The Dangers of Bottled Water

Environmental havoc, they wreak.

Since when has Massachusetts enjoyed a surplus of pristine drinking water supplies that multinational firms, not Bay State citizens, are considered more deserving to receive? The state classifies 70 percent of state river drainage basins as "flow-stressed." Since when have they been restored to such good health that we now have a surfeit of naturally clean freshwater ready for shipping to bottle-chugging out-of-staters - and this in an era in which we face unprecedented global warming, increased agricultural irrigation needs, and worsening water pollution, which requires skyrocketing treatment costs?

Leaders in government, business, religious, and spiritual movements across America are increasingly rejecting bottled water because of its indefensible environmental costs. It is time that this state also calls a halt to the aggressive intrusions of the bottled water industry into the vulnerable water sources that supply small-town homes, farms, and public conservation lands.

A few days ago, I answered the question of whether or not tap water is better than bottled water (it is). However, for anyone who's not convinced, just think of how bottled water impacts the environment and places a strain on local fresh water resources - quickly drying up all across the country. Tap water in Massachusetts is clean, offers minerals our bodies need that get stripped right out of Dasani and other companies, and are far more heavily regulated (and therefore safer). They're also far, far cheaper - buying one bottle of water would have been enough money to fill the same-sized water bottle well over a thousand times. The myth that Americans need to drink bottled water is clearly one of the most successful - and damaging - marketing campaigns ever. It's past time for change.