News from the Center for Inner Healing

Bottled water also uses plastic bottles which usually have a shelf life of two years or less. The plastic from the bottles are made will "out gas" and often introduce various deleterious gases into the water which never get tested because the process happens after the testing procedures have already been done in the bottling plant.

And if that's not enough to make you wonder why we've all bought into this source as our primary rather than a secondary source of water, consider that it takes a lot of fuel to produce those bottles in the first place. In fact, enough fuel to 100,000 cars running a year. That's right, it takes approximately one and a half million barrels of oil just to make all those bottles each year. While recycling could help somewhat, most states don't require recycling on plastic bottles in which water is sold, so most of them never get recycled. By ending your use of bottled water, you'll be helping the earth directly by cutting down on yet another contributor to global warming.

(You might also consider writing to your local Legislator and asking them to add plastic bottles (and iced tea bottles) to the list of bottles that must be recycled, but that 's another article.)

5 REASONS TO TURN ON THE TAP

1. Tap Water Is Cheap

Bottled water costs approximately 500 times more than tap. Or if you're impressed with the more fancy or sophisticated labels on the front of the bottles, then they can cost up to 1,000 times more than tap water. One caveat, however, is that tap water is usually filled with Chlorine and many times fluoride. If you want to eliminate them, you'll have to use a good filter as is mentioned later.

2. Tap Water Can Be Great Tasting

This is especially true for New York City and other areas supplied by the upstate New York reservoirs. However, even if you don't love the taste of your tap water, all you need to do is install a permanent filter and all that will change. If that sounds too expensive or too involved, buy one of those filters that go on your faucet or next to it or even consider a Brita type filter and put it in your refrigerator and you'll always have fresh tasting cool water to drink. But remember that type of filter has a limited life and must be changed more often than most people think to do it. The cost of most filters will be paid back within a short time when based upon the cost of the bottled water you passed up in favor of the filtered water. The cost of filtered water is about $.04 per bottle. Compare that with $1.65 a bottle in the metropolitan area. By the way, most bottled water is little more than filtered water anyway and you never know the source of it before it was bottled.

3. Tap Water Is Tested Daily

Under the Safe Drinking Water Act, all water suppliers are required to test tap water daily and provide an annual report on the quality of your local water. On the other hand, the FDA directs the examination of bottled water weekly, and consumers can't get to see the agency's results. You can get the reports on your state's drinking water quality by clicking here.

Again, remember that tap water alone has chlorine and often times fluoride introduced into it and if you don't want to drink those chemicals, use a filter to eliminate them.

4. Tap Water Can Be Portable

If you want to take along your water with you, consider buying a stainless steel insulated bottle that can be washed and sterilized in your dishwasher. That way, your water will stay colder longer than any bottled water and you'll have a fresh source of water anytime you want it. Make sure you regularly wash it out and sterilize it. Don't just refill it all the time as it can get funky over time if you do.

5. Save the Environment

By drinking tap water/filtered water you are eliminating a million and a half barrels of oil usage a year devoted to making plastic bottles which effectively never get reused or properly degrade. You will be playing a part in saving the earth.

One final note: If you like these ideas, don't just think about making the switch; actually do it. Today. It will do you and the world a whole lot of good. Its time to take your power back and since the basis of all life is water, why not start here.