Dave and I finally kicked a bad habit. I’ve been trying for months to scale back the amount of bottled water we bring into the house (or at least pay less for it by buying jugs), but Dave was still buying six-pack bottles. I just couldn’t get him to let go. But just last week he announced “That’s it. We’re done with the bottled water!” It’s not because my ranting and raving had any effect. It’s because he heard a report that Pepsi admitted its popular Aquafina brand comes from tap water. Apparently this was the deal-breaker for him.

His motivation to stop was the principle of the thing. Mine was a little more complicated:

1. The money we wasted was staggering. We estimate at three bottles per day each, we were spending between $75 – 105 per month. We at least tried to buy it only when it was on sale. But still the price was through the roof.

2. I became increasingly bothered about how much plastic we were adding to landfills. By the end of the week, the recycling bin was filled to the brim with mostly water bottles.

3. I got so tired of lugging it around. You have to cart it at the store, lift it on the scanner, throw it in the car, take it out of the car, then refrigerate it. Then we’d take bottles back to the car to take to work every day. My arms and back were getting tired.

The only reason we ever bought bottled water was for the taste, so we invested 25 bucks in a Brita 10-cup Deluxe Water Filter Pitcher, which we’re very pleased with. It’s easy to fill, fits perfectly in the fridge and the water tastes every bit as good as Aquafina. Even with the cost of filters (about $20 for an eight month supply), we’re coming out ahead. We broke the chains of bottled water, and man, does it feel great.

Stumble it!