No more bottled water for me!
by Alan D. Northcutt, Waco Friends of Peace
Like most Wacoans, I used to purchase bottled water periodically. But then I learned the truth about this product:
- In the U.S. tap water is safe and is subject to more stringent federal regulations and inspections than bottled water.
- About half of bottled water brands are simply municipal tap water, but cost up to 1000 times the price of tap water.
- At a time when droughts are widespread, 3 liters of water are required to produce 1 liter of bottled water.
- The production and transportation of one bottle of water requires energy equivalent to the oil of a one quarter filled bottle. This process added 2.5 million tons of CO2 to the atmosphere in 2006.
- 75% of water bottle plastic ends up in landfills, lakes, streams and oceans, and requires centuries to decompose.
- The planet’s oceans are contaminated by five gigantic circulating patches of plastics and microplastics, the largest covering 500,000 square miles.
- Because animals mistake plastic for food, annually an estimated 1 million seabirds and 100,000 marine mammals die from plastic, and 2/3 of our fish stocks ingest plastic.
Since I became aware of these facts I have never purchased bottled water. We can all easily take steps to conserve precious natural resources while protecting the biosphere and its inhabitants by drinking water in reusable metal or reusable BPA-free plastic containers. I believe bottled water should be reserved for natural disasters and other emergency situations only.
This week’s blog is by Alan D. Northcutt. Alan has lived in Waco for 28 years. He is a physician specializing in skin pathology. He has been active in the anti-war movement since college days, and heads the Waco Friends of Peace. Alan believes the most important issue facing mankind is climate change, which has become the primary focus of Friends of Peace. If you would be interested in writing for the Act Locally Waco blog, please contact Ashley Thornton by email at [email protected].