As the death march of the bottled water fad continues, those dining out in restaurants are helping it along. A recent survey from the UK reveals that more people prefer tap water when dining out, helping bottled water sales to continue in their downward trend.
Of those surveyed, 63 per cent said they always requested tap water or preferred it to bottled, either still or sparkling, when at a restaurant. Among them, women were most likely to choose tap over bottled.
While the bottled water industry hit its peak during the 1990’s and early 2000’s, the trend has finally reversed with sales in the UK dropping by 9 per cent. Now, evidence that the craze was a commercially driven, money making scheme, along with the fact that most bottled water is simply filtered tap water, is all but killing the industry. The environmental cost of bottled water has become clearly visible, while tap water, on the other hand, is not only usually safer, due to stiff regulations and regular inspections, but is also a thousand times cheaper and much easier on the environment.
But that doesn’t mean that we should take the water flowing from our taps for granted. It’s a precious resource essential for life. Yet, in many places, millions are without clean drinking water and suffer from water-related diseases. As we are fortunate enough to have at our disposal clean drinking water, let’s use it responsibly. And next time you dine out, try an order of tap!
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