Kicking the Bottle

Go ahead…admit it…I had too. If you looked in your car, your fridge or your “recycling” bin would you find a water bottle? As I type this blog I sit across from a fancy aluminum double walled 24 ounce Takeya water bottle that has become my reliable side kick as of late. With that said, I could probably still dig up one of those embarrassing plastic bottles in one of the sources noted above. The good news I can report is I am starting to feel the same level of shame when I buy bottled water that I feel when I have to purchase a paper bag at Trader Joe’s because I left my reusable bags in the car. I was a bottled water user, but I have made the personal transition.

As an individual and as a society we are easily influenced. We are influenced by fear, by the hope of what might be or maybe just by erroneous information. We fall victim to that influence in many places in our lives and buying water is just one of those places. Why on earth would we pay for something that we can get for free? Is that clear bottle with the cap we can misplace that much better? Maybe it’s because we pull that plastic bottle from our refrigerator and it is ready to quench our thirst. Is it really that more convenient than a reusable bottle? Ironically I remember a news story sometime in the recent past that spoke of the dangers of reusing those bottles due to the algae and other bacteria that builds up when not being washed regularly. Clearly, someone was getting into the reusable sprit.  So, what makes bottled water so enticing? I’m not sure but I do know that for some that draw has come from scare tactics of the quality of municipal water, the minimization of the impact of bottled water on our environment and the perpetuation of information that is not only misleading but could be seen as fraudulent. This topic is discussed in a short compelling video titled The Story of Bottled Water with Annie Leonard. Ms. Leonard speaks of the impact of bottled water, the petroleum used to manufacture the bottles, to transport them and the eventual mountains of refuse generated by this solo product. But, we recycle..so it will be ok right? Only a small fraction is recycled while the remainder is down cycled when actually creates more waste product.


Take five minutes, watch the video and take a first step toward changing your own habits around bottled water. Your habits will influence others and in turn others may be more open to change. We do have a choice, we can make the transition from purchased bottled water to reusable personal containers. One might have thought we could never move away from plastic bags and we have started that transition on a local level with local support. We need to pay attention to the impact of a manufactured demand brought on by the water companies and start making choices that will ensure our environment is sustainable for generations to come. 

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