Is bottled water worth $500 to a family of four?

The things you learn while reading other's posts. Andrea Learned was commenting on the difference between what kids in 1970 wanted and what they want in 2005, i.e. 1970/developing a meaningful philosophy of life vs. 2005/ 75% kids want to be well off financially. (she was quoting from a US Census report)

That was disheartening, but on the up side the same report also said that organic growers were on the rise. Perhaps today's kids want to be well off financially, but they'll do it through a better business outlet. Nothing wrong with that.

On the down side - the report also noted that "Americans drank 23.2 gallons of bottled water per capita in 2004. Consumption was only 2.7 gallons of bottled water in 1980. (Table 201) " No doubt that number has gone up since 2004.

As a 70s kid who grew up with a glass on the bathroom sink for everyone in the family of 6 to use, I found that startling. It's still hard for me to pay (again) for something that I already paid for via my city taxes and quarterly water bill. It sets off my "how stupid and lazy can I be" radar.

What's 23.2 gallons mean per family of four? A gallon = about 5.3 12 oz. bottles of water. At $1/bottle average that's $5/gallon X 23.2 = $123 per person X 4 = about $500 per family. DANG! Let's say it together.... how stupid and lazy can WE be?

On top of this, we are contributing to the waste stream. Not good. Sure we can recycle, but that adds one more thing to the To-Do list. This is a no-brainer... pay for plastic AND water AND recycling AND your time to recycle OR tap a cold one from the faucet?

I know there are all sorts of pro/con arguments. You have to decide if bottled water is really more "clean" than city water, but it's certainly more expensive. At $500 per family, is it really worth it? If I lived in a zone with contaminated water, yes it be, but I don't so I won't be buying the bottled stuff. 

A friend gave me glass beer goblets for Christmas. I try not to drink and blog, so during the week I keep one filled to the brim with tap water. Maybe it's the smug factor, or maybe it's the glass, but free water does taste better.