We always knew that bottled water was wasteful, but now we know just how wasteful.

Really freaking wasteful.

Scientists have found that bottled water is 3,500 times worse for the environment than tap water – a staggering discrepancy.

In fact, it takes as much as three times the water to produce a bottle than it can actually hold.

Scientists in Barcelona used a “life cycle assessment” which estimates the impact of an item over its entire lifespan. That includes extraction of raw materials, manufacturing, transportation, distribution, use and disposal.

In the US, water bottle manufacturing takes 1.5 million barrels of oil each year, which is more than it would take to power 100K homes.

In the study, scientists found that if every resident in Barcelona switched to bottle water, the process of extracting raw materials would lead to the loss of 1.43 animal species every year. That gives it 1,400 times more of an impact on ecosystems and 3,500 times higher cost to the environment for resources than if the same city population used tap water instead.

So cross bottled water off your grocery pickup and head to the tap – the planet will thank you.