Our one step this week is Drinking 101: More Tap Water, Fewer Bottled Beverages. This is a practice everyone can afford; in fact, it’s one of the easiest ways to save money—hundreds of billions of dollars each year if everyone in the world got on board—while very effectively protecting our environment. An Idaho water utility reports that the average price of tap water in the United States is about $1.50 per 1,000 gallons, which is about 1,000 times cheaper than bottled water. Besides more money in your pocket, less plastic in your waste stream is another compelling reason to turn on a tap to quench your thirst.

For additional practical sustainability guides, please visit our website at www.SustainablePractice.Life.

Two That Matter Most

To know whether you are meeting your need for water in a sustainable way, these two environmental indicators matter most:

  1. How much money you spend on beverages.

  2. How many beverage containers you put in the garbage or recycling.

Successfully Changing Drinking Practices: A Quick Note

Changing drinking habits is hard. You may have the best intentions to drink tap water, but catch yourself putting soft drinks in your shopping cart. A six-step continuous improvement practice proficiency model helps you make successful changes:

Start by evaluating your current practices to identify what can and needs to change. Make and share a commitment to improve. Then take aim by setting specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound goals. Develop a plan that describes how you will achieve your goals. Do the work. Measure what matters, so you can evaluate your results and keep making positive change happen.

Sustainable Practice: Drinking 101

More Tap Water, Fewer Bottled Beverages

Drink more tap water and fewer bottled beverages to save energy and materials, prevent pollution, and reduce waste.

Equipment and Materials

  • Potable water supply

  • Refillable water bottle [Optional]

  • Water filter [Optional]

Steps

  1. Fill your glass or water bottle from a potable tap

Discussion

Once humans are weaned, plain water is sufficient for hydration for the rest of their lives. But beverages are big business—sweetened drinks are an affordable luxury enjoyed around the world, and bottled water is sold as a convenience or as a safer alternative in communities where public potable water supplies are unreliable. If your household or organization has access to a safe drinking water supply, you can meet your need for water affordably and sustainably simply by turning on the tap.

In most communities in developed countries, public water supplies are treated to be potable, and private water supplies, such as deep wells, are typically designed to provide potable water without requiring treatment. Non-potable water supplies, such as untreated surface water intended for irrigation, are often labeled. Activated charcoal filters can be used to improve the taste of treated potable water, removing chlorine and other odors. More extensive filtration systems and additional treatment may be required before it is safe to drink water from non-potable water supplies.

The choice to drink tap water is environmentally beneficial for many reasons:

  • Less energy and materials are required to provide tap water compared to bottled beverages, which is why tap water is 1,000 times more affordable per gallon than bottled water.

  • Agricultural resources are not required to grow sugar cane, beets, or corn to provide sweeteners, which are not in tap water but are often added to beverages.

  • You can use reusable glasses or refillable water bottles, meeting the need for drinking water without producing solid waste.

Drinking tap water makes good use of existing infrastructure and prevents pollution. Most residential and commercial structures in developed countries have water pipes buried underground to deliver potable water on demand year-round. But bottled beverages must be delivered, usually requiring a road network. Leveraging the existing water infrastructure prevents pollution by avoiding the need to produce, distribute, or dispose of single-use plastic, glass, or metal beverage containers.

Drinking plain water instead of sweetened beverages prevents food waste if the extra food energy is not necessary to meet dietary needs. Sugar cane, beets, or corn—or the land used to grow them—can be used in more beneficial ways to feed people.

Choosing to drink plain tap water rather than bottled beverages allows you to allocate more money to more sustainable investments, saves energy and materials, prevents pollution, and reduces waste.

Definitions

  • Beverage: a liquid for drinking.

  • Bottled: bottled beverages are distributed in plastic, glass, or metal containers, usually designed for single use.

  • High fructose corn syrup: a common sweetener in beverages derived from corn.

  • Potable: water that is safe to drink.

  • Tap: water that is distributed under pressure in pipes rather than bottled.

Troubleshooting

  1. Your local water supply is unsafe:

    1. Filter your water

  2. Your local area is experiencing a severe drought:

    1. Conserve water in other ways, such as reducing the amount you use for flushing toilets to ensure you have enough for drinking

  3. You want something more exciting to drink than plain water

    1. Add fresh fruit, such as a lime wedge, or vegetables, such as a cucumber slice

    2. Brew mint tea

    3. Add sugar or syrup sparingly to make your own beverage sweetened to taste

Strategies and Goals

  • Community

    • Demonstrate sustainable practices

      • Refill reusable water bottles from the tap.

  • Food

    • Reduce Food Waste

      • Drink water without unnecessary sweeteners.

  • Water

    • Protect Water Quality

      • Drink water that minimizes pollution.

  • Energy

    • Conserve energy

      • Drink tap water to save energy from being used to produce, distribute, and dispose of beverage containers.

  • Goods

    • Buy Less

      • Drink tap water to avoid buying unnecessary packaging.

Milestones

  • Decrease bottled beverages purchased

    • Measure: Bottled beverages purchased

    • Method: Logbook

    • Time Period: Season

  • Decrease packaging purchased

    • Measure: Waste sent to be incinerated or landfilled

    • Method: Logbook

    • Time Period: Week

Limitations

  • Finding sources of tap water may be inconvenient when traveling

  • Public water supplies are unreliable in some communities

  • Other beverages are more appealing than tap water

Opportunities

  • Drinking 102 - Sustainable Coffee

    • Get your caffeine fix without destroying our planet

References

Keywords

water, tap, drinking, refillable water bottle, water filters