bottled water

The production and distribution of a bottle of water costs more than the water that will be poured into a container. An analysis of the production and delivery of one bottle of FIJI water to a distribution point in the United States yielded the staggering costs of 7 gallons of water (26.88 kilograms), 1/4 of a gallon of fossil fuel (.849 kilograms), and an emission of 1.2 pounds of greenhouse gases. This is before the 1 kilogram bottle of water is trucked around the country and then delivered to a store to be purchased then consumed. This information was taken from this article.

The United States is the leading consumer of bottled water even though we have safe and clean drinking water (source article). You know what I am talking about. It is everywhere and every year we get more accustomed to using it instead of tap water. It also makes one easy and inexpensive DIY project for weddings.


I am more understanding of weddings using water bottles instead of the general public. It is convenient and you want to keep your guests hydrated at a time when they are dressed well thus carrying a SIGG or Nalgene bottle seems inappropriate. If you are having a destination wedding, your guests may be recommended to only drink bottled water depending on the location. However these bottle projects are done a lot because they are inexpensive and it is another way to get a tacky, easy, monogrammed wedding-related item into your guests hands.

Can I please offer a non-tacky alternative to bottled water? Just use water and lemon slices instead of lemonade.


I make an effort to re-use bottles and carry them with me to get tap water when I go out of the house. I will rarely buy bottled water. This has always been my stance because:

1. tap water is regulated more stringently than bottled water
2. tap water is clean, if there are taste issues they can be ameliorated with a home filter
   
3. the waste of "recycling" or throwing away a bottle for my water with each use is overwhelming
4. in many cases the bottled water is merely filtered tap water (Dasani & Aquafina)

At least consider if you need to do personalized water bottles for your wedding over a container of cool water. It would be even better to consider if you really need to buy all those containers of bottled water for your everyday use. If you invest in a SIGG bottle and a filter at home the investment will pay for itself in a short time with the money you'll save by not buying flats of water from Costco.


Just be informed/cautious with your choice of bottle. I have moved away from my Nalgene bottles because of the possibility of the durable plastic leaching into the water as the bottle ages. The SIGGs don't go through that degradation.