Did you know it takes about seven litres of water to make a single one-litre plastic bottle? And we throw away around ten billion plastic bottles a year. So is it time we opt for tap water over bottled water?

In some countries, it is almost a faux-pas to ask for tap water rather than bottled water as you seem like a cheap-skate however more and more people are shunning the water bottle in favour of tap water. It almost seems absurd, the amount of resources used to transport water hundreds of miles and using up precious resources to manufacture the water bottles, when all we have to do is turn on our taps.

Consumer groups reckon that the UK alone buys 13 million bottles of water each year, with just three billion of these bottles recycled. Plastic bottles are a big problem – not only do they need a lot of water in their manufacture, they take up large amounts of room in landfill sites, and many end up in rivers and streams, creating dangerous environments for marine life.

Perhaps it is because many people take water for granted – but this is not the true reality. Water is a precious and limited resource that we should value. Luckily, more and more people are starting to understand how important our water sources are and bottled water is slowly going out of fashion and that water concern is not just for the ‘greenies’ amongst us.

Whilst it is not right to dictate whether people should be allowed to buy still, unflavoured bottled water when good quality tap water is available, it is important to highlight the issues surrounding plain bottled water in the hope that more people will understand the complex environmental issues that can arise, and hopefully will start to choose tap water over bottled water on a regular basis.

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