Down the Drain

Are you ready? It's time to be an activist! Don't worry, no picketing or getting arrested involved! In fact, it will make you feel great! It's about reducing the massive piles of discarded plastic water bottles that litter our planet, fattening your wallet and getting healthier all at the same time!

Check this out: one of my favorite groups, the Environmental Working Group, has done a study and found that bottled water consumption has more than quadrupled in the last 20 years. This seems like it should be a good thing, right? Of course, drinking water every day instead of soda is great for your health, but tossing those plastic water bottles in the trash is the problem, and a study by the EWG has found that many bottled water companies won't disclose what's in their water! That's a bit frightening if you ask me. Not to mention the fact the creating all those plastic bottles consumes energy and contributes to greenhouse gasses. AND the fact that bottled water can cost 1900 times MORE than tap water!!!! Yikes!!

A better solution? Install a water filter on your kitchen faucet and fill a reusable water bottle like a SIGG bottle. I have an ancient kitchen, so I haven't been able to install a filter, so instead we fill and re-fill gallon jugs at the local co-op's water station. We make about a trip a week and fill 8 gallons of water. It's easy and it's cheap. If you decide to do that, just make sure you're refilling your jugs at a good store where you can see the water quality report from the company that's maintaining the water station.

For more about your drinking water , click here to see the report, and pledge to reduce your plastic water bottle use!

To order a SIGG bottle, try the web site backcountry.com. I've ordered from them and they're very friendly, and quickly replaced a bottle that arrived with a small dent in it. I'm on my second SIGG in about 3 years, only because I use it every day and it's pretty much attached to my hip. I heart my SIGG bottle!!

See, being an activist isn't so bad! And now you have an excuse to go out and buy a cute, new water bottle! It will pay for itself in just a few refills, and you can feel good that your cash-- and the planet-- is no longer going down the drain!