post off: what kind of water do you drink?
There’s been a lot of talk this week about how all the bottled water we’ve been drinking is really horrific for the environment. The New York Times reports it takes 1.5 billion gallons of oil to make all the plastic water bottles American use. So while drinking bottle water is considered both chic and good for you, eco-savvy consumers are starting to look for another option. We love these Insanely Pretty Reusable Water Botttles by Sigg, and with an in-house filter (Angela uses an under-the-counter PUR filter in her kitchen) attached to the sink, it’s be easy enough to fill up and bring your own. We are going to try to remember to do this, especially when we go to the movies or on long drives (when we often make bit stops for a bottle of Fiji). Another option is to get a crock and set up your own cooler at home. (See Allison’s example here). What about you? What kind of water do you drink? Straight from the tap or you an Evian-devotee? Fess up!
August 16th, 2007 at 5:51 am
Well…i don’t live in the US, here we use 5 gallon water bottles. I think its very helpful the company takes it and clean them to use them again. So i think is good to the environment.
August 16th, 2007 at 6:12 am
I have well water and reusable bottles. So I can get amazingly clean cool water anytime from my tap. And when I want to go somewhere I take a reusable, refillable bottle.
August 16th, 2007 at 6:49 am
I’ve always drunk tap water, usually run through a Brita, because I was lucky enough to live in NYC, where the tap water is very, very tasty. And before that I was in Oregon–also Tasty Water Land.
Check out Fast Company’s great story from last month:
http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/117/features-message-in-a-bottle.html
August 16th, 2007 at 7:04 am
Nothing but Lake Michigan cocktails for me!
August 16th, 2007 at 7:17 am
I used to have the 5 gal bottles delivered. There was a deposit on the bottles so it made it easy to to return them. Then I did the math and got an undersink filter system for the less then the cost of a months delivery (and the filter lasts 6 months). I fill sippy cups for the kids or reuse disposable sports bottles for them. (depending on their mood that day they won’t use one or the other)
August 16th, 2007 at 7:56 am
We drink Smart Water around our house… I swear it tastes better.
And then Ozarka to have on hand incase of a dip in water supply (we have a half years supply for 2 people at any given time)
August 16th, 2007 at 8:16 am
From a filter, that’s like an installed water cooler without the bottle (allisons), that you can get hot or cold water from always. Its lined into the tap water. also refilling SEI bottles to go.
August 16th, 2007 at 8:26 am
Brita and tap water, always. I also have a Brita plastic bottle (with its own screw-in filter) for on-the-go water. Once the tap water is filtered and chilled, I think its great. I always found the bottled water phenom puzzling.
However, can’t get on my high horse about plastic usage, coz I am guilty in many other categories. Just can’t see shelling out $$ regularly for water.
August 16th, 2007 at 8:31 am
I confess, I do like Vitamin Water. I try not to consume it daily, though, and I recycle, for whatever that’s worth.
August 16th, 2007 at 8:36 am
The hubby and I drink tap water that is filtered through our refrigerator (an energy efficient door water/ice dispenser). We have these nice, sturdy travel water bottles that we fill up at home when we need water on the go. We didn’t so much do this because we were concerned about the environmen- we’re lazy. It’s soo much easier just to go to the door and get some water than it is to worry with going to the store, buying water, sticking it in the fridge, waiting for it to get cold, consuming it, and then dealing with the bottles.
August 16th, 2007 at 9:04 am
Bottled water isn’t necessarily any better for you than tap water (see this article I wrote on the subject for Real Simple last year: http://www.realsimple.com/realsimple/gallery/0,21863,1170208-3,00.html).
In fact, some bottled water is nothing more than tap water. Plus, bottled water is typically not subject to much government oversight — there was even one case where a company was getting their water from a “spring” near a toxic waste site.
The best bet is to invest in a good water filter.
Happy drinking!
Leah
August 16th, 2007 at 9:25 am
I’ve started reusing all of my plastic water bottles and buying up interesting glass bottles when I find them for water on the go (and at work). I plan to filter out the plastic as soon as I have enough portable glass bottles to keep me in water for awhile. I have no beef with tap water and drink that myself, but I know a lot of people are not so keen so I keep a Brita pitcher in the fridge at all times.
August 16th, 2007 at 9:30 am
I buy bottles when I’m on the run, but I reuse them…refilling them from the Pur tap at home. My cat is a bit relentless about knocking over glasses of water…so having a bottle with a cap keeps our couch dry.
August 16th, 2007 at 9:46 am
We have a well thats ‘downwind’ of the nearest town, so we have an under the sink osmosis filter. These sorts of filters use water to clean the water, but our septic system is laterals so it gets filtered back into the ground where it came from. My grandma gets the huge Culligan water jugs delivered to her house and they taste about the same. When I’m out and need to buy water for any reason, I buy the largest container I can carry and usually refill it with local water at least once before I put it in the recycling bin.
