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Bottled Is NOT Better
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Fact: Consumers around the world use 1.5 million tons of plastic each year for water bottles--of which less than 27.2% of the plastic waste is recycled.
As our demand for natural resources grows, so does our responsibility to preserve our planet for future generations. By switching from bottled water to PUR filtered water, you'll get 400 gallons of healthy, good-tasting water every year--which is the equivalent of making thousands of plastic water bottles disappear.
While a large portion of the world desperately needs access to clean drinking water, the United States and other countries spend billions on bottled water when perfectly clean drinking water can easily be filtered for pennies per gallon. Not only are we needlessly spending money on bottled water with lower standards for contaminant removal than government regulations of tap water, we are also filling up our landfills with billions of pounds of oil-based plastics that take thousands of years to degrade.
Comically (and tragically), the bottled water production process is fairly resource intensive. It actually takes 17 million barrels of oil to produce bottled water yearly, which is enough oil to fuel one million cars for a whole year. Oil isn't the only necessary resource. It's a good thing that tap water is very cheap because ironically, it takes about three times the amount of tap water to produce one bottle of water as it does to fill it.
Fact: 22% of tested bottle water brands contain chemical contaminants at levels above strict state health limits.
The reality of bottled water is that people pay from $1 to $4 per gallon for a complete unknown--leaving the quality and purity up to the discretion of company executives who may have little background in water quality. We have virtually no way of knowing the actual composition of bottled water. Unlike municipal water supplies, bottled water companies are not required to provide the public with the source of their water or to produce quality reports about substances present in their water. For example, bottled water is generally not tested for E coli bacteria. Another glaring example: municipal water supplies must meet certain standards for a number of toxic or cancer-causing chemicals, such as phthalate--a chemical that can leach from plastic, including plastic bottles! Some in the bottled water industry persuaded the FDA to exempt bottled water from regulations regarding these chemicals.
Industry lobbyists successfully fight every year to keep bottled water companies from having to abide by even the minimal health standards set by the EPA for tap water. Over the past several years, in fact, bottled water has been recalled due to contamination by arsenic, bromate, cleaning compounds, mold and bacteria. The Food and Drug Administration, which regulates bottled water, states that "Companies that market bottled water as being safer than tap water are defrauding the American public."
Point-of-use water treatment, with a reliable in-home water filtration system, is by far one of the most economical and convenient ways of producing healthy, great-tasting water. Removing the chlorine and other contaminants at the point of use, just prior to consumption in your own home, with a system that is documented to produce clean water just makes more sense.
Other excellent point-of-use water filter options are available. Under sink water purification systems incorporate sediment and carbon filters in standard housings installed in the cabinet beneath your kitchen sink. Best-selling under sink water filters reduce sediment, chlorine taste and odor, as well as other contaminants like atrazine, lindane and VOCs (volatile organic chemicals). Select your under sink filter system and replacement cartridges here: Under Sink Filter Systems. Reverse osmosis (RO) systems are a multi-step water filtering process which works slowly through multiple stages but is also extremely effective. An RO filter system uses the principles of osmosis, in which material passes slowly through a membrane and is concentrated to a high degree of purity in the process. The end result is extremely clean water, because RO purification systems reduce an astounding range of contaminants from your water. Select your reverse osmosis system and replacement cartridges here: Reverse Osmosis Filter Systems.
With point-of-use home water filtration you can conveniently refill your own bottles... at home... with great-tasting, healthy water for a few cents per gallon instead of dollars a gallon. When you factor in the benefits of lower cost, convenience and quality assurance, an in-home water filtration system is clearly the more sensible alternative to bottled water.
Plus, there's also another great advantage: protecting the environment. Every day millions of plastic water bottles are being discarded, contaminating our precious natural resources. A single home water filter system can keep thousands of plastic bottles from ultimately polluting our environment.
Sources: Food and Drug Administration, Consumer Reports, Environmental Working Group, Committee of Energy and Commerce, Natural Resources Defense Council, Good Magazine, Container Recycling Institute, International Bottled Water Association
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