BOTTLEMANIA

The only thing we drink more of than bottled water in this country is bottled soda--a sorry state of affairs.

Elizabeth Royte's Bottlemania: How Water Went on Sale and Why We Bought It is a keen look into the problems with what we're drinking.

To name a few, tap water in most of America is much more highly regulated than bottled water.  On top of that, when you drink from the tap, you don't have any of that plastic leaching into your fluids and into you. And finally, when you drink water from your own pipes, it's not laced with oil.  How so?  Bottled water is flown and trucked from who knows where, using gas to get to you.  And, it's relationship with petroleum is even more intimate than that, as plastic is made of petroleum. We use 15 million barrels a year to make plastic bottles, 8 out of 10 of which never make it t the recycle bin (read more about the uprising against plastic bottles from E-Magazine here).

According to this interview with Royte from KCRW's Good Food, your bottle of water can actually be considered a quarter petroleum given that's how much crude went into it from conception til it touched your lips.  Not so appetizing or sustainable.

If you aren't already toting a SIGG or other reusable bottle, this book will surely help you take the plunge into healthier, eco-friendly water.