Step 5: Say NO to Bottled water!

This is a difficult switch for most people as we have all been so brainwashed that bottled/mineral water is better for us than any other water that if you mention that you drink tap water, people goggle at you as though you just said you are a cannibal! Did you know that in the United States (the largest consumer of bottled water), 24 percent of bottled water sold is either Pepsi’s Aquafina or Coke’s Dasani and that both brands are bottled, purified municipal water? ARGH! Not to forget the harsh reality that the plastic bottles this water comes in, take 400-1000 years to degrade, are single use and do not guarantee that chemicals – like Bisphenol A or BPA, the plasticizer used to make clear, hard plastic,  leach onto the water with prolonged keep or when exposed to sunlight or a heat source. WHAT?! What chemical leakage? Have a look here, from breast cancer.org Scary, huh?

Only 10% of the cost of bottled water goes to the actual water, the other 90% goes to the packaging, transportation and marketing.

Here is what you should do:

1. Check the safety of your tap water, from your municipality. If it is safe, DRINK IT!
2. If you don’t like the taste of your tap water, I strongly suggest you use a filter which you can either put into the plumbing or stick to your tap or, buy a  flask with a changeable filter. I am not keen on these flasks as most are made from plastic. I have a filter I stick on to my tap and every x time, I change the filtering cartridge – easy peasy, no more lugging of 8 litre plastic bottles, no more stress because “The water just finished, OMG!”(End of the world). The filter with a new cartridge is about 50€ and subsequent cartridges (to be changed every 3 months) cost about 25€. Doesn’t sound cheap but, I was spending about 46€ buying bottled water in the same time frame!
3. If your tap water is unsafe, boil your water. Not everyone can afford filters and this is a good option to kill most germs. You can also use a water purifier with a pump or an ultraviolet purifier.

There, you can check another item off your initial list 🙂