Backyard adventures, community commentary and essays. No deep philosophy, no pandering to partisan views, just plain talk.

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12/16/2003 Entry: "BOTTLED WATER"

BOTTLED WATER

I've never bought the idea that water on the grocery store shelves or out of dispensers was better than what I have at the tap in my own home. Well, I know for a fact it isn't. We've had a reverse osmosis system for a long, long time, but aside from that, the city water tests out pretty well in this crazy world that loves to pollute our water supplies.

And most of the articles I've read about it indicate that someone down the line out of our sight is filling bottles out of their spigot of city water to sell to us, the unsuspecting. The "pure spring water" pitch sounds good, but it isn't always "pure" or "spring water". I'm sure some of it may be better, but I couldn't identify which one and the difference is probably incalculably minute.

It seems sensible to be thrifty with plastic bottles of water. They are convenient and I drag them around a lot, especially in the summer when I am out and about in my car, attending a ball game, or generally putting myself in a position where I might want a drink of water and don't want to pay an arm and a leg for it. I refill my bottles, keep some in the freezer "at the ready", and have a bottle or two handy when I need it. I clean them out good with an added drop of bleach.

The fact we are all drinking more water is a healthy thing, doctors say, but the plastic bottles aren't. Last year alone, more than 93 billion plastic water containers wound up in U.S. landfills. I'm sure we and other small towns weren't in on that count. But think about it...placed end to end, that's enough bottles to reach the moon and back 38 times. ONE YEAR! That doesn't count the ones that were recycled. We're going to be swimming in the effluence of our own affluence ones of these days. If those bottles were recycled they could provide enough material for 3.3 billion ski jackets or 546 million sleeping bags, "they say". L.L. Bean offers Adirondack chairs made from recycled plastic jugs.

And...it leaves me with a good feeling knowing that a lot of my friends and neighbors are just as frugal as I when it comes to bottled water. It makes sense.