Why Just Water Bottles?

So people are really anti-bottled water lately, like how they don't actually get recycled and end up in a landfill, etc. So I was thinking okay, I'll just try harder to refill my cup from now on, but then I realized how much POP I drink in plastic bottles.

It made me wonder, why is it just water bottles?  I haven't heard anyone say anything about pop or juice bottles, and you can hardly get anything in a can from a machine anymore.  Or what about  milk jugs or laundy detergent or anything else that comes in plastic like that?  Maybe I am missing part of the picture here, I'm just wondering.

I try to recycle all of those things, but yeah, I hadn't noticed but you're right.  People make a much bigger deal about water bottles, but you don't hear about soda bottles too often.

Perhaps it's because bottled water is sort of ridiculous in itself?  Soda doesn't come from the tap, but safe-to-drink water does, and that makes bottled water superfluous.

I know that there are lots of people out there who dislike tap water's flavor, or don't trust its safety, and that's why they drink bottled water.  Okay, to each his or her own, but I would point out that tap water in the U.S. must be safe by law, and Brita filters aren't that expensive, and take away any bad taste.

I think the big deal with water bottles is that we don't usually NEED to get water in a bottle...we can use tap or filter our own.  we can't make our own soda or take milk directly from the cow in most cases :P

It's because pop doesn't come out of your tap.  Neither does juice or milk.  It's about making the right choice for our environment,  bottled water is unnecessary.

Original Post by trhawley:

It's because pop doesn't come out of your tap.  Neither does juice or milk.  It's about making the right choice for our environment,  bottled water is unnecessary.

Leave it to Tom to say exactly I meant, but concisely!  Succinctness is NOT my forte.  :)

I actually had noticed that, along with  the thought - am I the only one who reuses plastic water bottles, even to the point of washing them?

I say we should all get soda machines in our homes to replace the soda bottles.  And maybe a cow so we can have milk.

Another part of it is that water is so heavy to ship. It costs a lot of money and a lot of fuel to ship water when you can just get water from your tap. I read somewhere that they can't fill a semi-truck up with a full load of water because it is too heavy, so there are extra shipments to get the water from one place to another.

It's also a great marketing ploy for companies that sell items to filter water .....

Original Post by dawnamf:

It's also a great marketing ploy for companies that sell items to filter water .....

I'd much rather support companies that sell filtering devices than the companies that sell bottled water.  I'm sure the the big petroleum companies wouldn't be pleased if people started realizing that bottled water is superfluous (they need to sell their plastics), but I hope the public sentiment is shifting away from bottled water anyway.  It's wasteful, any way you slice it.  (Good point, Mooni, btw.  Lots of fossil fuels are used not to just to make the plastic bottles but also to transport the water.)

While I agree that bottled water isn't a necessity, I can't help but point out that neither is pop or juice for that matter. Some could/would argue that milk isn't either. We don't NEED pop or juice or milk to survive, we do need water. So I propose that we drink water from a tap and eliminate pop and juice. Pop has place in our diets really and fresh fruit is much better that juice all around. Just a thought....

A weird fact... Corona Bottle are all doomed to landfills! Because of the cobalt blue paint they use on there labels. It's ruins the recycling process so they are all doomed to a landfill. Here’s the kicker Anheuser-busch knows about this issue and will not change it. Beacuse " It will destroy the look of the bottle they say"...

Clip from the website- The new machines can also identify and reject flint glass with painted labels containing cobalt compounds: Corona beer bottles, for example. Because these compounds can cause unwanted gray-green or blue streaking in molten flint glass, McAuliffe said, CRA is no longer accepting them; they are requiring MRF customers to segregate them before shipment. Corona is now the number one selling imported beer in the Northeast, he said, accounting for 50 tons of discarded bottles daily in the New York metropolitan area alone. Like green glass, these rejects must be used as landfill cover or in alternative, non-bottle applications.

