Drinking lots of water is one of the easiest ways to lose some weight quickly, especially for many people who are chronically dehydrated. But tap water is usually a better alternative to bottled water. Bottled water companies are not regulated for safety or purity. And the environmental waste resulting from the bottled water craze is horrific. Here's an eye-opening passage from the Food & Water Watch:
Bottled water wastes fossil fuels and water in production and transport, and when the water is drunk the bottles become a major source of waste. It takes more than 47 million gallons of oil to produce plastic water bottles for Americans every year. Eliminating those bottles would be like taking 100,000 cars off the road and 1 billion pounds of carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere. Each one of those bottles required nearly five times its volume in water to manufacture the plastic and may have caused the release of nickel, ethylene oxide, and benzene. Then, rather than being recycled, 86 percent of them are thrown away. Breaking down these plastics can take thousands of years, while their components seep into our water supplies.
