Bottled water = environmental madness

Mountains of plastic water bottles overflowing in our landfill sites are a common sight these days. Plastic is polluting our oceans and choking our sea creatures. Plastic is even turning up in our tap water and the main source of this plastic is bottled water, the billion dollar industry that is taking something that is essentially free around the world, packaging it, and selling it for profit.

The bottled water industry is bad for the environment. Nearly 80 percent of plastic water bottles simply become litter in a landfill, creating 2 million tons of plastic bottle waste every year. Here are 10 things you might not know about the bottled water industry according to the Wellington Water Watchers, a water conservationist group located in Guelph, Ontario.

• The first case of bottled water sold dates back to Boston, Massachusetts, in the 1760s. Mineral water was bottled and sold by a spa for therapeutic uses.
• For the first time ever, bottled water sales are going to surpass the sale of soda in the US.
• Global consumption of bottled water increases by 10 percent every year. The slowest growth is in Europe, while the fastest growth is in North America.
• The energy we waste bottling water would be enough to power 190,000 homes.
• Food & Water Watch reported that more than half of bottled water comes from the tap
• Bottled water is no safer than tap water. In fact, 22 percent of bottled brands tested contained chemicals at levels above state health limits in at least one sample.
• It takes three times more water to produce a plastic water bottle than it does to fill one.
• The amount of oil used to make a year’s worth of bottles could fill one million cars for a year.
• Only one in five plastic bottles are recycled.
• The bottled water industry made $13 billion in 2014, but it would only cost $10 billion to provide clean water to everyone in the world

We often feel helpless when it comes to finding solutions to environmental problems but this one is straightforward. The solution for eliminating this huge environmental problem is to stop buying bottled water and turn on your tap. Speak to one of our water experts or check our website for information on how you can drink the cleanest, freshest water right from your tap for a fraction of the cost of bottled water. It’s better for you and it’s better for the planet. www.waterionizer.org