Americans spend about $11 billion dollars a year on bottled water! Did you know that Americans buy about 28 billion water bottles a year, with a whopping 85% ending up in landfills?

Many of the bottles, which are for single-use only, end up polluting our rivers, lakes and oceans. This is an unfortunate fact since they are recyclable. But even recycling them can release dangerous toxins into our environment and consumes tons of energy.

The damage to the environment that is done in producing bottled water is staggering. The Pacific Institute estimates that in 2006:

• Producing the bottles for American consumption required the equivalent of more than 17 million barrels of oil, not including the energy for transportation
• Bottling water produced more than 2.5 million tons of carbon dioxide
• It took 3 liters of water to produce 1 liter of bottled water. (Source: Pacific Institue Website)

By simply switching to tap water, which can easily be filtered, and using a reusable bottle, you can make a huge difference.

For more info, visit these sites:

CNBC "The Life of a Water Bottle"
Sierra Club
Pacific Institue
Food and Water Watch