Remember back in the 1980s when suddenly, it seemed, everybody was lugging around a bottle of water ala Meg Ryan in When Harry Met Sally? Now, you can’t have a meeting, party or soccer game without those little individual bottles of water resting on ice or in the fridge.
But those inviting little bottles of hydration are super bad for the environment, not to mention being economically nsustianable as well. That water (which is usually just tap water, by the by) has to get pumped from somewhere. It's been a big issue here in Michigan, which doesn't have much, but we do have water galore.
There are issues with water depletion (right now, you can't pump large amounts of water out of the Great Lakes, but put that same amount of water in 16 oz bottles and truck it to Arizona and it's fine), the gas used to truck the bottles, and the waste created by all those one- or two-serving containers everywhere.
According to this article on Alternet, tap water has 1/100th of the environmental impact of bottled water. Add to that that it's almost free, readily available, usually delicious (and can be chilled and filtered to taste better) and you can up your green chic quotient considerably by carrying a Sigg or Klean Kanteen versus the BPA-laced Nalgene bottles, and more and more people are starting to go for the tap.
It's not perfect – I have two bottles I rotate and I leave them behind more often than I should, especially since my diaper bag has a big pocket made especially for toting a water bottle. And most plastic commercial bottles are easily recyclable – my gym even has a collection box just for this pruose. If the choice is between, say, bottled water or a pop, go ahead and take the water, I think. Bit if it's between sticking with bottled or taking the extra 5 minutes to wash and fill your own bottles, the choice seems like a no-brainer to me.
