There is a real controversy going on about bottled water today.  Is it really better than tap water?  ”The Story of Bottled Water” was released on YouTube in honor of World Water Day. This is an innovative narration on the problem with the bottled water we like to buy today. Almost immediately the “International Bottled Water Association” stated this video as sensational.  Then it brought out its short film stating the practices of sustainability, which their members participate with including brands such as Nestle.

The bottled-water story though stated that the companies that bring out bottled water are frightening consumers into believing their tap water is contaminated and dirty, when at the same time they use tap water in their bottling process.  Two of the companies that do this that were mentioned in the video were Coke’s Dasani and Pepsi’s Aquafina.  Annie Leonard is doing the narration for this video.

The video points out landfills get about 80 percent of the used plastic bottles or they get burned up.  Of course the “International Bottled Water Association” states that things are different that 30.9 percent of the water bottles are actually recycled.

Tom Lauria, the VP of communications for the association, states “Consumers are really quite thoughtful in selecting and enjoying a safe, healthy, convenient, calorie-free beverage that’s delicious, refreshing and a very smart drink choice.  That’s the real story of bottled water.”

It is pointed out by the association that the world has a need for bottled water in cases of emergencies such as tsunamis, earthquakes and floods.  This water cannot be provided if there is not industry to make it.

But according to the United Nations the bottled water happens not to be a sustainable industry.  In the United States alone the water produced takes oil to produce at the rate of 17 million barrels each year.  At last resort IBWA’s video had only received 250 hits, while “The Story of Bottled Water” received 120,000 hits.

Today, we do need to be more careful about how many of the plastic bottles windup in landfills.  If you must use bottled water reuse the bottles instead of trashing them.  Even if you make a vase with them a stick a single flower in them.  You alone can decide which side of the bottled water story you want to believe.

More and more people are turning to re-useable bottles and filling them with just plain tap water though in place of buying water.  This way no plastic bottles have to be purchase at all to wind up in landfills later.  If you are afraid your water is not totally safe to drink from the tap there are filters you can get to run your water through before you drink it.

So think about both sides of this story and see where you opinions lie.  Conserve water and energy though to help lessen your carbon footprint.  If you need to eliminate some of the bottled water you buy to accomplish this along with re-using or recycling any of the plastic bottles you do use.