Considering the environmental and social problems with oil, I'd like to consider ways to reduce and eventually eliminate societal dependence on oil. The following is relevant. Not using bottled water is also one way to support the troops.

Take the pledge to break the bottled water habit.

 

[from the water.newdream.org website:]

Tips on taking this pledge:

The first step is making sure you have a non-toxic reusable water bottle to use on the go. Find a few options on Conscious Consumer.

You should also find out about the quality of tap water in your area. In much of the country it's just as, if not more, healthy than some bottled water.

Since most municipal water is as safe or safer than bottled water, the vast majority of Americans can then safely fill up their water bottles straight from the tap. If you're not that fortunate, you can also find home water filters on Consumer Consumer. Finally, if you're not sure about your local water quality, give your local water utility a shout and get the facts before investing—perhaps unnecessarily—in a water filter.

Regardless of whether your local situation requires you to buy a filter or just a non-toxic reusable bottle, you'll save hundreds of dollars AND help the planet when you break the water bottle habit!

Why you should take this pledge:

Everything we consume has a climate impact, but manufacturing and trucking water bottles to homes with clean tap water seems particularly wasteful. The Beverage Marketing Corporation reports that Americans consumed 31.2 billion liters of water in 2006 – nearly 9 liters per month for every man, woman, and child.

Manufacturing all those bottles requires 900,000 tons of plastic, the equivalent of more than 17 million barrels of oil, and emit more than 2.5 million tons of carbon dioxide. Trucking around all those heavy bottles emits even more greenhouse gases.  Beyond the climate impact there’s the massive waste – 86% of water bottles aren’t recycled -- and water bottling is also, ironically, a very water-intensive endeavor. The Pacific Institute tells us that it takes three liters of water to produce one liter of bottled water!