Bottled water

I have very little plastic to recycle Patsy. I buy carefully to avoid the wretched stuff as far as I can. Very little ends up in the recycling bin but I am very aware that the council may not recycle it here. The only answer is to avoid it as much as possible.

I wonder if all those condemning water in plastic bottles feel the same about animal milk much of which now comes in plastic containers. I hate plastic btw and try to avoid it, but do like a Perrier or San Pellegrino, which come in glass. We should definitely introduce a money back scheme on plastic containers and glass bottles , funded by the manufacturers.

I buy San Pelegríno in a glass bottle as a treat. It was much cheaper until a few years back, then the larger plastic bottles appeared. Better value perhaps but don’t retain the sparkle as well imo.
Glass chills nicely in the fridge. I fill washed out squash bottles with water and chill to drink with diluted squash,
However glass is more hazardous and heavy to carry from shops.
I have the same reservations about paper carrier bags because they get wet if it rains (when is it not lately) and disintegrate.
I remember the days when people regularly had to deal with smashed jars in these carrier bags on the bus home. What a mess!
I wonder how much it costs to install a water filter to a system?

vegansrock I don't buy San Pelegrino or Perrier as they are both owned by Nestlé.
There are plenty of others in glass.

I haven't knowingly bought anything produced by Nestlé since about 1979 when I first learned about their baby milk marketing strategies. In spite of some successes over the years they are still doing it.

www.babymilkaction.org/nestlefree

Granmarderby10 I think you could fit a system with cartridges for not a huge sum. My daughter has one - but the cartridges still need replacing every x months (6?)... So there is still an ongoing cost.

I like the idea of a filtered water tap... but meanwhile use a water filter jug and change the cartridge roughly monthly (depending on use).

vegansrock I don’t buy milk in plastic containers.

Of course tetrapak cartons aren't plastic free. There are usually 6 layers glued together: polyethylene, paperboard, polyethylene, aluminum foil, polyethylene and polyethylene.
They are on average made of paperboard (70%), aluminium (5%), and polyethylene plastic (25%).
And most have a plastic lid.

They are still not completely recyclable.

The polyethylene is the same as (most) plastic bottles.

If you use a milk substitute (such as soya, almond or oat milk it comes in something. Usually tetrapack - unless you make it yourself or buy in glass (say, from the milkman).

Not critical here. Just saying.

Very little is simple.

Choosing to drink bottled water is not so daft as one might think.

Indeed, our drinking water historically has always been extremely reliable, but this is no longer the case.

Drinking water is frequently just on the safe side of unfit, and indeed we know that at present Thames Water is not particularly clean.

I would choose bottled water if there was a hint of unfit water in my area.

Our fridge gives filtered tap water, would only buy bottled if water company messed up our water supply, hate the thought of all that plastic, and what an expense, someone is making a ridiculous profit. When we holiday in France, always drink tap water there, but all the supermarket trolleys are piled high with plastic bottles!

Ive always lived in the North West where the tap water tastes quite pleasant. However when I go to London the taste is vile so I drink bottled water.

You can get a filter tap for around £200.

Our tap water is awful. I have a filter jug that I fill from the tap and then use reusable stainless steel bottles or glass bottles.. no plastic happening here!
I do buy San Pellegrino sparkling water though. In a glass bottle.

I drink tap water but I don't like it. I find if I leave a glass of water out for a couple of hours it develops a taste like chemicals.

Cabbie 21 You can have sparkling water from a tap but you do need one of those fancy and expensive taps that takes a cyclindet to add the "sparkle". Of course, there is then the cyclinder to be disposed of. Do wonder how we managed to drink just plain tap water before all the marketing and profit gathering from the bottled water companies.

I have a certain tap that has really cold water, carbonated water and hot water and boiling water through a small combi-boiler, all situated under my sink. We are a soft water area, so don’t need to replace the filter as often as hard water areas. No kettle here, all drinks are made through the tap.
I object to buying water in plastic bottles, expensive and bad for the environment. The tap was not cheap to buy but it is the best thing that we have bought for the kitchen.

I have a Britta Jug as one lady said above and I also keep a small bottle that I can fill with water from the jug if I need to take some out with me. I don't like the taste of our tap water but the jug always helps.

A sodastream is not very expensive and a more straightfowrad solution than a special tap. You do have to change the canisters, but you can exchange them for new ones so no disposal issues - I do this at my local hardware store. It takes up little space and is very simple to operate. If your main concern is elimnating waste and transport costs, but you love sparkling water, this is a good solution.

Our water comes from Loch Katrine, tastes fine, and is very soft. You can tell by the rerr sapple when washing.
( Rerr sapple means rich lather for Sassenachs!)

I remember my horror at the film on my bath water the first time I visited my brother in London, and the limescale in the kettle was something I had never seen before!

I agree, we don't drink bottled water either, unless we are out and there is no option.
However our water often has a tang of chlorine and sometimes smells nasty too, so I have a chiller/filter in my fridge. The water tastes much cleaner and I only need to change the filter twice a year.
There is actually a version of the Brita filter which fits a glass carafe and just cleans up the water without tremoving the calcium. We often use this at the table, though my husband (who used to be a consultant specialising in water treatment) thinks it is totally unnecessary!

We have been advised to be ready for the unexpected and have bottled water in stock. How easy would it be to store tap water for an emergency? And what would you store it in? I too do not want to buy water in bottles. Advice welcome!

sodapop

Water is my main drink of the day with one cup of coffee per day and the occasional G &T. I drink a specific brand of bottled water because it contains extra magnesium which helps with the cramp I suffer from.
I must admit to being concerned now about the plastic issue and may rethink things.

I simply take a low dose magnesium tablet with a meal during the day and this seems to have fixed my cramp.

Applegran

We have been advised to be ready for the unexpected and have bottled water in stock. How easy would it be to store tap water for an emergency? And what would you store it in? I too do not want to buy water in bottles. Advice welcome!

Maybe buy an old milk churn, often see them on Ebay. The gypsies use them a lot.

i drink tap water as i find the water in scotland fine to drink, if i am out all day and run out i usually buy pepsi or orange, these get washed and filled from the tap and kept in the fridge.

www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/nov/28/forever-chemicals-found-in-drinking-water-sources-across-england

just saying

It's none of your business if people are drinking bottled water, nobody is asking you to pay for it.