With the environment being a global concern, why are we still buying bottled water????

1) People are uninformed about the quality. They see a nice clear bottle of water in the store and think 'it must be clean!'. They don't realize that tap water is as clean or cleaner than bottled water, especially if you use a filter at home.

2) People are uninformed about the source. Aquafina and Dasani (bottled water from Coke and Pepsi) are the most common bottled waters, and are no more than re-filtered tap water. You're paying Coke and Pepsi to give you the same water you could have gotten for free from your tap at home.

3) People are don't think ahead. It doesn't take a lot to think 'I might get thirsty later, so I should fill up a bottle with water and take it with me'. Because it's not part of people's daily routine, they don't think about it, then when they get thirsty away from home they're forced to buy the water.

4) People are lazy. 70% of these bottles get thrown out rather than recycled. People just want to plunk down their dollar, get the water handed to them, then throw the empty bottle out the window. Filling up their own bottle at home and carrying it around is just too much effort for lazy people.

5) People don't care about the environment. They don't realize that not only are most of these non-biodegradable bottles ending up in landfills, but tons of energy is wasted in transporting the heavy water around in trucks (not to mention the processing to make the bottles and fill them with the water to begin with). Each bottle of water represents an unnecessary waste of energy and greenhouse gas emissions, but people either don't think about this or just don't care.

In summary, many people just aren't very smart about things like bottled water.

people saying the quality of bottled water is better are not informed. Bottled water is tap water with some minerals added to it. Then it is placed in a plastic bottle where it likely leeches some lovely plastic chemicals into the water.

I recently saw a test they did of a tap and a water cooler at an office and the tap was so much cleaner it was shocking.

I saw something a few days ago about the plastic finding it's way into the ocean - so scary. We need to stop being so lazy and make changes.

Only 24% of the bottles used in the US are getting recycled... and guess what folks... every piece of plastic that was ever made is still here. Excellent article in Fast Company about bottled water too.... the link is below.

I'm with you, Chrissy. I think filters are better. A couple of points. Many tests have shown most tap water to be cleaner than most bottled water. In blind taste tests people usually pick the tap. On the bottles, be careful there. They are turning into a huge addition to the landfills, but not everybody cares about that. They have also been found to leach carcinogenic chemicals into the water after a few re-uses. The bottles are mostly polycarbonate and not intended for reuse. Water bottles of the type sold for bicyclists are cheap and available, and might be worth the expense.

I really don't think global warming can be solved. At least, not in our lifetime. But I do think it's possible for future generations to solve the problem. Although, it would be a lot faster and more effective if we started helping them now. We can recycle more, change the light bulbs in our homes to more energy efficient light bulbs, choose products with not so much plastic, unplug things when not in use, and walking to more places instead of driving are all great ways to help.

Bottled water is actually less safe than tap water. Tap water is controlled under the CWA and contains checks throughout the cleaning to ensure it is clean.

Bottles are a horrible blight on the environment and actually are not recycled at a very high percentage. Plus they need oil to make, and oil to transport.

Better to drink tap water, both for your health and for the environment.

Because an entire generation has grown up thinking that's the only water they should drink.

As a member of a different generation, I take pride in never having bought a bottle of water for myself to drink. I have bought it for my kids, though.

The bottles are recyclable (and reusable, if you want to fill them with home filtered water after rinsing with hot water).

It amazes me - I see 20 Ounce bolltle of Diet Coke selling for 89 cents, right beside 16 ounces of bottled water selling for $1.19. The Coke is made with the same water, and is in a better quality bottle.

Someone is making a lot of money on water.

Because most cities add fluoride to the water (Which should never be ingested. One thing to put it in toothpaste, another to force us to drink it.) which cannot be removed by filters, you have to use reverse osmosis or distilling. And if you buy water in one of the big 5-gallon refillables you are reusing the bottle, which can be recycled when it's no longer usable.

Bottled water comes from MANY different sources, it's not all just tap water with minerals added. Some is spring water, some has fluoride and some doesn't. Personally I drink reverse osmosis water that does not have fluoride. You do have to check and see what you're really getting.

Because people are STUPID and they don't think.

Yes, you can buy a filter and get as good, if not better water at home. As someone else said, the people making the money off of people's stupidity, has convinced the masses to waste their money on bottled water.

We buy the bottle because it's easy to take along. With lots of sports, dance, and activities we need something handy. It also keeps me from over eating! However, we are trying to cut back on the bottles and carry our own tap water instead. Still, they are convenient!

Because people fail to see that water bottles are an environmental disaster, and they are so germ-phobic that they buy into the idea that bottled water is better for them, even though it's been proven time and time again by scientific studies that, in most cases, it is not. Plus, they depend on petroleum to be made.

What's worse, in third world countries, people are being forced to depend on bottled water because the governments give water rights to big water companies (like Coca Cola), and keep ordinary people from being able to get clean water anywhere else.

(funny thing for the people who said because of taste... most people in blind tests can't tell the difference between tap water and bottled water... water is scientifically tasteless and only depends on the other stuff that's in it... joke's on you fools!).