Tap Water Just Makes Sense (Cents?)

October 14th, 2009

A recent article from the New York Times* about the cost of bottled water versus tap water really hit home for me. It is something we’ve been talking about for a while. The savings are dramatic, almost unbelievable!  In NYC, the cost of drinking tap water for a whole year is only $.49. (No, that’s not a typo). The cost of buying bottled water for a year averaged out to $1400!  A savings of $1351, which if invested wisely, could put your kids through college.  This was based on 8 glasses a day.  NYC, like most municipalities, has spent tons of money upgrading their water facilities.  Their drinking water is top-notch and tasty.

Sometimes, we get used to doing things a certain way and forget about the waste (of money, to the environment). But it makes so much sense right now, during our economic downturn, to cut out simple waste, and not buying disposable water bottles is a real simple solution. And it makes economic sense not just for our pockets, but for our environment too. It takes oil (which costs money) to produce plastic, to ship, to refrigerate and to recycle… you get the picture.  Did you know only about 20% of disposable water bottles end up recycled?  Topic for another time…

If you are of a certain age, you remember life without bottled water.  Somehow, we were able to get by.  We weren’t dehydrated.  We weren’t always thirsty.  We grabbed a cup or water bottle, filled it up, and took a sip.  Ahhhh, simple times.  That’s the main reason we created the Reduce WaterWeek bottle system—always have a filled bottle of water ready to go which makes it easier to ditch the disposables.  Think about those simpler times the next time you reach for that bulky, all-to-heavy 36-pack of bottled water.

–Ken Kreafle, CEO Base Brands

*http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/w/water/bottled_water/index.html?emc=eta2

Entry Filed under: Go Green