Website- http://www.americanrecycler.com/10glassmarket .html

I did this sad reasearch on beer in College for environment class.. T__T 

oh yeah I forgot. There are some friendly bottles out there such as Miller!

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m3469/i s_52_50/ai_59045157/

As if the taste of Corona wasn't enough of a deterrent!  *makes bitter beer face*  Thanks for the info, artisthazzard.  I'll never drink Corona again. 

I completely agree that bottled water is unnecessary when we all have our taps. I think a lot of the flack comes from the fact as well that if you don't refill your water bottles and drink a fresh one every time, you could go through 5 or 6 bottles a day - people aren't going through 5 or 6 plastic bottles of detergent or, hopefully!, 5 or 6 bottles of soda daily as well.

Recycle & wear it.

Well when you're out and about and want a drink, where do you get one then? It's not like there are sinks everywhere (bathrooms maybe? ick factor...). Are we expected to carry around a mug or glass? I recycle, always have, I don't use tons of water bottles, but sometimes when I'm out and need a drink... I buy one. And now I feel bad. :P

Everyone in my house has 2 stainless steel water bottles. We never leave home without at least one each.

EDIT: Restaurants & convenience stores with pop dispensers invariably have a cold water & ice dispensers as well.

cptbunny - don't feel bad - you are more conscious than a lot of people.  There are always occasions when the convenience of a bottle is necessary.

When I am prepared with my own cup, I like to go to a gas station and fill it with ice (water too if they have it).  The ice melts soon enough, and is usually made from filtered water.

And with little kids - yes, we are kinda in the habit of carrying around their cups, at least.  I have a backpack that has everything in it (diapers, etc), and I don't see myself leaving it behind anytime soon, so it is a bit easier for me than those who don't have the excuse of a diaper bag.

how necessary bottled water is depends upon where you live, no matter what the safety study says. The safety study will also tell you that it's ok to have a certain level of arsenic.

We moved to Midland TX when the kids were little and we were told asap by doctors and teachers and neighbors to never let the kids drink out of the water fountains or the tap. This was not for the usual sanitary snot nosed kid reason. The naturally occurring level of fluoride is so high there that they have actually named a syndrome for it - Midland Mouth. If you drink the stuff (even just plain filtered or only every now and then) your teeth turn horribly dark brown and spotty. Nice natural water, filled to the brim with fluoride to the point of becoming an unrepairable dental problem. All the people in the poor parts of town had it.

The first time we tried to take showers in the stuff we discovered why everyone had water softeners and reverse osmosis systems in their homes - it was like washing your hair in rocks because the mineral content was so high.

Now, this is an unusual example, but it's a very good reason to not be so sweepingly condemning of those that use bottled waters.

About bottled water-- many people are now carrying around stainless steel thermoses.  I got one about two years ago, and it was very hard to find-- now they're everywhere in fun color and patterns.  The water in my house comes from a well, and we have a filter system built into that, so we don't have to worry about contaminents, but for people with city water, its as easy as buying a $20 brita filter or buying the larger gallon size (and larger) water jugs-- they use less plastic.

To the pop/soda thing-- don't drink it! I suppose everyonce in a while its okay as a treat when out at a restaurant or a bar, but I never buy it for in the house.

To the milk jugs thing-- some companies sell milk in old-fashioned styled glass bottles that encourage the customer to return or recycle the bottle.  They're also really cool looking!

And about the laundry detergent-- If you've noticed, detergent companies are making more condensed soap solutions... why? Cause you can get more loads out of the same amount of plastic bottle.  You can research which companies have also designed their bottles to conserve plastic (and always be sure to recycle them when they're done)

Original Post by raven21:

While I agree that bottled water isn't a necessity, I can't help but point out that neither is pop or juice for that matter. Some could/would argue that milk isn't either. We don't NEED pop or juice or milk to survive, we do need water. So I propose that we drink water from a tap and eliminate pop and juice. Pop has place in our diets really and fresh fruit is much better that juice all around. Just a thought....

What would I use as mixer for my vodka?