Myth: Bottled water is safer than tap water.
Reality: Tap water is subject to stricter government standards.
Americans gulp down 28.5 gallons of bottled water per capita each year, discarding billions of plastic containers. It's convenient, sure, but is it healthier than plain old tap water?
"There's no guarantee that bottled water is any safer than the water that comes out of your tap," says Wendy Gordon of the nonprofit Natural Resources Defense Council.
The reason: Tap water is subject to stricter standards and more rigorous testing than bottled water. The EPA requires large municipalities to test water for bacteria in an independent lab a dozen times a day.
The FDA mandates that water used for bottling be analyzed only once a week for bacteria. What's more, water that's packaged and sold in the same state -- about 70% of the bottled water sold in the U.S. -- is exempt from federal regulation because it doesn't cross state lines, leaving it with "inconsistent protection," says Peter Gleick of the Pacific Institute. -- Dody Tsiantar
Read More Green Myths Debunked
Sunday, March 28, 2010
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3 comments:
Gotta say that I don't agree with a couple of things in this article...Paper vs. plastic bags >> plastic? Neither! Get a reusable bag...Bottled vs. tap >> tap? Ok agreed, but we have to find a good way to purify this tap water! It's got a lot of pesticides and who knows what else that is not treated at the water treatment plant! This is a good article to start thinking about these things, but definitely don't think the answers are correct for some of these myths...
I still aint drinking tap water. Plus u gotto consider where in the world you are drinking tap water from. New York is not Canada. Nor is California water like Atlanta septic. So if Whole Foods or any organic market is near by, I am sticking to what the say global to all there respecective stores. this definitely sparked my thought but I was confused to your comment versus your post. Or was your comment a response to the read. No worries. Be cool.
Thnx Ronny...Understand why u wouldn't want to drink tap water. I resposted an excerpt of da article from another site to da blog, and then posted a comment to it. Article is good food 4 thought, but i don't agree wit it completely.
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