Sunday, June 2, 2013

Bottled Water


Why do we buy bottled water? 
What did we do before bottled water? 
Would we go without if bottled water disappeared?

This is still a phenomenon that I do not understand.  I'm not much of a water drinker to begin with, but I always get it from a water fountain, or the tap in the kitchen sink, or any other place where it runs freely.  Since I have running water in my house, why would I buy it pre-bottled? 

If I go out, and think I might need some water, I use one of my travel bottles, fill it from the tap, and go on my merry way.  I do not buy some bottled water to take with me.  That's just another bottle to throw away.

Okay, you might say your water doesn't taste good.  When you live in the country, and drink from a well, that can be an issue.  It's not the water that doesn't taste good, all "pure" water tastes the same.  It's the minerals that have found their way into the water.  Or the smell,  of which a sulfur smell can be common in well water. 

So why not buy a water purifier?  Oh they may cost upwards of $30, or a bit more, and they do have to have their filters changed regularly.  But how much money would you save if you're buying a case at a minimum of $3.00 a case?  You would get approximately 10 cases, not including taxes.  If you drink three cases a week (?) then this would last you a bit over 3 weeks.  That water purifier's filter should last you a month or two or three.   And should cost way less than the cost of those 10 cases of water.   And think of all the plastic that will NOT go in to the landfill!

Think bottled water is better than tap water?  That bottled water is probably just coming out of some one else's tap.  And when is the last time you heard of an outbreak of illness linked to bad water?  Of course I'm talking within the USA, not third world countries with no sanitation standards.

You know Ozarko water does not come from the Ozarks, but from San Antonio.  Do you think the people in San Antonio, who buy Ozarko water, realize they're buying their own tap water?  That they could get from their sink?  Practically for free?

As for me, I'll keep drinking from the tap, on Day 228!

Toilet paper!

"What's the big deal with toilet paper?"  I found myself wondering this the other evening.

There are so many varieties.  There's single-ply.  Double-ply.  Quilted.  Soft.  Softer than soft.   Double rolls.  Triple rolls.  Specially made for septic systems.  RV toilet paper.  Who knew?

The bottom line, no pun intended, is that it all is used primarily for the same reason, and goes into the same place...some hole underground that we tend to ignore, forget about, or just don't care, as long as it's not backing up into our bathrooms.    So why must we have so many different varieties?

I must admit, as a child, we used the single-ply, inexpensive (cheap) stuff.  I always envied the folks who had the two-ply, softer than soft.  When I was on my own,  I bought the soft stuff.  Nice.

Now, as an older adult, and more cost conscious, I've been reading the labels, which include how many squares per roll, although I do not read the size of the squares (you can become too anal) and have been trying different ones.  Haven't had any complaints from the other person living here, so I guess no one really cares as long as the job gets done!

That's my story and I'm sticking to it, on Day 230!