Bottled water has become an unnecessary convenience that’s wasteful and thoughtlessly consumed. In fact, I’ve got a fresh supply of tiny little bottles in my fridge right now, even though, like you I have come to know that many bottled water brands are nothing more pure and natural than what comes out of my own tap. You might be (I was, at first) surprised to learn that your tap water is quite likely of better quality… cleaner and safer than what’s inside those oh-so-necessary plastic bottles.
Worse yet… we pay for what we can get for free. Out of our tap.
Estimates put our consumption of bottled water at 30 gallons per year, up from a mere 2.7 gallons back in 1980. That’s a lot of water. And a lot of water bottles entering our landfills. A lot of energy to make those bottles, not to mention the gallons of gas to transport them.
At the end of last year, two New York area businessmen started a campaign to change all that. The website, launched in October 2007 points out the many benefits of tap water over the bottled kind. It’s right there in your kitchen, requires no transportation or takes up any space in landfills. Best of all — it may be far safer to consume as the Environmental Protection Agency is responsible for what comes out of your tap, while the Food and Drug Administration handles the bottled kind.
My money’s with the EPA.
The website offers reusable water bottles in blue or green, as well as a stainless version. The first bit of inventory, 39,000 bottles (intended to last through the holidays) was gone in 36 hours. 36 hours. If you remember, reusable water bottles were also featured on an January 2008 “Good Morning America” segment on trends for the year.
Water giants Coke and Pepsi don’t hide the fact that their products use tap water too. Pepsi’s Aquafina has put “PWS” (short for “public water source”) on its label, though Dasani is resisting doing this. I sympathize… after all, how can these companies embrace the eco-friendly movement without destroying their own products? To look connected, both are making packaging change expected to cut the landfill impact.
But even if these changes work… we still don’t recycle enough of those bottles.
The legs that seem to be under the Tappening movement points to a growing willingness of consumers (myself included) to make changes in behavior that have an effect on our planet. If you really want to take a “green” stance, using imprinted promotional items like reusable water bottles is a solid step in the right direction. Give customers and employees reusable water bottles and encourage them to enjoy what comes free from the tap.
You’ll be doing something good for your image… and for the planet.
Worse yet… we pay for what we can get for free. Out of our tap.
Estimates put our consumption of bottled water at 30 gallons per year, up from a mere 2.7 gallons back in 1980. That’s a lot of water. And a lot of water bottles entering our landfills. A lot of energy to make those bottles, not to mention the gallons of gas to transport them. At the end of last year, two New York area businessmen started a campaign to change all that. The website, launched in October 2007 points out the many benefits of tap water over the bottled kind. It’s right there in your kitchen, requires no transportation or takes up any space in landfills. Best of all — it may be far safer to consume as the Environmental Protection Agency is responsible for what comes out of your tap, while the Food and Drug Administration handles the bottled kind.
My money’s with the EPA.
The website offers reusable water bottles in blue or green, as well as a stainless version. The first bit of inventory, 39,000 bottles (intended to last through the holidays) was gone in 36 hours. 36 hours. If you remember, reusable water bottles were also featured on an January 2008 “Good Morning America” segment on trends for the year.
Water giants Coke and Pepsi don’t hide the fact that their products use tap water too. Pepsi’s Aquafina has put “PWS” (short for “public water source”) on its label, though Dasani is resisting doing this. I sympathize… after all, how can these companies embrace the eco-friendly movement without destroying their own products? To look connected, both are making packaging change expected to cut the landfill impact.
But even if these changes work… we still don’t recycle enough of those bottles.
The legs that seem to be under the Tappening movement points to a growing willingness of consumers (myself included) to make changes in behavior that have an effect on our planet. If you really want to take a “green” stance, using imprinted promotional items like reusable water bottles is a solid step in the right direction. Give customers and employees reusable water bottles and encourage them to enjoy what comes free from the tap.
You’ll be doing something good for your image… and for the planet.
