Frugal Rehydration

We used to stop for soda for everyone in the car, averaging $7.75 per stop. (5 sodas x $1.45 = 7.25 + 50¢ Michigan deposit = $7.75) If we stopped only once a week - and you know we stopped more than that - we spent $403 on drinks alone! ($26 of that would come back to us if we took the bottles back.) Now, we never stop.

We rarely buy bottled water, the exception being when we are going out of town for extended periods. Bottled water is cheaper than an upset stomach, any day.

When we leave the house, we make sure to take a bottle of tap water with us. When we will be gone for a bit we fill an insulated water jug with ice water, to insure we have enough to refill our water bottles. At first the kids would "forget" their water bottles, in the hopes that I would give in and splurge for soda. After a few trips where they were dying of thirst they always manage to remember.

Food For Thought: Quinching Your Thirst

The University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio ran an eight year study to study the effects of soft drink use. Sharon P. Fowler, MPH, who ran the study, had this shocking statement to say,"What didn't surprise us was that total soft drink use was linked to overweight and obesity. What was surprising was when we looked at people only drinking diet soft drinks, their risk of obesity was even higher."

The message in the (plastic) bottle is dire

The trouble is that there's no effective way to remove the plastic pollution, whether it's in chunks or microscopic bits. Researchers say the solution is keeping it out of the water in the first place. And there's good reason to do so: It's on our dinner plates.

If the potential hit to your budget, health and the environment isn't enough to convince you, read this:

Aquafina labels to spell out source - tap water

NEW YORK (Reuters) -- PepsiCo Inc. will spell out that its Aquafina bottled water is made with tap water, a concession to the growing environmental and political opposition to the bottled water industry. According to Corporate Accountability International, a U.S. watchdog group, the world's No. 2 beverage company will include the words "Public Water Source" on Aquafina labels.

(Picture from flickr)