A man drinks water from a pipe that leads from the spring in the community of Springhead, Oracabessa, St. Mary. - RICARDO MAKYN
THE SAYING 'POURING money down the drain' is often used to refer to dripping faucets, but for 28 year-old Deidra it has a different meaning entirely, although it still refers to expenditure.
The self-confirmed 'water freak' (and exercise devotee) gulps down the traditional eight glasses of water a day not only because she is keeping her body hydrated, but also because she is keeping as much money as possible in her purse.
FREE WATER
"Water is cheap. Very cheap. And in some cases, like at the workplace, for some people free. Free. What better can you get than that?" she asked.
Much better than the trainee nurse and one-time teacher would have to spend if she was to buy the equivalent of the water she drinks every day in juice. Using the example of a popular orange juice, she calculated that she would be spending at least $300 a day , which works out to $2,100 a week or $8,400 each month.
"That is my telephone and electricity bill right there," she said about the figures. "Even if it is that soda stuff which is so horrible for your body, it would still be a lot more than I spend on water."
She does not go with the bottled variety, but sticks with tap water, sometimes using a filter jug.
On her last trip to the supermarket 34 year-old Carolyn went a bit heavier than usual on juices. They accounted for about $800 from a total bill of just over $8,000, two gallons of a popular juice brand, snack pack sizes for her two children and some cans of another kind of juice among the lot. At 10 per cent of her supermarket expenditure, she concedes it is a lot. Still, she justifies it by saying that it is a good source of vitamins. "I am not going to go to the market and buy oranges to squeeze," she said. "And my children are not going to take any water to school.
Twenty-five year-old Darlton did not consider how much of his monthly income as a sales representative he spends on juices until STAR BIZ asked him for a quick tally. At one per day with lunch on the job at the workplace, as well as another when he goes 'on the road' to make business contacts, he is running at over $100 a day. And that does not include what he buys at the supermarket to keep at home.
"Is nuff money still, when you really check it. I never really think bout it before," he said. Now that he has, though, he is not going to slash juice from his spending altogether, although he is going to cut down.
"You can't just stop anything you been doing for a long time like that," he said, laughing. "Still, money have to save and is not like you have to drink this whole heap a juice. Is just that when you spend money little little you don't see it go. I guess is same way you can save little bit at a time and it add up," he said.
For Deidra, the health factor is an additional incentive to go near juiceless. "What you get in a lot of juices is a lot of sugar, a lot of chemicals and flavouring. Even the sugar free ones have to have something in them to preserve them. It just can't be good for you. Water all the way for me," she said, although she does have room for a real fruit punch, blended before her eyes.
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