Do you desire to live in a way that protects our childrens future? Do you choose to live in the greenest world possible with a conscience, respect and appreciation for the environment?

The majority of Americans have a strong sense of environmental and social responsibility. We endeavor to make environmentally beneficial choices in many aspects of our daily living, yet we ignore one of the major contributors to the plight of the planet.

Worldwide in excess of one billion people do not have an uncontaminated source of clean drinking water, this is in excess of 1/6 of the world population, however, as Americans, spend billions of dollars yearly for the convenience of drinking from a plastic bottle instead of a water tap. We should be ashamed.

1.5 million tons of plastic are consumed to bottle water annually. It takes in excess of 25 times the amount of water to make each plastic bottle than the bottle contains. 300 million gallons of bottled water are imported to the United States yearly. This is unacceptable waste.

In America bottled water is often simply an indulgence. Despite our justifications, it is not a harmless indulgence. Bottled water is an environmental catastrophe. Thirty years ago bottled water barely survived as a business in the United States. Today Americans spent more on “designer” bottled water than we spent on iPods or entertainment tickets - $15 billion in 2007. The expected United States expenditure for bottled water will be $16 billion a year before the end of the decade.

As a country we consume in excess of 30 billion single-serving bottles of water per year. Bottled water is the fastest growing beverage industry in the world, worth up to $22 billion a year. Less than 15 per cent of plastic water bottles are recycled, the remainder end up in the garabage system and cost America’s cities in excess of 70 million per year to handle clean up and landfill expenditures. America yearly produces in excess of 800,000 tons of plastic bottle pollution that substantially magnifies global warming.

Last year, Americans threw away 38 billion plastic water bottles, about $1 billion worth of plastic. That’s an overwhelming waste, especially considering 1.5 million barrels of oil - enough to power 100,000 cars for a year - were consumed to manufacture these bottles. And that’s not even including the oil and gas required for shipping and delivering this massive volume of liquid.

If you are spending money on bottled water, you are basically purchasing plastic, which is manufactured from petroleum. When we purchase a bottle of water, what we’re often purchasing is the bottle its self. One of the essential problems with bottled water production is the reliance on fossil fuels. From packaging to transportation, bottled water relies on oil, using 17 million barrels of oil and producing massive amounts of carbon dioxide every year.

In the United States alone, we are hauling 1 billion liters of water around a week in trains, trucks, railcars and ships. That adds up to a weekly giant convoy equivalent to 37,800 18-wheelers. Water weighs over 8 pounds a gallon. Water is so very heavy you cannot fill an 18 wheeler with bottled water, you have to allow empty space.

There is an simple earth friendly solution. Tap water is considerably less expensive. As an investigative reporter for the NY Times points out, almost all municipal water in America is so good that nobody needs to import a single bottle from Italy or France or the Fiji Islands.

Clean and safe drinking water should be public and affordable. The more the wealthy opt out of drinking tap water, the less political support there will be for investing in developing and maintaining America’s public water supply. That would be a serious loss.

Availability of inexpensive, pure water is basic to a countrys health. In Fiji, a state-of-the-art factory spins out more than a million bottles a day of the hippest bottled water on the American market, yet more than half the people in Fiji do not have a pure or dependable source of drinking water. This means it is easier for an American in Dallas or Boston to quench their thirst with refreshing Fiji water than it is for the majority of people in Fiji.

Should you elect to get your suggested eight to ten glasses a day from bottled water, you may spend up to $1,500 or more every year. An equal amount of tap water would cost pennies a day. Recent studies show that many brands of bottled water fail to meet industry guidelines and the cost of even poor quality bottled water can grow quite high.

A lot of bottled water is really just plain tap water. Several bottled water companies package tap water into plastic bottles, then sell them to you at prices higher than gas and increasing just as rapidly. Aquafina, as an example, has sucessfully been pressured into correcting its labels to advise consumers that Aquafina water comes from tap water. Why do we not just drink tap water? In fact, more than a quarter of bottled water is just processed tap water.

Plastic containers poisonous toxic chemicals. Have you considered why your plastic bottle of water has added a label warning telling you not to reuse it? The longer you continue to use that bottle, the more likely it is to leach toxic chemicals into your drinking water.

