Faith Paulus remembers growing up in the ’50s, the good old days of playing in the sprinklers and drinking from the hose on a hot day, when people could spend hours outside without a plastic water bottle in their hand. Well, those days are long gone, the hose and kitchen faucet replaced with plastic, and Paulus isn’t having it. Last November, Paulus, a North County author and interior designer, sat down at her home computer in Vista and started brainstorming. Not long after, Paulus came up with the idea for “Back to the Tap” — a reusable bottle made of #4 grade carcinogen-free plastic that filters water effectively from any tap source for up to three months.

According to Paulus, one Back to the Tap bottle can potentially save the consumer from purchasing over 300 disposable plastic water bottles. “It allows quality drinking water from any commercial or residential tap source and has proven to be as effective for improving the taste of tap water as any bottled water on the market,” says Paulus via email.

In addition to saving the consumer money, fewer bottles purchased will reduce the number of plastic bottles that could end up in the landfill. “The growing social acceptance of purchasing an estimated $60 million worth of plastic water bottles annually in the United States alone -- most of which is riddled with toxic chemicals -- without a responsible means of properly recycling at least 80 percent of it just seemed senseless to me,” says Paulus.

Some warned against such a venture. “I brought the idea to one graphic designer and he told me that I would virtually fail, that he had seen these things come and go, and that there are no shortcuts in life.”

The criticism didn’t dissuade Paulus for long. Soon after, she contacted Earth Share, a network of respected environmentally friendly companies and foundations, and urged them to look at her product. They did and decided to feature Back to the Tap in an upcoming catalog of earth-friendly products and organizations. Paulus has since responded by donating one dollar from every purchase to Earth Share.

Paulus eventually wants to expand the Back to the Tap campaign to a global level but, for now, is setting her sights on Carlsbad’s Business Expo on September 17th.

To find out more on Back to the Tap, go to backtothetap.com. For more on the Carlsbad Business Expo, go to carlsbad.org.