparkle it with my handy-dandy soda streamer, which I can add that sugar-free flavoring too. My reason for not purchasing bottled water are financial, not conservation, etc.
*chuckling* Using your example of bottled water annual costs, do you know how much $1400 could buy in books and crafts materials? *LOL* And now with a granddaughter… I need that $1400 more than ever; making her hair ribbons is a costly venture. 🙂 Then my favorite authors are prolific writers. Its all about priorities… *ROFLOL*
I thought about a few things I’d like to spend the $1400 on Pamela. We are thinking alike! 🙂