Smartwater. Evian. Crystal Geyser. Arrowhead. Life Water. People have their favorites and their least favorites, but one thing everyone has in common is their unconscionable thirst for water bottles. Your thirst can be quenched in an environmentally and financially conscious manner: tap water.

Ever wondered why there’s an expiration date on your fancy bottle of Fiji water that was bottled at the source? It’s not because the water goes bad. The bottle itself will eventually start to emit chemicals into the water. So, think about that the next time you take a sip of your ridiculously expensive 16.9 fluid ounces of nonsense.

Going back to the price of bottled water, not only do single-use plastic water bottles begin to emit chemicals into your water after a certain date, bottled water is generally more expensive than the water that comes straight from your kitchen faucet.

According to Money, a finance magazine published by Time Inc., bottled water costs 2,000 times more than tap. Imagine paying 2,000 times the price of anything. That would be like going to the bookstore to buy a bottle of water and paying nearly $3000 for a Clif Bar — that would be absurd.

However, if you live in Flint, Michigan, for example, chances are, you won’t be running to your kitchen sink, Hydro Flask at hand ready to hydrate — this is where bottled water matters. In places where clean, drinkable tap water is not at your disposal, the only option may be bottled water.

Nonetheless, plastic bottles also bear a negative environmental impact.

In 2015, The Washington Post cited that bottled water is three times as inefficient as tap water. The hidden water, the amount of water required to produce something, in a one-liter bottle of water can be up to three liters. Let that sink in.

The energy footprint or the energy exerted to create bottled water is also staggering. Approximately 32-54 million barrels of oil was required to generate the energy to produce the corresponding amount of water bottles consumed by the United States in 2007.

The stigma regarding tap water and its drinkability is absurd.

In the U.S., drinking water is regulated by two different agencies: the FDA regulates bottled water while the EPA regulates tap water. The Safe Drinking Water Act of 1974 set standards for drinking water quality regulated by the EPA. However, there’s no corresponding law regarding the FDA’s regulation over bottled water, which begs the question, “Can bottled water really be trusted?”

So, now you’re probably turned off to the idea of even looking at bottled water. What do you do now?

Buy a reusable water bottle. It doesn’t even have to be a fancy Hydro Flask. Buying and using a reusable water bottle is not only an investment in money, but it’s also an investment in the future of the earth.

Not only can you do something about this, but Skyline can too.

The bookstore should stop selling bottled water. Further, Skyline should also add more hydration stations in every building campus-wide. The two fill-up stations in Buildings 2 and 6 are simply not enough. Skyline should strive to add at least one in every building on campus.

Do yourself and the earth a favor. Stop buying and drinking single-use water bottles and buy a reusable water bottle.