If you have placed a personal, professional or other type of ban on bottled water and you otherwise support the notion of going "back 2 tap" (see this link for a wonderful effort by our friends in NJ), tell us, is this something you would purchase?
The discord that I have is more with the act of packaging and selling WATER and with the prolific rate at which this country has become "dependent" on an over-packaged, over-priced and otherwise wasteful item and less with the idea of cartons as a form of packaging.
Aseptic packaging, or cartons, actually have a lower carbon footprint than some other types of packaging materials. Cartons are made mostly of paper (a renewable resource) and have a higher yield than other types of containers. (Yield being the amount of material that is available for recycling after processing.) The Carton Council has actually committed to developing end markets so that more recycling programs can accept cartons and be guaranteed an outlet for the material. As a result of this commitment, carton recycling is increasing throughout Michigan as well as the rest of the country.
But back to the idea of buying bottled (or cartoned) water...at what point in time did our society give up on tap water and invest so much trust, money and resources into a much less regulated industry?
I will admit that, for a very short period of time, I was enamored with the idea of bottled water. My husband kept his senses about the issue and highly discouraged any bottled water purchase I attempted. Thankfully, the notion was short lived and I quickly realized the error of my ways. Every bottled water purchase is now a skeleton in my (environmental) closet.
In case you were wondering...bottled water is considered a "food" item and is subsequently regulated by the FDA. Tap water, which is regulated by the EPA, has much more stringent standards, in terms of reporting requirements and frequency of monitoring.
Every choice has an impact...so tell us...do you tap or bottle?

