Single Vital Use Plastics

I would agree that the majority of bottled waters are pretty terrible and pointless, but...

People aren't really getting it with bottled water.  Drinking water varies widely in flavor and not all of it tastes pleasant, and you don't need to be a connoisseur to tell the difference.  The answer isn't simply to filter it.  Mineral content, pH level, and even silica content all play a significant part in creating a pleasing drinking water.  I have had bottled waters that I spit out due to some weird combo of sodium and sulfur content.  My tap water has a chlorine odor and overall harshness.  I've had well water that tasted like foot.  So it's folly to assume I should just get a reusable container and fill it up at any tap I see.  I can find any puddle after a rain storm and filter the water through a sock until it runs clear and is drinkable, but that doesn't put it on par with every other bottled option available.

My favorite water has a naturally soft (but not softened) mouth feel, and extremely smooth taste with none of the harshness that usually hits the back of your throat with most waters.  As a result of all this, the finish comes off as slightly sweet.  It's amazing.  It stands apart.  I'm always asking people to try it and one person had the best review yet - "There's no 'thing'."  It was my favorite review because I knew immediately the reviewer was referring to that back-of-the-throat harshness.

The person drinking a single-use plastic bottle of soda gets a pass ostensibly because soda doesn't (yet) come out of the tap, but we criticize the single-use water drinker because we assume all drinking water tastes pretty much the same.   It doesn't, and I don't need your lecture about how I'm being thoughtlessly wasteful.