Water, water everywhere

Just saw a commercial for bottled water. We are now advertising water. Yes, I'd much rather people drink water than soda or sugary juices, but why spend all the money on bottled water when we can get it from the tap?

I'm one of those people that can drink water. Period. Tap, bottle, sparkling, hose, melted ice, warm, cold, frozen, doesn't matter. I like water.

I've met people who don't like the taste of water. They have to add flavor to it to make it "drinkable" to them. Hence all those little packets of powdered flavor sized perfectly for - you guessed it - bottled water.

In my city, I keep hearing people say the tap water taste bad. I don't taste anything bad about it! I drink it all the time! But quite a few people around here have water coolers in their home and buy lots of bottled water. Ok, so my taste buds may not be as sensitive as yours, but let me present a cheaper option - water filters.

Take the Pur filter for example. It screws right onto the faucet and filters your water. It costs about $25 (at least that's what it cost years ago when I bought it for my sister's wedding gift). You change the filter probably once or twice a year, maybe a little more if you have really hard water.

You'll never run out of bottles, or water. You just turn on the tap, and if you want to drink it, turn a piece on the filter. It's easy.

This isn't to say that I don't drink bottled water. It's great for times when you don't have a faucet handy, like at the zoo or park. When I forget to bring water with me, I might buy a bottle. Hell, I even buy 6packs of bottled water for home. BUT, I don't throw those bottles away. I refill them and use them again, and again, and again. My hubby and I will keep them in the fridge and grab one when we're thirsty, or to take in the car with us. They are easy to clean and reuse. After about a month of use, I'll put them in the recycling and buy new ones.



I think my train of thought is headed down the wrong track. I seem to have lost my momentum. So let me wrap it up - take a look at your water usage. Are you constantly buying bottles of water and throwing said bottles away? Look at the costs of that, then price a couple reusable water bottles and a water filter. Make the investment in a good filter and some durable bottles, and see if you don't save money in the long run. They have all kinds of reusable bottles out there now for all ages and styles.

Instead of throwing it out, try not buying it

Ziplock commercial - she asks for 4 lbs of sirloin, but only wrap half because she'll throw it out anyway.

Well, dummy, maybe you should buy more than you can use!!

Seriously, when I shop for meat or perishables, I remember that there are only 2 of us, and we can only eat so much. I only buy 4 pieces of chicken so we can have 1 dinner and 1 lunch from the leftovers.

Tupperware, gladware, and all those wonderful creations we have for storing food should be used for leftovers, not for extras!

A lot of the problem comes from bulk shopping. People think they need to buy all they can while it's at a good price, but then it goes bad before they can use it and they are just throwing away money. But instead of buying fancy baggies and dishes to "save" the extras, how about not buying them in the first place?

If you look at my fridge, you'd probably think it's bare. But we don't buy food unless we believe we will use it before it goes bad. Think of the European market, where people pop in and buy their day's produce. Just a day or two, not a week, or a month. Then it's not going bad and you're not throwing it out. You always have fresh produce to cook with.

So next time you look at something in the grocery store and wonder if you will be able to use it all before it goes bad, look around and see if they have a smaller size. Even if it's not as good of a "deal," at least you won't be throwing away the extras that you didn't use.