Kaitlin: Try Not to Bottle it Up

From Kaitlin Torgerson, Earth Ministry Outreach Coordinator

I’m a horrible water drinker. Two liters of water is the recommended daily amount for most people. Coincidently, this is the same portion of water my friend who was a Peace Corps volunteer in Kenya was allotted every day for all her daily needs, which first got me thinking about my water use this Lent. I try to make it my goal to drink that much water every day, but always fall short.

At work, I’m great at keeping my reusable water bottle with me, but as I run my errands around town or visit friends, I rarely keep it with me. On occasion, I end up buying water or drinking bottled water at my friend’s homes. Along with my other water saving techniques, I’ve made it my goal this Lent to ALWAYS carry my water with me and avoid bottled water.

For instance, I was over at a friend’s place last week. Like the good host he is, he offered me a bottle of water. Typically, I would have graciously accepted knowing that I need to drink more water and am grateful for the reminder. However, this time, I replied that I had some water in my bag that should be just fine and pulled out my steel water bottle.

He looked at me as if to say, “What? My water isn’t good enough for you anymore? You’d rather drink tap water?” I explained with something about how I’m trying to cut back on my water use for Lent and a 16 oz. plastic bottle requires as much water to manufacture as it does to fill. He shrugged, put the water back in the cupboard, and said, “Huh, well, that’s interesting.”

I saved 16 oz of water and hopefully got him thinking. Next, I just need to convince him that his bottled water tastes almost the same as tap water or at least filtered water. Maybe a little taste test is in order...