twitter facebook stumble upon rss

Stop Buying Bottled Water!

by Michele Ashamalla  posted Tuesday, October 12, 2010
filed under: Michele Ashamalla
sign up for the momlogic newsletter Tweet This

Recession Mama Michele Ashamalla: What is the real cost of drinking bottled water? There is, of course, a huge cost to the environment -- making all those bottles, shipping all those bottles, disposing of all the trash (or, if we're lucky, recycling all those bottles) and then starting over again. Besides that, there are some pretty tangible financial costs as well.

bottled water
It always seemed like bottled water was pretty cheap (just a few bucks a case), and the price has been coming down. I would say a decent sale price on a case of twenty-four would be $4. I've seen it go as low as $3, but not that often. If you drink eight glasses of water a day (like we're all supposed to!), that would mean four sixteen-ounce bottles, which means a family of four would go through $973 worth of water in a year. In California, we pay an extra five cents per bottle as a recycling incentive, so that's an additional $292. 

What about buying water at sporting events and restaurants? Those bottles go for between $1 and $4 each, depending on the venue, so if each member of a four-person family bought water while out twice a week, at an average of $2.50 per bottle, that would add an extra $110 a year. That's a total of $1,375! 

On average, tap water costs two cents per gallon. For a family of four drinking eight glasses a day, that would come to four cents a day, or $14.60 a year. Buy some fancy stainless steel reusable bottles, and you're still saving $1,300 a year!

If you are concerned about the safety of your tap water, check your district's water-quality reports, which should be online on their websites. If you're not crazy about the taste, buy a $20 filter pitcher and some filters ($5 each on sale in multi-packs). If you change the filter every couple of months as recommended, you're out $50 for the pitcher and filters for the year, and still saving $1,250. 

Remember: Many brands of bottled water come from "municipal sources," which is exactly where the stuff coming out of your tap is from ....


next: A Chat with 'Origins' Author Annie Murphy Paul
167 comments so far | Post a comment now
Kristen October 12, 2010, 4:25 AM

Just buy a berkey water filter. The filters last 2yrs, it filters out 99.99% of bacteria and it needs no hookup to any water supply.

Lilly October 12, 2010, 10:01 AM

sometimes depending on where you live tap water isnt safe, and the only option is bottled water

Kristen October 12, 2010, 10:14 AM

Lilly, you should really check out the berkey water filter. It will save you tons of money and you don’t have to change the stupid filter every month.

Katie October 12, 2010, 5:18 PM

I recommend seeing the documentary entitled, Tapped. Immediately after seeing it, we cancelled all of our Poland Springs. Cancer-causing chemicals from the plastic seeping into the water? No thanks!

Rene Bulian October 12, 2010, 9:23 PM

I recommend you watch the CBC Canadian Documentary ‘The Disappearing Male’ it is free on googlevideos, you will never use plastic anything again. BPA kills, takes a long time for people to actually believe it, then longer for them to do anything about it. USE GLASS, Glass is also fully recycable so enviro friendly for all those eco-fascists out there.

tysmom October 20, 2010, 7:56 AM

We stopped using bottled water for the same reasons 2 years ago. It takes a little extra time but what we do is fill our Brita from the already filtered water from our refrigerator dispenser. It tastes just as good as the store bought stuff. Unfortunately bottled water is a necessary evil for some and when on the road (thanks Mickey-D’s in the middle-of-nowhere, I’ll take the bottled stuff) but many of us can collectively help reduce our footprint for those who cannot and save some $$$ while we are at it.

Neal Jancik February 1, 2011, 4:12 PM

You are a very bright individual!

Sebastian Munier February 10, 2011, 10:28 PM

I just want to mention I’m new to blogging and site-building and seriously enjoyed your website. Likely I’m want to bookmark your website . You amazingly have perfect article content. Thank you for sharing with us your web site.

Student Visa  February 11, 2011, 12:12 AM

I’m not sure where you are getting your info, but great topic. I needs to spend some time learning more or understanding more. Thanks for magnificent info I was looking for this info for my mission.

Mindi Winscott February 20, 2011, 9:38 PM

As a Newbie, I am always browsing online for articles that can help me. Thank you

Boyd Wetenkamp February 23, 2011, 8:27 PM

I have been reading out some of your articles and i must say nice stuff. I will surely bookmark your website.

dating japanese websites February 25, 2011, 3:34 PM

I’m getting a javascript error, is anyone else?

Louann Earles February 25, 2011, 7:39 PM

Thank you for your time and efforts to have decided to put these things together on this website. Robin and that i very much liked your knowledge through your articles over certain things. I recognize that you have numerous demands in your program hence the fact that you actually took as much time just like you did to guide people like us through this article is actually highly valued.

Merle Pirrotta February 26, 2011, 8:50 AM

Excellent post, thank you so much for sharing. Do you have an RSS feed I can subscribe to?

hearing loss February 28, 2011, 4:16 AM

I have been reading out a few of your posts and i must say nice stuff. I will make sure to bookmark your site.

water cooling February 28, 2011, 7:11 AM

There is surely lots of aspects like this to take into consideration. That’s a great point to talk about.

tuition agency February 28, 2011, 9:38 AM

I enjoy you taking the time to publish this post. It has been very beneficial to me indeed. Value it.

program tv February 28, 2011, 2:39 PM

Hi there, You’ve done an excellent job. I will certainly digg it and personally suggest to my friends. I am sure they will be benefited from this site.

Triumph 5000 von Oral-B February 28, 2011, 3:50 PM

My own girlfriend may be looking for this particular update!

Yuriko Vernia February 28, 2011, 10:36 PM

Wonderful work! That is the kind of information that are supposed to be shared across the internet. Shame on the seek for now not positioning this put up higher! Come on over and seek advice from my web site . Thanks =)


Leave a reply:



(not displayed)

     




Avoid clicking "Post" more than once
Back to top >>
advertisement

featured gallery

Gwen Stefani and Family at the Park

momlogic tweets

recent activities