Cost-conscious people across the country have cut their consumption of bottled water.

And that's good news for Dr. Landis Lum and the folks at Kaiser Permanente who have been running a "reduce the use" corporate campaign nationwide that began in January.

The Beverage Marketing Corporation, which tracks sales of bottled water, soda and other beverages nationally, noticed an overall decline last year, calling the 2 percent decrease "the first volume downturn on record."

In March, a spokesman said that three brands of bottled water were among the top 10 best-selling beverages in 2008, but added that "the category also registered an unprecedented decline in volume."

Looking for ways to reduce spending, many people may have turned to tap water.

Lum and the Kaiser program encourage people to drink tap water — in a glass or a refillable bottle. Reducing the number of bottles sold saves money and is eco-friendly.

"Tap water is so much cheaper," Lum said.

Hawai'i folks can brag about the taste of our tap water, Lum said.

"In Hawai'i, there's no need for us to pollute the environment by using bottled water when the water is so much better here than in other places."

Lum points out there's another option to buying disposable or recyclable bottles — filtering your own water, either in pitchers made by Brita and other manufacturers, or by using under-the-sink water filters sold at hardware stores.

"I have one connected to not only my kitchen sink waterspout, but it also feeds into the ice cube and cold water intake for my fridge," Lum said.

He estimated his cost at about $80 and said the filter paid for itself in less than a year because of the savings in buying bottled water. "It makes water taste better," he said.

Lum, an avid hiker, is a fan of reusing water bottles and has switched to stainless steel ones.

(Shop around for a best price. Sometimes, you can pay less for a container that advertises a company or get a free bottle from a charity you might already be planning to donate to. For example, Hawai'i Public Radio has offered a stainless bottle for donations of $100 or more.)

Lum said the Kaiser campaign is helping spread the word about reducing our carbon footprint by not producing the bottles or having to recycle them.

He said some states and cities have even banned the use of government money to buy single-serving water bottles. He said that is the policy in San Francisco, Seattle, Illinois and Paris, France.

One of Lum's other points is that tap water is held to more stringent water quality standards than bottled water. He said consumers should be skeptical of labels, including those that show glaciers and springs, since the source of much bottled water is municipal water systems.

He's hoping the economy will help others to "think outside the bottle" and reverse the trend of bottled water purchases, which by 2005 had grown to an average of 25 gallons of bottled water consumed in a year by each American.