You don’t necessarily have to give up your favorite bottled water to go green. Recycling the plastic bottles is a great step to green up the use of plastic bottles, but there are additional ways you can reduce waste and even save money. Purchase large containers (3- 5 gal.) of bottled water and put into reusable bottles to make it convenient to take with you. A note of caution—although it is tempting, refilling single-serve water bottles with tap water and reusing them repeatedly is not recommended due to potential sanitation concerns. Refilling these water bottles with tap water, without sanitizing the bottles in between can introduce harmful bacteria to the water.

City and state governments are looking at the economics of banning bottled water. Citing environmental concerns, Los Angeles; San Francisco; Ann Arbor, Mich.; and the state of Illinois have banned the use of public funds to purchase bottled water for city and state functions. In June, the US Conference of Mayors adopted a resolution to bring attention to the negative impact of bottled water and promote local sources.

Whatever your choice – go green by recycling, reduce packaging waste and have reusable containers handy.