The Woods

Issue date: 4/29/09 Section: News

By Casey Craig
Staff writer

It isn't an uncommon sight to see an SMWC student struggling to carry up a pack of bottled water to her dorm room. Lots of people these days purchase bottled water. Why not? It's convenient, fast, and it tastes good. It's easy to grab a cold bottle of water from the fridge and head to class, right? But here are some things to consider when you choose bottled water as an alternative over drinking tap water.

Save yourself some money… and time

Almost every college student can relate to not having enough money, so here is a way to save a little cash. A 12-pack of 16 oz Aquafina water is approximately $4.25. If someone drinks four 16oz Aquafina bottles of water per day, which is the daily recommended amount for the average person, then the 12 pack is gone in three days. This means you spend about $9 dollars a week, or $36 dollars a month on bottled water. If you buy water from vending machines around campus, which are normally $1.25 per bottled water, it costs you around $5 a day to get the amount of water you should receive on a daily basis. It adds up. Tap water is free.

Bottled water safer?

Have you ever heard that bottled water is safer for you? This isn't always true. In 2005, ABC news show "20/20" sent five national brands of bottled water samples along with a sample of tap water from a New York drinking fountain to a microbiologist to be tested. What they found was that there was no difference between the bottled water and tap water. Why pay for bottled water, when tap water is just as safe?.

In fact, tap water goes through just as much if not more testing than bottled water does. I know it's reassuring to me to know where my water comes from. The water used at SMWC is fresh and comes from an aquifer close to campus. Who knows where exactly bottled water comes from and how long it sits in those bottles before it gets to you. Actually both top selling brands of water, Dasani and Aquafina, are just reprocessed tap water from different cities. Aquafina even clarified this in 2007 by stating on it label, "It originates from pubic water sources…"Check it out.

Go Green!

Just the process of making plastic bottles uses a lot of fossil fuels, which pollute the environment. Making bottles requires millions of barrels of oil each year; enough to run 100,000 cars.

On average eight out of 10 water bottles end up in landfills where they sit and then 1,000 years later begin to decompose. Do you recycle? It is estimated that only 20 percent of people recycle plastic water bottles, which sends more than a billion bottles to the landfill.

By finding alternatives to bottled water you can also help precycle, which means taking steps to prevent people from having to recycle in the first place.

Alternatives

There are many different alternatives to bottled water in order to help both the earth and your pocketbook. If you don't enjoy the taste of tap water straight from the faucet, try a filter. Your investment in a filter is well worth it because products like these typically cost less than purchasing cases of water. It costs about 18 cents a gallon to fill up a gallon pitcher using a filter compared to more than $1 for a 16-oz bottled water.

If you don't want to spend money on a filter, try using the water fountains more. One of the number one complaints about the water at SMWC is the taste. Becky Pittman, the water plant operator for the Sisters of Providence, which supplies the water to SMWC, said the taste of the water coming from the water fountains depends on how often the fountains are used. Simple solution, use the fountains more, the water will taste better.

Another alternative to bottled water is using a reusable water bottle. Since the plastic water bottles out of vending machines are not intended to be reused, refilling used plastic water bottles can lead to health risks. Even some Nalgene and other plastic water bottles have potential health risks due to the possibility of chemicals leaching from the plastic into the water. The safest solution is purchasing an aluminum or stainless steel water bottle. These materials have 0 percent chance of leaching chemicals therefore are a lot safer for you. Fill it up with your tap water or filtered tap water, and you are good to go.

It's ironic how currently there is a worldwide epidemic because lack of clean water for people to drink. Americans spent more than $10 billion on bottled water sales last year; however, drinkable water can be found from taps and drinking fountains nearly everywhere in America. Buying bottled water is pretty convenient. However drinking tap water is an excellent way to save money, protect your health, and protect the earth.

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