the Adventure Lifestyle magazine

tributing factor to global warming. But that's probably the last thing you're thinking about when your throat is parched and you're on the go. If you're like most active urban dwelling North Americans, you likely consume bottled water in your daily adventures. Maybe you are one of the 35 percent of Americans who are con- cerned tap water is contaminated or unsafe. Maybe you don't like its taste, as 7 percent claim. Or maybe the convenience of ready-to-go water in plastic is the allure. Whether it's safety, taste or convenience, it might be time to rethink some of your assumptions, in light of several recent studies. In the US, tap water is monitored by the Environmental Protection Agency while bottled water, considered a food product, is monitored by the Food and Drug Administration. A 1999 study by the Natural Resources Defense Council found that the FDA's regulations for bottled water are often weaker than EPA rules for tap water, and that bottled water is not necessarily any safer than tap water. In testing over 100 brands of bottled water, about one-third exceeded allowable state and industry limits for contaminants such as bacteria and arsenic. The study also found that bottled water regulations allow for some contamination by E. coli or fecal coliform, as opposed to tap-water rules, which prohibit any away it disappears- plastics can take up to 1,000 years to biodegrade on land, and 450 years in water. One quarter of all bottled water actually originates from the tap, such as "purified waters" like Pepsi's Aquafina and Coca-Cola's Dasani (basi- cally tap water cleaned through a reverse osmosis system and bottled local- ly). While this news shocked consumers (it la those crooks! Selling unwitting consumers their own tap water!), ironically these waters do have one com- mendable factor, they neither transport large quantities of water from their indigenous location therein disrupting the ecological balance, nor do they require the fossil fuel expense involved in, let's say, shipping bottled water from France, or even trucking it from Maine. They do, however, waste 2 gal- lons for every gallon they purify through filtration : Water waste that would not 1 .000 yea rs to biodegrade confirmed contamination of these bacteria. Although munici- pal water systems have certainly violated water standards on occasion, they must also issue annual consumer confidence reports, outlining the contents in any previous violations for that year. The bottled water indus- try has no such requirement. In May of 2001 (in a less scientific but no less telling incident) "Good Morning America," performed a blind taste test between three differ- ent brands of bottled water and NYC tap water. Of the studio audience test- ed forty-five percent chose NYC tap water over brands like Poland Spring and Evian. Taste, safety and convenience aside, the plastics surrounding bot- tled water are highly pollutive. The bottled water industry produces 1.5 mil- lion tons of plastic a year but since many US states don't have a deposit sys- tem for bottled water containers, the vast majority don't get recycled. In fact, according to the Container Recycling Institute (CRI), the International Bottled Water Association and others have consistently lobbied against a bottle deposit program because it would jack the price of each bottle up by a cou- ple pennies. Because of this, CRI estimates that fewer than 20 percent of bot- tled water beverage containers get recycled in the US (compared to 55 per- cent of aluminum cans). And don't think just because you throw something "Plastics can take up to on land. and 450 years in water," occur if consumers hydrated directly from public drinking water. Will the day come when seeing a bottle of Evian on your co-work- er's desk evokes the same PC shame as a fur coat? WelL.that day might be far off. But for now, what is the most environmentally responsible way to hydrate? If at home, it's from your tap. For when you're out on the go, buy a hydration pack, or Nalgene portable, fill it up at the nearest tap and you're on your way. ) Aaron Clark GET TO KNOW YOUR WATER In the US every municipal water system that supplies more than 25 people in the US is required to issue an annual consumer confidence report. Many reports are online at: www.epa.gov/salewater/dwinlo.htm. 11 your local report isn't available online contact your local drinking water utility. WHATS IN A NAME? NATURAL MINERAL WATER: water must have a certain amount of dissolved minerals and origi- nate from an underground water source (ex: Perrier. S. Pellegrino) SPRING WATER: water derived from an under- ground formation from which water flows natu- rally to the surface of the earth (ex: Poland Spring. Volvic. Evian) PURIFIED WATER: water that is produced by distil- lation. deionization or reverse osmosis and treat- ed to remove any harmful trace elements or bac- teria (ex: public tap-water. bottled water brands Coca-Cola's Dasani. Pepsi's Aquafina) MAGIC IN A BODLE: WATER STATS ANNUAL VOLUME OF BODLED WATER. GLOBALLY (IN GALLONS) 1970S: 300 MILLION 2000: 22,300 MILLION EST. 2006: 37,000 MILLION Tap Home liltered Tap Bottled $42.00'" $742.00···· filter waste 523 bottles. or 37 lbs 01 plastic 'Cost per year per person is based on 6 eight oz. glasses a day or 136 gallons a year. "Tap water is based on the cost of NYC tap water '''Home filtered tap water is based on a Brita water sys- tem and meludes pitcher and ftlters for a year. ~'''BotUed water is based on the cost of a 1.5 liter of Poland Spring which sells for 52.15 at Han's Deli. Broadway. NYC. $0.26" NONE 61

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