Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Re-usable Water Bottles

Last week I became curious as to how much money (and how many one-use plastic bottles) I would save if I began to use a reusable water bottle.

I attend school for 8 hours a day, twice a week. On most of those days I spend $1.25 on either water or soda to tide me over until I get home. A semester is typically 15-14 weeks long, and after taking into account the days I might be absent, I spend roughly $32.50 a semester on drinks. Occasionally, about once a month, I will buy a plastic bottled beverage at some other place.

Rough yearly costs-
Paid: $80
Bottles used: 64

If taking into account my remaining 3 semesters-
Would pay: $240
Bottles would use: 192

That's a good chunk of change for a poor college student. I can imagine the costs to those who buy one once a day at work- they'd over triple my amount!

So to cut costs, I purchased two reusable bottles (one for water, the other for tea or coffee, or soda) which totalled to $14. On some days I will probably want soda, but I can fill my bottle from a store-bought 2 liter which is cheaper than a basic 20 ounce bottle. Over the remaining three semesters, and guessing the amount of 2 liters I might purchase, using these bottles diligently will save me about $206. Pretty nifty!

If you are someone who purchases many bottled drinks, I highly encourage you to figure out what it's costing. Taking the 3 minutes to fill a bottle with water the night prior is well worth saving the $1.25.

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