7 Reasons Why Buying Bottled Water Is the Worst Mistake You Can Make

If you were offered a glass of tap water or a bottle of spring water right now, which would you choose?

A couple things might run through your mind. Bottled water is bad for the environment, but tap water could be contaminated. A spring sounds fresh, while a tap sounds dingy.

In the end, most of us take the bottle every time. In fact, it’s what over half of Americans regularly drink. Yet, the reasons behind their decision to do so remain far murkier than the clear blue water that fills their bottles.

7 Reasons Why Bottled Water Is Just the Worst

1. It pretends to be safer

Tap water is handled by municipal governments and so naturally we are skeptical about its goodness. We’ve been burned before and as a result, have a natural distrust of our faucets.

Yet that distrust is divorced from the facts. Despite its unsafe and unsavoury reputation, America’s drinking water is actually among the safest in the world. As a government run show, taps are under far greater scrutiny than bottles. Tap water must pass rigorous testing from the Environmental Protection Agency, while bottled water falls under the far more lax jurisdiction of the FDA.

Consequently, bottles can just as easily be contaminated, sometimes without anyone immediately catching the mistake. Recalls happen routinely.

2. Its better taste is just a marketing ploy

This one at least might be plausible. Some bottled water almost certainly tastes better than what comes out of your tap. But there are all sorts of things you can do.

You can install a filtration system in your home, or on your faucet. You can use ice, or refrigerate a pitcher. The temperature of water can have a huge effect on its taste.

Even better, you can add lemon juice, cucumber, or mint. And you will be getting more than just great flavour. Lemons boost your immune system, cucumbers rehydrate your system, and mint can aid with digestion. If taste is the problem, there is a better solution.

3. Like cigarettes 50 years ago, the public does not know its true danger

We were all taught from a young age to think for ourselves, but the urge to follow the crowd remains amazingly strong. I see people stocking up on bottled water when it goes on sale at the supermarket all the time and wonder if I should be doing the same. There must be something to it if this many people are on board, right?

Wrong. All sorts of unhealthy and unnecessary things have gone through periods of insane popularity. Smoking is a great example. Just because a lot of people are drinking it, doesn’t mean you should too.

4. It pretends to be chemical free when it’s packed in a deadly plastic

The sad fact is that many brands of bottled water are just tap water in disguise. The water may have been put through some kind of filter, but it’s pretty much the same stuff. A study done in Cleveland showed that even top brands like Fiji, Aquafina, and Dasani have no fewer chemicals than the water flowing from the tap.

What’s even more troubling, however, is that bottled water can actually contain more chemicals due to the cheap plastic packaging. Some bottles have been shown to leak hazardous chemicals, like Bisphenol A, which can cause cancer, heart problems, and infertility.

On the other hand, if your main concern is avoiding fluoride, you may be unknowingly drinking it anyway. At any rate, the case against fluoride is generally exaggerated and your health dollars could be better spent elsewhere.

5. Because it’s an overpriced product with no real benefits

We are socialized to think that if something is more expensive, it must have value. Why else would millions of Americans spend billions of dollars on something from a bottle that they could be getting for pennies from a tap?

The answer is that big corporations make more money selling water than they do selling beer. Beer! And so they put a lot of time and effort into convincing people that bottled water is worth the price.

It’s not.

6. Because bottled water is simply one of the worst things to happen to the environment

Bottles end up in landfills, in our lakes and rivers, and in our parks. They’re made of fossil fuels and contain carcinogens. They’re absolutely terrible. They take something healthy and natural like drinking water and turn it into an environmental travesty.

7. There’s nothing convenient about it

This is the part that never makes sense. There’s nothing convenient about lugging home case after case of bottled water. It’s decidedly inconvenient, expensive, and no healthier than what you could be getting from your tap.

So the next time you reach for a bottle of water, try to think of a reason – you may not be able to come up with a good one.