Bottled water

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.

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.

vegansrock I don’t buy milk in plastic containers.

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 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

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?

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 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 don’t know how to stop the plastic from recycling bins going abroad. Maybe the Green Party has the answer? We attempt to reduce the amount of plastic we use, but with difficulty. How do you recycle your plastics GSM?

So much plastic which is put in recycling bins ends up abroad, and contaminating the oceans. It is a disgrace,

If you run a bar selling alcohol you are legally obliged to provide water for free. We take ours off the cool pump but could be straight from the tap.

Calendargirl

You don’t get charged for tap water if you ask for it in a restaurant.

You will get charged if they bring you bottled.

You do in some restaurants not that I mind as it still involves work for them.

Tiley

In the UK I always drink tap water, we pay our water rates so why on earth would I pay extra in buying water in a plastic bottle!

Exactly.

Even if the bottles do go into the recycling bin surely it is better not to create that plastic in the first place.

In the UK I always drink tap water, we pay our water rates so why on earth would I pay extra in buying water in a plastic bottle!

I filter all my water but recently thought I'd try bottled instead. I had four days of cramps and diarrhoea. Water absorbs chemicals from the plastic bottle, so you might be ingesting water that is even less pure than tap water.

I now keep a supply of tonic water in glass bottles.

The recent scandal is shocking, but in general I do wonder why people pay for bottled water, and have to lug the heavy load home - not to mention all that plastic.

When we lived in the Abu Dhabi desert (where dh was building an airport) our water came daily in a bowser, hot and brown. We had to a) filter it, b) boil it, and c) then keep it in the fridge to make it fit to drink.
Ever since then I have been grateful for water which (usually!) comes clean and cold out of the tap.

Who else remembered the ‘Dasani’ bottled water, that was about to be launched in the U.K. by IIRC Coca Cola, until one of the tabloids revealed that it was going to be coming out of an ordinary tap in Sidcup? 😂. End of that, then.

I have since seen it on sale in other countries, though.

I remember being ill on holiday in Cornwall and the only thing I could keep down was bottled Cornish water. It tasted lovely and was full of minerals which I’m sure helped me get better sooner.

I always drink tap water, even in restaurants, so it’s really gone against the grain to buy some massive plastic bottles of water to keep in the cellar, following the latest government directive and recent GN thread. It’ll keep for years though.

Our milk comes in glass bottles too, and they’re reused umpteen times.

No Gsm I don't feel at remotely guilty about all the plastic. I don't package it but I'm rather glad it doesn't come in glass bottles, it would be impossible for me to lift. I recycle all the plastic bottles after flattening them all by treading on them. Same way I recycle my huge washing liquid bottles, bleach bottles etc. Should I try to buy those in glass bottles although I've never seen them in stores maybe they exist.

grandMattie

I dislike the “flat “ taste of bottled water.
I also am horrified by the amount of plastic used…. One of the houses near me has a bin full to the brim with this plastic every single week! Appalling.

Depending on the area you live in, many local authorities have excellent recycling schemes (like ours) and I have heard of a wide range of products which can be made from recycled plastic including: drinks bottles and food trays, polyester fabric for clothing, wheeled bins and food caddies.

If plastic water bottles could be punctured they wouldn't look all that huge, compared to say the standard plasticised milk 'bottles' in supermarkets. Each to his own. I don't see why people who prefer bottled water should be specially castigated on that account.

We're in Thames Water territory and our water tastes foul at the best of times. I'm not inclined to risk the worst of times so we use a Brita filter jug.

I drink bottled water, I prefer it.

Tap water for me .

A few years ago, whilst staying at a caravan site up north, the water was so bad it curdled the powdered milk I used in our coffee. We had to buy bottled water to make it palatable, and we have found that more often than not, the water at some touring caravan sites is just not fit to drink.
So we always now use bottled water when on our caravan travels. but at home we drink tap water, as its delicious. Birmingham water has always been good.

I dislike the “flat “ taste of bottled water.
I also am horrified by the amount of plastic used…. One of the houses near me has a bin full to the brim with this plastic every single week! Appalling.