Caution: What I'm about to post about is a shocking proposal but here goes.
I'm talking water.
Think back, way back to a time long long ago, a time when we would drink water from the tap. We would turn our faucet on and fresh, clean, potable water would just flow freely into our glasses or from drinking fountains and our thirst would be no more. It was a simpler time, a time when we didn't fill our already over-burdened land fills with empty bottles made of petroleum-based plastics that put us deeper and deeper into a dependency on Middle Eastern oil. We brought water bottles and filled them as needed with this life-giving substance and no one ever imagined that we would pay more for bottled water than we would for soda or milk or even gas. Water was free. Remember those days?
Oh, wait. Water is still free, or for those who pay a nominal monthly charge for water use, practically free.
And by some miracle, in most parts of the United States, tap water is completely drinkable and often delicious.
We should never waste it or take it for granted, as fresh unpolluted water is a rare commodity that should be conserved and protected, but while it is still an option, we should not buy bottled water. Ever.
Start now. Invest in a water bottle, or at the very least, refill the bottle that you bought yesterday and bring it with you tomorrow. Now I think that the taste of New York City tap
water rivals even Colorado mountain water, but if you live in a place that provides less-than-perfect water flowing from your pipes, use that Brita Filter (for sale at half the price at Jack's 99 Cent World on 45th St. between 5th and 6th Ave.) in your refrigerator and fill your water bottle up with that. It takes one more extra thought a day, but we could reduce our landfills by a significant amount and yes, use less foreign oil.
I know, it's crazy talk. But we have power as consumers, more than we know. And it's another way to save money. See how I always come back to that?
Okay, is anyone else thirsty for a long tall drink of water?
Okay, I'll bite. I use to run around the neighborhood naked and drink out of the gutter, but I was only three when I did. I'm still alive! The water we got in Longmont came from a purification plant in Lyons, Colorado and it's still the best tasting water I've ever had. I'm pretty sickened by the fact that folks buy bottled water with French names or "artesian well" on it. Hells Bells, it's just water people. They've done studies and proven that the water from Evian and some of those water peddlers is no cleaner than tap water anyway. Luckily, I still live in Colorado and my water comes straight up out of the ground from a well. It's not perfect. It has a little bit of iron it in, but it served the same farming family, (three generations) who we bought the place from, well. We didn't have the money to upgrade to a water conditioner, but I did install a filter to the cold-water intake to our fridge. We also use a Brita pitcher and keep it full quite a bit. I'd rather save the money I'd otherwise spend on bottled water on some cold, refreshing, clear-as-the-Rocky Mountains Coors. Now there's some powerful, life-enjoying electrolytes in those golden cans!
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