Take Back the Tap

I've just read a wonderful report put out by the Food & Water Watch (FWW) entitled, "Take Back the Tap". In this eye-opening report the FWW clearly explains why we need to redirect our energy toward creating healthier and safer public water systems, rather than allowing water to become privatized and sold as a commodity.

We currently often pay more for bottled water than for gasoline (if you can believe it!), when perfectly drinkable water comes right out of the tap in most places. Bottled water actually has fewer federal regulatory standards mandating testing and quality control than tap water, and so contrary to what many people think, it is usually not healthier, cleaner, nor purer than tap water. (And as many people already know, certain brands, like Dasani, are actually just selling filtered tap water!)

Basically, bottled water companies have been preying on the fears of people as to how safe their drinking water really is, and through extremely successful marketing and propaganda campaigns, have made the general public feel good about buying bottled water. But there is really nothing good about it.

In addition to the 8.3 billion gallons of bottled water that Americans drank in 2006, which took approximately 17 million barrels of oil to produce, and of which  only an estimated 15-28% ended up being recycled (the rest doomed to thousands of years of existence in a landfill), we are now learning more about harmful toxins that can leach out of plastic bottles and into your water (or food). And all of this waste and contamination costs us dearly! The going rate for water is now as high as $10/ gallon, if purchased in small bottles, which is more than double the cost of gasoline!

The myth of "purity in a bottle" needs to be stopped! We are threatening the future of our water systems by allowing privatization of water, which ultimately will lead to less federal funding of municipal systems.  Here are a few things you can do:

• Read "Take Back the Tap" here, chock-full of facts, research, and well-articulated discussion about the tap vs. bottled water debate.

• CLICK HERE to sign the Food & Water Watch's petition to protect America's water.

• CLICK HERE to help stop the push towards water privatization in California.

And if you have some other ideas/suggestions, please let us know by leaving a comment below!

Comments

[GreenPlanetz]

Thank you so much for this posting. I hope as many people as possible read this, this is great information. We absolutely have to get back to tap and get rid of the plastic bottles that are filling our landfills.