Did you Know?
>American consumers drink more bottled water every year, in part because they think it is somehow safer or better than tap water.
>More than 25% of bottled water comes from a public source.
>That bottle that takes just three minutes to drink can take up to a thousand years to biodegrade.
>It takes more than 47 million gallons of oil to produce plastic water bottles for Americans every year. Eliminating those bottles would be like taking 100,000 cars off the road and 1 billion pounds of carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere.
>Branded bottled water is the fastest growing segment in the beverage industry (it's #2 behind soft drinks).
>Bottling and shipping water is the least efficient method of water delivery ever invented. The energy we waste using bottled water would be enough to power 190,000 homes. But refilling your water bottle from the tap requires no expenditure of energy, and zero waste of resources.
>More than a quarter of the bottled water produced (including Coca Cola's Dasani and Pepsico's Aquafina) comes from municipal water sources.
>More than a quarter of the bottled water produced (including Coca Cola's Dasani and Pepsico's Aquafina) comes from municipal tap water.
>Plastic water bottles are one of the fastest growing sources of municipal waste; most aren't recycled.
What can you do?
>In the office, use a water dispenser that taps into tap water.
>At home and in your car, switch to a water bottle and use it for the rest of your life knowing that you are drinking some of the nation's best water and making the planet a better place.
>At public events and at home, offer pitchers of water. Advocate for strict state and local groundwater laws to protect aquifers and other water resources. Advocate for adequate funding and good public management of municipal water systems.
>Shop smart. When you must have bottled, look for brands that have NSF certifica-tion or belong to IBWA. Check out the lists at nsf.org or bottledwater.org, or look at the bottle itself (the NSF logo appears on labels of tested brands). If the brand you're looking for isn't there, contact the bottler. Ask where the water is bottled and what exactly is in it.
>Keep it cool. Don't drink from a bottle that's been subjected to high temperatures (sitting in your car, for example), don't store it anywhere it will be exposed to heat or chemicals, and don't reuse plastic bottles.
