I’ve recently made some changes that I should have done a long time ago in my Minneapolis office. Starting this week, I will not be offering the cute, small, bottles of water after massages that I had been giving out for the past year. Instead, I am offering filtered water in washable mugs and cups in my office from now on.

Why the change? For a number of reasons. Being someone who likes to be environmentally friendly and sustainable, I’m a bit embarrassed that that I didn’t do this sooner. There are some startling facts about bottled water in the United States.

• Consumers spend an average of $100 Billion a year on bottled water. For a fraction of this price, the entire world could have access to safe drinking water.
• While we are all encouraged to recycle, about 86% of all plastic bottles made for water end up in our trash, and in landfills.
• The fossil fuels used to create plastic containers for private bottled water could be used to fuel 100,000 cars in the United States for an entire year. As well, the US exports about 40% of it’s bottled water to countries overseas, including China, meaning that even MORE fossil fuels are used to ship bottled water to these areas.
• Bottled water is not guaranteed to be any healthier than tap water. In fact, water from our faucets is regulated much more strictly than the private bottled water industry.
• Many companies who bottle water, such as Pepsi, Coca-cola, and Nestle also perform animal testing
• At up to $2.50 per liter, bottled water in the United States exceeds even the price of gasoline

Yes, it was time for me to dump the bottled water, and go to a more sustainable solution. For more information on the environmental impact of bottled water, visit:

http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/0205-01.htm
http://www.allaboutwater.org/