It’s easy to fall into the habit – and the trend – of drinking bottled water. But think for a moment before you pick up your next bottle of Aquafina...it comes from tap water. And how about the amount of jet fuel wasted on bringing bottles of water over from Fiji, not to mention the added plastic waste?

If you make it a habit to stop using plastic bottled water and start filling reusable bottles with filtered or tap water, you’ll not only save yourself from the toxins that many plastic bottles release, but you’ll stop adding to the growing plastic waste that pollutes our oceans and our planet.

Simple Ideas:

• Be as thrifty on water as you are on gas – the price of a litre of bottled water is often more expensive than the price of a litre of gas. In addition, you’re already paying for quality tap water in your municipal taxes.
• If you don’t like the taste of tap water or don’t think yours is safe, use a filtering system like Bria. Or if you must buy it, get spring water that’s sold in large, reusable bottles.
• Consider the greenhouse gas emissions that come with the bottled water that traveled across the world just to get in your hand.
• Try not to add to The Great Garbage Patch in our ocean. It’s roughly the size of Texas and contains approximately 3.5 million tons of trash - a lot of which is plastic.
• Know that tap water is safe. The quality and safety of US tap water is regulated by the Environmental Protection Agency, and some cities like San Francisco test their water more than 100,000 times a year to ensure it meets or exceeds water quality standards. Plus in the US, between 25% and 40% of bottled water sold is actually reprocessed tap water.

Think Beyond Plastic and do everything you can to stop using bottled water and reduce the threat that plastic poses to our children and our planet.