The truly green way to manage the plastic water bottle issue is to not even engage in it – instead using a purifier at home and some nice re-usable bottles for the gym and other outings. But the reality of travel and other occasional everyday activities means that every now and they she's purchasing a drink that comes in a plastic bottle.

While there's still a long way to go until every bottle's collected and recycled, there is a bright spot when it comes to PET plastic bottle recycling. According to two new studies, plastic bottles are now the most recycled items in curbside recycling programs and 23.4% of water bottles were recycled in 2007 – that's up from 20.1% in 2006.

Another interesting part of the bottled water equation is that over the course of two months ending on February 21, 2009, sales of bottled water were down 11%, a casualty of recessionary spending. In addition, the new kinds of bottles – made with less plastic – have also brought plastic consumption down.

Little by little, Girlawhirl can see that as the water bottle problem is more and more on the minds of consumers; they're buying less and recycling more.