The Nurturing Well by: Jill Starbuck
Hot summer days are nearly here. In fact, we’ve already had a few teasers. On these nice days, we spend more time outdoors in the sun playing and working on various projects. All of this activity and heat causes us to reach more frequently for water to quench our thirst and cool us down. And the majority of us typically reach for an overpriced plastic bottle of water. In fact, we spend more than $10 billion on bottled water. Why? Because it is convenient.
While bottled water is a matter of convenience, it is actually great cause for concern. We pay a high price for bottled water, and that high price is not only in dollars. In the United States, we consume 1,500 water bottles per second! The majority of those plastic bottles end up in landfills, taking nearly 1,000 years to fully decompose. To package water, the water industry uses a tremendous amount of oil. In the process, the industry produces more than 2 million tons of carbon dioxide.
The amount of pollution produced, trash created, and money spent on plastic bottled water is sobering. While companies that package bottled water would have you believe their bottled water is better than tap water, this is likely untrue. To save our environment and money, consider buying a reusable water bottle. Bottles come in many shapes, sizes, colors, and material. Stainless steel, glass, sweat-resistant, and numerous others are at our disposal. Don’t like the taste of tap water? You’re in luck. Some bottles on the market contain their own individual filtering systems at low cost. If you don’t feel like carrying a bottle around with you everywhere you go, consider buying one for specific destinations such as your car, your office, etc. Let’s face it, a bottle with a unique design, color, or your name engraved on it is much cooler than an overpriced plastic bottle that wreaks havoc on the environment.
Jill Starbuck has 20 years of experience as a business writer, editor, and market research analyst. She is a certified health coach through the Integrative Institute of Nutrition and a certified running coach through the Road Runners Club of America. She is also the co-owner of a running business. She can be reached at jillstarbuck@hotmail.com.
