But I do remember thinking that it was crazy!
Around the world, we now drink as much bottled water as we do packaged milk.
And bottled water now surpasses carbonated soft drinks as the largest beverage category in the United States; a major milestone; with all but 1% of it sourced domestically.
single-serving plastic bottle, making water sold in single-serving plastic bottles worth twice as much as gasoline.
And one water pitcher filter can produce 40 gallons of freshly-filtered water, or the equivalent of more than 300 16.9-ounce bottles.
More-accurately identified as the Pacific trash vortex, it extends well beneath the ocean surface and spans waters from the West Coast of North America to Japan.
Cornell University, along with several other colleges and universities across the country, have advanced student-piloted ‘Take Back the Tap’ initiatives; education and awareness campaigns to reduce bottled water consumption and the associated costs, energy use, and greenhouse gas emissions.
It’s estimated that bottled water costs the Cornell University campus community $640,000 annually.
The same volume of filtered tap water would cost just $1,000.
Photos, from above hydration station provided; Pacific trash vortex illustration courtesy www.marinedebris.noaa.gov.