There is a green solution. If you are not confident in your local tap water or wish to quickly filter tap water when on the go, carbon-filtered tap water is safer and costs much less than bottled water. The Environmental Working Group states, “carbon filtration of tap water will dramatically lower levels of toxic by products; it is also 10 to 20 times less expensive than bottled water, and does not produce the waste and pollution associated with the packaging and transport of bottled water.”

A portable water filter is a perfect solution for water filtration on the go. A portable water filter allows anyone to filter their own water, no matter where they travel; across town or around the world. A portable water filter allows you to free yourself from any unpleasant taste, additives or contaminates while protecting the environment and your pocketbook. Get the whole family involved. A five member family could save well over $7,500.00 a year.

We must stop being unwitting victims of manipulative, explotive advertising. When a entire industry is built up by overwhelming us with a product we do not need, when an entire industry is founded on presentation, packaging and marketing, not the product, it is valid to question how this happened and what the long term impact is upon our planet.

Global warming is an increasing problem for those of us who are concerned about our planet’s future. Therefore, many people are starting to turn to green living practices to help save our planet and keep it healthy for future generations. When you get involved in green living, it will affect every aspect of your life, from mowing your lawn to driving to work.

It’s a daunting prospect to switch to green living all at one time, and this might actually scare some people away from taking on these most important earth friendly changes. However, you can start slowly, so that you ease into green living and will still help positively impact the earth’s environment.

For some cities, air pollution is a major dilemma. Although much of it is produced by factories, there are many other factors that contribute to global warming. Copious quantities of pollutants are emitted from automobiles. Our ozone is being ripped apart as each car driving through city streets is emitting pollutants.

You are increasing the amount of air pollutants emitted by each car, which is wrecking our ozone, when you have many cars driving around on the city streets. Here are some simple things you can do to help save the environment: car pool, walk more often instead of using your car, or perhaps even buy a hybrid automobile that is more energy-efficient.

Even small modifications to your everyday routine can grant a respite to the earth that will benefit future generations. For example, start by taking a look through your home to see what kinds of green changes you can make. A simple place to begin is with the type of light bulbs you use.

The standard incandescent bulbs contribute to higher electricity bills and emit more carbon dioxide. If you switch out your current incandescent bulbs and replace them with compact fluorescent bulbs, you’ll save the environment and will also save on your electric bill. If you must, replace your current incandescent bulbs slowly over time with compact fluorescent bulbs, since these can be expensive. For example, you can switch out one or two incandescent bulbs every month with compact fluorescent bulbs come if your budget does not support replacing all at once.

Keep out cold drafts by sealing any openings around windows and doors in order to save you more money. To aid in decreasing costs in the winter, be certain the house is well insulated. The fewer instances of a furnace or heater being over utilized, the better off you, others, and our environment will be.

Next, examine your appliances to see if they’re consuming excessive energy. If you have older models, it’s likely that they’re not very efficient. While some of the changes are in the appliances that you use, other ways to go green involve your own habits and actions.

For instance, do you find yourself opening your oven door frequently to see if what you are preparing is done? How hard an appliance has to work is directly proportional to how hard it is on the environment. Continually opening the oven door will result in the temperature dropping almost 25 degrees. The oven will have to work again, even harder, to bring the temperature back to the level at which it originally was.

Recycling is an excellent way to save our environment. Try to buy as many products as you can that can be recycled. Avoid the non-recyclable items such as Styrofoam cups. The less trash that has to be burned - or buried into our soil - the better off our planet will be.

These may seem like small changes, but they can have a huge impact on the environment. Simply put, if everyone does them, this has a huge impact in a positive way on the environment. Every little bit everyone can do will go a long way toward preserving our planet for future generations. Pay attention to the environment and get involved so that you, too, begin to positively impact the environment through green living practices that will only benefit the earth.

About the Author:

Pat Lowe is editor of the Home and Garden Section at i-KnowHow | Information for Life, where you’ll also find ideas and tips for hobbies, family, personal finance, technology basics and much more.

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