Why Buy Bottled Water?

I have long been perplexed by the growth in sales of bottled water. And yet I have bought it, in the rare instance, most notably when I wanted to buy a cold, caffeine-free, calorie-free drink.



Mostly, though, I just use a water bottle and refill it from the tap at home or from a water fountain at work. I confess to having a filter on our drinking-water tap, in part to reduce the amount of chlorine in our water, upped considerably since the Walkerton tragedy, an hour's drive north of here.



According to Lester Brown, [h/t to Jack]

"There are places in the world where safe bottled water is important," Brown notes. "The United States is not one of them." [EE note: neither are Canada or England]



"It's an example of conspicuous consumption," Brown says. "Reasonably well-educated people have been convinced that water in plastic bottles is better for them than water that's in their tap." In fact, most U.S. states regulate tap water much more stringently than they do bottled water, he adds.

Conspicuous consumption? Gee, when I refill a water bottle from the tap, I don't really feel the same way I would if I'm put cheap scotch in an empty bottle that once held expensive scotch; it sure isn't conspicuous consumption on my part, and it probably isn't some overbearing concern about the environmental impact of using too many plastic bottles.



Maybe it's just because I'm cheap.

Comments

[Gabriel Mihalache]

Well, it makes more sense for when you're out. I don't think it makes so much sense for buying them in bulk and keeping them in the closet.

I also like bottles... I sometimes get 3-4 0.5l Coca-Cola bottles rather than 1 2l bottle because they're like portions. The system helps me know when to stop drinking.

[Brian Ferguson]

I'm like you - I buy once for the bottle, then refill. I've never made any secret about refilling, so I don't think there's much of a conspicuous consumption element.

[EclectEcon]

Like Gabriel, I do not by the cheaper 2-litre bottles of pop; instead, I buy pop in cases of cans -- that limits my consumption ... somewhat.

[Rebekah K]

Getting water to meet health and safety standards is easy. Getting it past the taste buds is tougher.

While I'm informed by "experts" that my hometown's tap water is safe to drink, I can assure you it is not potable by normal human standards. Not when it still tastes like somebody filtered it through a layer of coarse gravel and dirty underwear... not that I've ever tasted water filtered in such a manner. or, if I had, not that I would admit it without a sufficient supply of Very Good Scotch in my bloodstream, first.