Are you still sending your kids to school with plastic water bottles in their backpacks? Not to get all heavy on you or anything, but consider this:

• Bottled water costs more than gas and can ring up at $50 a month.
• It’s not required to be tested for safety.
• Not to mention the environmental costs of the bottle manufacturing.
• Or the fact that when they get warm, those plastic bottles can leach chemicals into your children’s water—and bodies.

Contrary to what many people believe, water from the tap can actually be safer than what’s in the bottle. The EPA tests our water daily for bacteria and posts the results to the general public, while the FDA only requires weekly testing of bottled water and doesn’t make its results public.

If you don’t like the way your tap water tastes, try it filtered. Most filters use carbon to filter out lead, copper, chlorine and mercury.

Faucet-mounted filters work the same way, but they can also remove things like giardia, lead and pesticides, all of which can be present in tap water. You can get a similar set up for your fridge.

But bottled water is just bad all around. First of all, as I mentioned, you don’t know what’s in it. I don’t know about you, but giardia is one thing I want to avoid.

And then there’s the plastic factor: Americans throw away eight out of 10 bottles, sending about 38 billion water bottles a year to landfills. That’s a billion dollars worth of plastic.

It takes 24 million gallons of oil to make just a billion of those bottles. That’s enough oil to fuel 30,000 cars for a year. Now multiply that 24 million gallons by the 38 billion bottles. Does anyone have a calculator?

Plus, there’s the energy factor in getting it to you: In contrast to tap water, which is distributed through an energy-efficient infrastructure, transporting bottled water long distances involves burning massive quantities of fossil fuels.

Still not convinced? Studies have shown that Bisephenol A (BPA), which mimics estrogen and messes with your hormones, can leach from plastic bottles into their containers.

Finally, there’s the cost factor. As a public utility, tap water is virtually free. Here’s how the budget breaks down:

• A water filter pitcher costs between $10 and $40; replacement filters run about $9 each and last about 40 gallons (approximately two months worth of water). Your average water filter pitcher cost at 20 gallons per month: $17 per month initially; $4.50 thereafter.
• A faucet-mounted filter will cost you about $20 to $50, with replacement filters averaging at about $20 each and lasting about 100 gallons (approximately five months worth of water). Your average faucet-mounted filter cost at 20 gallons per month:$39 per month initially; $4 thereafter.
• Are you ready for this? Bottle water costs an average of between $1 and $4 per gallon. Your average bottled water cost at 20 gallons per month: $50

Bottles are out and the tap is iffy: Go with the pitcher or faucet filter at $4 per month and encourage your kids to take their water on the go in recyclable, reusable stainless-steel water bottles that costs about $20 and last forever! If they wouldn’t keep losing the darned tops.

But it’s not like we can avoid the bottled water altogether. A few days ago we were out and I’d bought a plastic water bottle because the Barnacle was dehydrating at a rapid pace and a water fountain was not to be had. I had the empty bottle in my hand, headed for the trashcan when my son grabbed it. “Not the trash, Mom!” he yelled, rescuing the bottle from a million years in the landfill. We took it home in my purse and recycled it.

I’ve trained them well.