Rethink using bottled water
The Traveler Editorial Board
Issue date: 9/19/08 Section: Opinion
Last year, Americans drank 8.8 billion gallons of bottled water, and that number has been increasing between seven and 10 percent each year since 2000, according to the International Water Bottle Association.
A common reason many people choose bottled water over the regular tap variety is because of the taste preference. Tap water often is treated with chlorine and can cause an aftertaste, according to the IWBA, while bottled water generally uses ozonation or ultraviolet light to disinfect it, which eliminates the aftertaste.
Bottled water shouldn't be so glorified.
Yes, tap water certainly can carry an aftertaste, particularly if your water source is a lake, such as Lake Fayetteville. However, that water still is treated and purified to the Environmental Protection Agency's standards.
Bottled water also often lacks fluoride - which is essential to healthy teeth - and supplements are recommended for those who regularly drink bottled water without fluoride, according to an article in FDA Consumer magazine.
Add to that the fact that many water bottles don't make their way to recycling plants and suddenly, bottled water doesn't seem so appealing.
So think about it. Is it really worth it to buy bottled water when you could have just turned on the faucet? With the energy it requires to make bottled water and the gross amount of waste those bottles produce, justifying living off of bottled water simply seems frivolous.
Reusable water bottles are the most practical way for students to get their eight glasses a day and prevent environmental waste. If students don't like the taste of local tap water, they can purify it themselves with a reusable filter, or they can try adding a lemon.
The UA Sustainability Council is proposing that students, faculty, staff and visitors rethink their use of bottled water, and we also think other measures should be taken to reduce water-bottle waste. UA officials could perhaps even hand out some free, reusable water bottles as an added incentive (BPA-free, please).
But whether the nearly 20,000 UA students suddenly receive free Hog water bottles in the mail, they need to consider if bottled water is worth the environmental price.
A common reason many people choose bottled water over the regular tap variety is because of the taste preference. Tap water often is treated with chlorine and can cause an aftertaste, according to the IWBA, while bottled water generally uses ozonation or ultraviolet light to disinfect it, which eliminates the aftertaste.
Bottled water shouldn't be so glorified.
Yes, tap water certainly can carry an aftertaste, particularly if your water source is a lake, such as Lake Fayetteville. However, that water still is treated and purified to the Environmental Protection Agency's standards.
Bottled water also often lacks fluoride - which is essential to healthy teeth - and supplements are recommended for those who regularly drink bottled water without fluoride, according to an article in FDA Consumer magazine.
Add to that the fact that many water bottles don't make their way to recycling plants and suddenly, bottled water doesn't seem so appealing.
So think about it. Is it really worth it to buy bottled water when you could have just turned on the faucet? With the energy it requires to make bottled water and the gross amount of waste those bottles produce, justifying living off of bottled water simply seems frivolous.
Reusable water bottles are the most practical way for students to get their eight glasses a day and prevent environmental waste. If students don't like the taste of local tap water, they can purify it themselves with a reusable filter, or they can try adding a lemon.
The UA Sustainability Council is proposing that students, faculty, staff and visitors rethink their use of bottled water, and we also think other measures should be taken to reduce water-bottle waste. UA officials could perhaps even hand out some free, reusable water bottles as an added incentive (BPA-free, please).
But whether the nearly 20,000 UA students suddenly receive free Hog water bottles in the mail, they need to consider if bottled water is worth the environmental price.
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