Live on the TAP side of life

Rethink the bottled water habit.  Sure it seems convenient, but Advertisements mislead consumers into thinking that bottled water provides clean, safe and better tasting water.  However bottled water is less regulated than tap and up to 40% of bottled water in the US and Canada is actually filtered municipal tap water. 

Not only is tap water safer but if students consumed the recommended daily intake of water via bottled water at retail price, the cost would exceed $3,000 a year!  Compare that to a mere $0.88 a year for high quality tap.

What you can do?

1. The next time thirst hits, skip the bottled water and head to the nearest drinking fountain.  Bring your own mug and save with every refill.  

2. Share the good news! Cambridge water is safe and tastes good --purified  to a level that exceeds Federal and State drinking water standards.

3. Start a campaign to reduce bottled water use within your group.

Consider this: 

• The manufacture of all plastic water bottles sold in the U.S. in 2007 emitted over 2.5 million tons of carbon dioxide, or the equivalent of 400,000 passenger cars per year 

• Only 10% of non-carbonated drink bottles were recycled (approximately 15% of water bottles in the U.S.)

Harvard Highlights:

At Harvard Law School, the Wasserstein Caspersen Clinical Building was designed to be bottled-water free.  To eliminate the need for bottled water service, filtered water dispensers are present on every floor -- equipped with counters to show the number of bottles saved by using these stations. 

Drinking Fountain map for HLS 

Drinking Fountain map for HGSE

Additional Resources:

• Curious where all that plastic ends up? Learn more about the largest landfill in the world -- the Great Pacific Garbage Patch

• Consider creating alternative for bottle water like bottle filling stations for details visit the Harvard Green Building Tip

• Consider what your purchasing can do to mitigate bottled water from the office: Responsible Purchasing Guide

Sources:

Responsible Purchasing Network, “Think Outside the Bottle”

Cambridge Drinking Water, http://www2.cambridgema.gov/CWD/about.cfm