August 16th, 2007 at 11:27 am
We have a RO water filter here at work, and I refill my cup several times a day. Our straight from the tap water is not very good quality, so I always go for the filtered stuff.
August 16th, 2007 at 12:57 pm
We’re all pretty obsessed with using our various SIGG bottles at Delight HQ. We fill them up with Spring Water or Artesian water…pretty much anything that isn’t distilled - which is just glorified tap water. And when I dont have a sigg handy I buy anything that’s spring water as well (FUJI is my all-time fave) and never ever ever Dasani (they add sodium!) or Aquafina (tap water, and it tastes nasty.)
August 16th, 2007 at 5:25 pm
Just installed a Brita filter on my kitchen sink about an hour ago, so I can say with a slowly recovering conscience that I drink filtered tap water now but used to drink bottled water. I avoid tap water because the taste is unpleasant where I live and I don’t trust the city to actually do its job.
At work, we drink distilled deionized water which is what we use for our lab stuff. The water that comes from the taps in the building is frighteningly cloudy whether it is hot or cold.
Calling distilled water “glorified tap water” somewhat misses the point. Distillation as a process does remove a number of things from water. Sorry for being somewhat pedantic, but I’m a scientist and I get that way sometimes.
August 17th, 2007 at 1:47 pm
Since I’m in NYC I drink Tap and refill my plastic bottles when I’m wandering about. I also drink Tap when at my house outside the city, but run it through a Brita because it takes out the coppery taste that the “I haven’t run water for a week through the pipes” leaves. This is a great thing too that I was thinking of purchasing since the bottle won’t leach weird things into the water if I leave it in a hot car :
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B000H20CPY/ref=ord_cart_shr/002-7952843-1745626?%5Fencoding=UTF8&m=A5XKPBVPAEVAT&v=glance
August 19th, 2007 at 6:18 pm
Plain tap water, from a glass - walking too and from the kitchen makes me get up out of my chair during the day.
August 20th, 2007 at 9:36 am
Well, I am in LA, the land of really disgusting tasting water….whch is why we all started the fitered water thing here in the US (sorry). Here, you really do have to drink filtered water. If I do buy a bottle of water out somewhere, I recycle or reuse the bottle with filtered (Brita!) tap.
Wouldn’t this whole problem be alliviated somewhat if they just used glass bottles or sturdier reusable bottles for the water? Some of us don’t drink soda or juice because of the excessive sugar content - water is what we drink. Just re-think the packaging.
August 20th, 2007 at 9:41 am
By the way, why the sudden fixation on water bottles by the press? Most soda and juices come in the very same plastic bottles, from the very same companies - so why is the water suddenly the bad guy? Why isn’t there a push against all plastic bottled bevs?
August 22nd, 2007 at 5:43 am
I keep a regular old pitcher full of water in the fridge at all times. Our water tastes okay, but I think chilling it makes it taste even better. Even non-so-good tasting water tastes better when cold (think about deliciously cold hose water).
I do buy my fair share of bottled water, only because I don’t drink soda. You know how some grocery stores have those big water containers that you can refill yourself? Why don’t they offer water bottle refilling stations for personal sized water bottles? I would be totally happy to do that.
August 23rd, 2007 at 11:06 am
Water from the tap that is filtered via a small little spiket end device (brand ?). In Michigan the beaches get covered with empty water bottles and and spent mylar ballons. Drives me CrAzY !
September 22nd, 2007 at 4:59 pm
OK, this has really been bugging me lately. I got Sigg like containers for our whole family. Mostly we drink filtered water from the fridge. However, I tend to ‘lose’ my cup often. So I started collecting glass bottles I could use and then if need be recycle at a later date.
As if informed to hasten my doom, the companies I was buying glass bottles from have switched to plastic.
Also, we drink alot of water and four people out for the day can consume a heavy amount of water. I wanted a filter that was small that I could use to filter tap water out and about and refill our from home bottles. BUT all the on the go water filters I have found come with a plastic bottle!?!
The whole thing is making me a bit batty.
Have I gone to far? Am I taking this whole icky tap water icky plastic leaching bottle thing to far? Where do I relent?
xoxox,
Amy
November 8th, 2007 at 2:24 am
In the city I live, Shanghai, China - a developing country, tap water is not drinkable. Local people drink boiled tap water or order purified water. The third option is to install a purify system at home. I know foreign travelers only drink non local bottle water.
But I don’t know if this makes sense or not since they drink made-in-China soda such as Pepsi or Diet Coke. Aren’t they made from local tap water?