What if we told you that you could save over $1,300 a year with one simple switch?
It seems hard to believe, but you can have all that cash back in your pocket just by switching from plastic water bottles to a reusable one. That's a lot of green for your pockets — and the environment.
Please note that this advice only applies to people who live in places where tap water is safe to drink — if that's not you, please carry on hydrating however you need.
But for the rest of us … let's do some math.
How much money can a reusable water bottle save me?
Beverage Marketing Corporation reports that in 2020, the beverage industry grossed a total of $20 billion dollars in the U.S. with over 15 billion gallons of bottled water sold.
And nearly 70% of all bottled water sales come from expensive, single 16.9-ounce bottles — not even the ones sold in value packs. The American Water Works Association (AWWA) estimates that this pushes the cost per gallon up to about $7.50, as Business Insider reported.
That's nearly twice as expensive as gasoline.
The average person is recommended to drink at least eight eight-ounce glasses of water daily, which is about half a gallon. At $7.50 per gallon serving, bottled water will run you a tab of $1,368 annually.
Although your annual spending on bottled water will decrease if you purchase value packs, nothing compares to the savings of tap water, which costs an estimated $0.004 a gallon, less than one three-hundredth the cost of bottled water, according to AWWA.
Bottled water is often just filtered tap water you're paying more for
The LA Times reported that most of the leading brands of bottled water sell nothing more than tap water that's been run through a filter. Coca-Cola does it with Dasani, and Pepsi does the same with Aquafina.
Plus, we know bottled water is not a friend to the environment.
According to the Container Recycling Institute, Americans throw away more than 60 million plastic water bottles a day. And most of those — even plastic sorted into the recycling bin — just end up in landfills, gutters, and waterways.
So do your wallet, your tastebuds, and the world a favor by making the switch to a reusable bottle.
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