Bottled water is pricey, contributes to global warming, litter, and solid waste, and is usually no safer or healthier than tap water. Increasing numbers of environmentalists, shareholder activists and church groups are targeting the leading sellers of bottled water.

For example, shareholders working with an activist group called Corporate Accountability International have asked Coca-Cola to report on the sources and safety of its bottled water, and environmental groups including the Natural Resources Defense Council and the Sierra Club have urged their supporters to consume less bottled water.

Salt Lake City's outspoken mayor, Rocky Anderson, asked city officials to stop handing out bottled water at meetings, and a handful of high-end restaurants have stopped serving it.

However, U.S. sales of bottled water rose by nearly 10 percent in 2006. Americans consumed about 8.3 billion gallons of bottled water that year, or about 26 gallons per person.

Dr. Mercola's Comment:

One of the great benefits of reading this newsletter is that you will consistently be AHEAD of the curve on nearly every health issue. As this CNN report shows, bottled water has finally made the official transition into "not cool" status. If you had been reading this site, you would have realized that fact SIX YEARS AGO.

While not the most crucial issue covered by this newsletter, it is important if you value the environment and the fate of future generations.

Bottling and transporting water puts an enormous strain on the environment. Not only are there wasteful costs in transporting this water, but enormous amounts of energy are used to create the bottles that actually store these billions of gallons of water.

Once you get past the energy issue you will still have to contend with the type of plastic that the bottle is stored in, as there are many potentially dangerous types of plastic. 

Most water bottles are made of safe polyethylene, but many carry their filtered water around in potentially dangerous plastic that can leach chemicals into their water. Conventional Nalgene bottles should be avoided.

Ideally, it would be best to avoid using all disposable bottled water sources. Water delivered to your home in reusable five-gallon jugs is not as significant an energy hog. However, using water from your own well or municipal water supply that is filtered would be better.

So ideally you will use filtered water from your own tap. The best way to do this is highly controversial. I have been working on offering a water filter solution for over six years now, and I am still researching it. The challenge is to provide a high-quality one at a reasonable price, and I refuse to do it until I find the right one.

I really hope to have one this year, but if you must simply get one before then and want to do your own research I have studied it enough to know that reverse osmosis filters are the way to go.

It is important to know that typically the only filter that is effective at removing the fluoride that is added to most municipal water supplies is a reverse osmosis filter. Although I have well water in my home that does not have fluoride added, I still use this type of filter personally.

Some are concerned that it takes minerals out of the water but that should not be a major source of your minerals anyway. Whatever you do, avoid distilled water unless you are using it therapeutically for some sort of detox.

Related Articles:

The Real Cost Of Bottled Water

Is Your Bottled Water Really Clean?

Coke Wants to Fool You With Their Bottled Water