Even with all the new and improved bottled waters available, there’s a growing effort to reduce the amount of plastic water bottles discarded each year. There were 38 billion of these bottles thrown away last year, amounting to enormous waste that doesn’t break down in landfills, and has an even greater negative environmental impact because of the energy and resources used to make the plastic. You can join campaigns like Think Outside the Bottle whose goal is to protect and ensure public funding for public water systems, challenge corporations who undermine public confidence in tap water, and inspire individuals and communities to choose tap over bottled water. Go to their website to purchase a reusable water bottle.

Or jump onboard a celebrity-centered effort. Supermodel, and mother, Cindy Crawford is determined to make a difference by pledging to cut back on her bottled water consumption and pairing up with PUR Water Filtration to create a limited-edition, reusable bottle called Thirsty for Change (www.thirstyforchange.com). All proceeds from the sale of the bottle will benefit the Children's Safe Drinking Water program, which has provided more than 900 million liters of clean water to needy children and their families around the world.

When you do choose bottled water, consider supporting a company that gives back in some way, like Ethos Water sold at Starbucks. For each bottle purchase, five cents is donated to help solve the world water crisis. So far, they’ve contributed $6.2 million, benefiting more than 420,000 people across Africa, Asia and Latin America. -Denise Shoukas

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