Water is Life, Let's Protect It

When I took literature classes during my grade school and high school education we often analyze symbols, and water always equals life. It's like a new beginning (rain in spring) and all life needs water to sustain itself. Although I say my favorite drink is coffee, the thing I drink the most is water...I always carry it with me to stay hydrated. I suggest everyone carries water with them, from a reusable water bottle and not a plastic one.

Water benefits your entire body, you need it for your body to function and balance out your electrolytes. It prevents your skin from drying and keeps it looking good. Water refreshes you and makes you feel better drinking it compared to an alternative beverage that may contain excess sugar, caffeine, or alcohol.

Another important point I would like to make is that water is vital to our existence, as well as any other organism, which means we need to conserve it. Water may seem 'cheap', but that's no excuse to waste water by keeping the faucet on when you're brushing your teeth or taking a really long shower. Not everybody has access to clean water and we need to protect the water we have. Even though it can be recycled, it's one of the most valuable things we all need and we need to conserve it.

I'm also passionate about protecting our lakes and other bodies of water, so please boaters, check your boat for native and non-native species, that could be invasive and don't transport them from lake to lake. Keep our lakes and oceans clean, pick up any plastic and other litter you find by your local wetlands and bodies of water to protect aquatic life. Remember: everyone needs clean water.

Tap Into Tap Water

Today's topic: Drinking tap water versus drinking bottled water. I'm sure you've all seen the commercial for the Brita filter that explains why drinking from your faucet is better than drinking a new water bottle every time you finish the last, and how many times you could wrap the world in plastic water bottles if we cut them out of our daily use. It's a great commercial I recommend watching if you haven't seen it, puts the environment in perspective. What the commercial doesn't mention is why it's better for yourself to drink tap or filtered water opposed to drinking bottled water.

Just to touch the environmental problems of bottled water: it takes a lot of materials and oil to make a plastic water bottle. And even assuming you do recycle the water bottle (props to those who do), not even all of it can be recycled. Also, a misnomer, I thought plastic water bottles were recycled into more plastic water bottles...unfortunately, no they are not. What ever can be recycled from the plastic water bottle is recycled into another product. And don't be fooled by the bottles of water with the smaller cap saying this is a "green" alternative to a regular water bottle, it still uses materials and takes energy to make nonetheless.

Hydration station's make it easy to

refill your water bottle on the go!

Now what are the benefits of drinking tap water? Well to start off with, it's much cheaper. Second, unless you're on well water, the EPA regulates the water quality, and they have high standards to ensure your drinking water is safe. (Let's hope the EPA continues to meet these important standards). Many people I know, including myself, feel that tap water tastes the same or better than bottled water. Tap water also contains a safe amount of fluoride that is beneficial to your dental health (which in turn, helps out your cardiovascular system). Tap water: better for the environment, better for you!

Tip: Instead of buying bottled water all the time, make a one time investment in a reusable water bottle!