Breaking the bottled water habit

— -- When I travel, having immediate access to water is essential. I try to carry a water bottle at all times to avoid dehydration or soothe a dry and scratchy throat in flight, but it's becoming increasingly difficult. In the old days I purchased small bottles of water by the case and carried one in my briefcase through the duration of each trip. When I finished one bottle I would discard the empty en route and purchase a new bottle of water.

That was before 9/11 and the new rules banning liquids through security. That caused me to dump my water bottle in the airport trash before security screening only to purchase a new bottle at an airport concession upon exiting the security maze. This process would repeat at every airport on my trip.

I know it's wasteful and expensive to purchase so many plastic bottles only to discard them, whether the contents have been consumed or not. And when I see a pile of discarded, half-filled plastic bottles in the trash at the security line entrance I know I'm not alone. The waste is enormous, but what can travelers do?

Carol Misseldine has some suggestions. Misseldine is the Sustainability Coordinator in Mill Valley, Calif., one of a growing list of 60 American cities that have canceled bottled water contracts. Except for emergencies, Misseldine believes bottled water is wasteful and largely unnecessary when we've invested heavily in a safe and reliable public water supply.

She also believes that the bottled water craze is creating a global environmental problem. Most bottled water is sold in small plastic containers like the ones we buy at airports. The Container Recycling Institute (CRI) estimates Americans buy more than 28 billion single serving bottles annually. Most people assume the vast majority of plastic bottles are recycled, but that is not the case, as the market for recycling plastic is not as well developed as the infrastructure for recycling glass or paper.

CRI estimates more than 80% of plastic bottles end up in landfills or incinerators. Hundreds of millions of plastic bottles litter our roads, beaches, streams, and other waterways, according to CRI, and we taxpayers spend hundreds of millions of dollars each year for their disposal and cleanup. Getting rid of plastic bottles is no easy task. Incineration releases toxic gases and ashes and plastic is not biodegradable, so it will remain wherever it is dumped for 1,000 years.