Water is one of the few things that we can’t live without — but that doesn’t mean that we have to drink bottled water.

Few countries in the world have the type of public water system we have here,
yet still we crave bottled water — disposing of nearly 60 million plastic water bottles a day.

Why are we paying for something that runs from our tap? The person who had the idea to sell bottled water had a great idea — take the most important resource to mankind and sell it. Of course they had to be skeptical. How could they sell something that people believe they have a right to and, in the U.S., have easy access to?

The answer is to make a better product or at least convince consumers bottled water is better than tap water.

I asked a friend of mine recently why he bought cases of bottled water when he has a faucet in his kitchen. His response in summation was “it’s better,” implying bottled water is healthier and tastes better than tap water.

Dorm tap water, in general, is no worse than bottled water. In some instances bottled water actually is a greater health risk than tap water.

About a quarter of bottled water brands have been found to have contaminated samples of water. Bottled water companies like Nestlé, Coca-Cola and Pepsi market a difference in quality. However, tap water and bottled water are subject to similar standards of testing.

The Food and Drug Administration regulates tap water in the U.S., but it only regulates 30 to 40 percent of bottled water. The FDA only regulates bottled water sold across state boundaries. In addition to potentially poor water quality, plastic bottles in numerous cases leach chemicals into water.

It doesn’t take advanced economics courses or even your basic economics prerequisites to understand purchasing bottled water is expensive, and students are constantly looking for ways to cut costs. Most people in the U.S. spend about $2 for 1,000 gallons of municipal water while the equivalent amount of the cheapest bottled water costs $890.

Bottled water is a cost that is easy to remove. Drink tap water. If you really don’t trust tap water, buy a filter.

Bottled water has a negative impact on the environment. It’s estimated 29 billion plastic bottles are produced each year in the U.S. alone. About 86 percent of these bottles are not recycled, amounting to 2 million tons of plastic bottles accumulating in landfills.

While these plastic bottles go to landfills and pollute the Great Lakes, we continue to consume. It appears as if environmental degradation is not persuasive enough to impact our consumption.

Another impact on the environment is the process of bottling water, which requires three bottles of water for every one that is produced. About 17.6 million barrels of crude oil are used every year in the production and distribution of plastic water bottles.

Plastic water bottles hurt the environment before and after consumption. Students can purchase reusable, environmentally friendly water bottles.

I encourage students to recognize the negative impact that bottled water has on their wallets and the environment and make a change.

Cities such as San Francisco, Los Angeles and Chicago are coming to the realization that bottled water is detrimental to health, costs and the environment. These cities, along with others, have made it illegal to spend city dollars on bottled water.

I would encourage MSU and East Lansing to follow suit and ban the purchase of bottled water using university or city funds.

Cory Connolly is a State News columnist, an international relations junior and a senior fellow for energy and the environment at the Roosevelt Institution. Reach him at connolly@gmail.com.