The Green Team urges Panorama residents to bring their own water (in reusable containers) to Panorama trips, instead of using bottled water. Why? Here are some of the reasons:
1. Bottled Water costs significantly more than tap water (estimates vary from 300 times to 2000 times more).

2. Manufacturers use millions of gallons of crude oil to make plastic bottles annually and millions more transporting them – enough to fuel more than a million cars.

3. Bottled Water is subject to fewer health regulations than tap water.

4. Up to 40% of Bottled Water is filtered tap water. This takes water from communities and the environment.

5. Bottled Water frequently travels thousands of miles to people who already have clean tap water available.

6. Production of the plastic bottles releases chemicals into the air. Plastic Bottles contain many chemicals, some of which interfere with hormones in the body.

7. Estimates are that 75% of the 500,000 water bottles sold in the U.S. every week wind up in the landfill or incinerators, costing taxpayers and cities millions. Disposal of plastic bottles that are not recycled will either create toxic substances if incinerated or will sit for hundreds of years without decomposing. Recycling is preferable to other methods of disposal, but processing recyclables requires resources. 

Reprinted from the June 2016 Panorama News