We're rerunning this column, first published March 21, 2008 in our Odd Green Fridays newsletter, because it's one of our faves and the issue is still current.

We know even more these days about how water bottles affect the waste stream. YouTube has spectacular videos about how these bottles will be taking over the ocean any minute now. Until then—and maybe "then" will never come if we all do our part—we present "Water, water everywhere."

Every health magazine or book I read tells me to drink more water...usually 8 glasses a day. Everyone else must read the same things I do because everywhere I go, people are drinking their water. I see those plastic water bottles everywhere. How brilliant! Sell tap water to the masses for huge profits. Today, bottled water is a $100 billion a year industry.

But it is not as healthy as they would like you to believe. First of all, most bottled water is tap water. We get to pay between $3 and $10 a gallon for the privilege of carrying tap water with us. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) sets higher standards for the quality of tap water than the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) does for bottled water. Many cities, including Ann Arbor, boast about the quality of their drinking water. So before you purchase water for purity's sake, make sure you know what is in it.

The second factor to consider is the huge waste stream created by the bottles themselves. Most water bottles are made from polyethylene terephthalate, which is derived from crude oil, and only 10% to 15% of the bottles ever get recycled, leaving the rest to the landfills. Worse still, it takes about 2 gallons of water to make 1 gallon's worth of plastic bottles. And then there are the energy costs associated with the transportation to consider.

There are healthier, better-for-the-environment and more cost effective methods for getting your 8 glasses a day. Check out SIGG, Nalgene or Ann Arbor's A2H2O for some of these options.

Linda Lombardini is local, happy and green. Contact her at Linda@TrilliumRealtors.com or (734) 216-6415.