The bottled water trend hit with unnatural force and seemed to be more than a fad, but as a lifestyle advance, like automobiles or electricity. At one time, the idea of buying water seemed ludicrous. Almost overnight, no one left home without bottled water. It’s seen as a healthy lifestyle choice to have a bottle of water in your hand. Even if you never work out and eat fast food every day, that bottled water sends the message of health.

Now that bottled water is a part of life, the impact of the trend is becoming unavoidable.

The Beverage Marketing Corporation recently reported that Americans buy over 30 billion liters of water each year, most of which comes in polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles. That comes to nearly 900,000 tons of plastic, which took 17 million barrels of oil to produce. Even worse, the Container Recycling Institute says that just one in five of those bottles make it to the recycling bin.

Not to mention the oil used to transport the bottles from the bottle manufacturer to the bottling location (sometimes across oceans to places like Fiji) then back to the distributer, and finally to the consumer.

The trend might be good for your health, but it is wrecking havoc on the environment.

In light of the harmful effects bottled water has on our environment, there is a new movement to reduce the number of bottles in the market, and in the landfills.

One-use bottles are now pass, traded in for re-usable varieties like those made by CamelBak and Nalgene. This eco-friendly alternative is the new generation of trendy water bottles. With recent reports of the chemical bisphenol-A (BPA) which could leak into the water and cause negative health effects, there are also a new wave of BPA-free options.

Reusable bottles are easy on the wallet, too. The switch from bottled to tap (free) water will cover the cost of your new water bottle and more. Plus, tap water is just as safe and healthier as bottled water. Sometimes, tap water is even better for you as it contains fluoride. In taste tests, tap water even wins out over bottled water.

Bottled water was a great trend because the general public started drinking more water more often. The trend is evolving, though, to benefit the environment as well.

All of the “pros” of bottled water are still in reusable water bottles as well, and reusable water bottles negate the cons. Stay hydrated, and help the environment, too.