BOTTLED WATER

How often do you drink bottled water? Do you accept the environmental damage that this causes, or is this a habit that you would like to change?

In case you are not aware of the facts:

• For each bottle that you drink, three to five times as much freshwater is used up during manufacturing and transportation;
• For each bottle that you drink, you are using about a half a bottle of crude oil;
• Recycling is only feasible in limited circumstances because only PET bottles can be recycled. You may feel good about putting water bottles in your recycling bin, but they may still end up in land fill or being incinerated;
• Bottles used to package water take over 1,000 years to bio-degrade and, if incinerated, they produce toxic fumes.

Do you drink bottled water because you think that it is better for you? The UK has safe healthy water and Birmingham has some of the best drinking water in the world, piped from the Elan Valley in Wales. Not all bottled water is safe. I think that the sale of bottled water in Birmingham should be banned, would you support a campaign?

We are unlikely to get effective political support. In spite of a government minister, Phil Woolas, attacking the wastefulness of the bottled water industry, only a quarter of government departments have stopped using bottled water in their offices. The House of Commons alone got through around 155,000 litres of bottled water in 2006-07 costing the tax payer £64,599.

Do you think that bottled water tastes better? In a blind test, conducted by Which? magazine, about half could not identify tap water.

There is a vast range of water available: Claridges restaurant in London offers more than 30 bottled waters from around the world, including Mount Pearl 'Berg' water at £30 a litre. Claridges also offers tap water which is free. Never be too shy to ask for tap water in a restaurant.

Is giving up bottled water an easy change that you could make to your lifestyle? It would give you lighter footprints and make a real difference to tackling climate change. From now on, use tap water at home, ask for tap water when dining out and, when on the move, take a reusable bottle full of tap water with you.

Sources: which? ; The Water Project ; Waste Watch and the Chicago Sun Times