The issue I present to you for Blog Action Day is this... Plastic water bottles. The bottling of, the transportation of and the use of plastic water bottles is a huge interconnected problem. THIS is an environmental issue tailor made for me. You see, I have been one of the biggest offenders.
It all started out innocently enough- easy, portable water. I have always been a big water drinker, never much of a soda consumer. So keep your Diet Cokes and so forth... It is water for me.
Over time, I have become aware, as we all have, just what an environmental disaster this is.
Here are some tidbits from something I found at MSNBC.com...
"The growth has been even more impressive in terms of water bottles sold: from 3.3 billion in 1997 to 15 billion in 2002."
"Only about 12 percent of "custom" plastic bottles, a category dominated by water, were recycled in 2003, according to industry consultant R.W. Beck, Inc. That's 40 million bottles a day that went into the trash or became litter. In contrast, the recycling rate for plastic soft drink bottles is around 30 percent."
And then there is this article from Fast Company. Which tells us, among other things... Except for this: Bottled water is often simply an indulgence, and despite the stories we tell ourselves, it is not a benign indulgence. We're moving 1 billion bottles of water around a week in ships, trains, and trucks in the United States alone. That's a weekly convoy equivalent to 37,800 18-wheelers delivering water. (Water weighs 81/3 pounds a gallon. It's so heavy you can't fill an 18-wheeler with bottled water--you have to leave empty space.)
Listen - I know that we all know these things. And I put myself first when I still end up buying bottles. Oh yes, I try to buy the giant ones, but I will be out and about, need water and then I buy another one.
Yes, I try to buy Poland Spring or, when I am in my Albany area home, Saratoga water- I gave Fiji up a long time ago for many reasons, along with Vittel, Evian, etc. However, it still boils down to the same thing.
And yes, sometimes I reuse my plastic bottles. I am told this is a dangerous practice, but can it be any more dangerous that what we have just read?
So besides my post, here is what I am committed to do today. It is a little more money than I want to spend right now, but I am going to do it. After having bought more Lexan plastic bottles than I can tell you about, I am going to buy a metal bottle.
For the record, in NYC I always drink the tap water, which is the best. In Nyack I drink water from my Brita. In Albany, our water tastes too treated, I am investigating options.
So this website will be visited by me today for such a purchase. Although, I do feel a vague sense of discomfort about a bottle that is made so far away.It is really hard to act locally. Before I make that purchase, maybe one of you will have some ideas for me.
(Image of globe at top of post is from here and this specific globe was done by Chirag V. Rathod, aged 12, Tulip School Sterling City, Bhopal, Ahmedabad, India.)
25 comments:
Great post...and so timely! I was planning on going to the store this morning to buy a case of water bottles. Chicago has great water, but living in the suburbs, although the water is coming from the same Lake Michigan as Chicago-tastes funny. It must be the processing, but it has a very strong taste and sometimes odor of chlorine.
I've thought of getting a Brita, now I think I'll do that. I do like to keep a case of water or bottles around for emergency.
We've stopped buying water bottles until our have melted out of recognition so that they won't stand up in the fridge anymore.
Thanks for the reminder about why I stand at the fridge water dispenser twice a day filling those dang bottles.
We started refrigerating pitchers and bottles of tap water, and it tastes fine. We keep a few cases of bottled on hand for emergencies, but we're not buying them for home use anymore. Great post, by the way. I hadn't ever even thought of the environmental impact of bottled water (especially the transportation) until I saw the news story about Gavin Newsom banning its use in city offices in San Francisco.
Thanks for the post, Fran. You are absolutely right about this, and in many ways its just the tip of the iceberg. If you think about all that is done to make our lives convenient, it just boggles the mind. Sometimes I think about all the energy that is expended to make sure I am never more than a half mile away from my next Diet Pepsi. Of course, it's not just me and it's not just Diet Pepsi. The world of production and transportation is too vast to be considered as a single entity.
Fran, yes, I recycle plastic, but that picture of the mounds of flattened bottles shows me how recycling is really a delusion. Thank you. I so appreciate your pushes at me for greater awareness, especially in politics! Thanks, too, for the link--I'll go look for a bottle for me, too. My first step. . . .
Being in a hurricane state we must keep some for just in case. Otherwise we just pour water in a glass and drink it. It worked when I was a little girl, and it works just fine now.
Ah Jeez.. I am so busted on this one. We purchase water bottles in my house because the quality of the water stinks. Yeah, one can purchase charcoal filters for faucets and containers, but I always forget to change the cartridges, and because, like you said, it's very convenient to carry them and dispose of the bottles when we're done.
I have several articles of clothing made out of plastic bottles.
We live in a country where it's virtually impossible not to waste. That's part of the fun living in an Empire.
Luckily, where I live the tapwater is great. Heck, I think that some of it is bottled and sold to other cities. I have several nalgene bottles (which are very handy) for hikes, trips, etc. I also keep my river trip water jugs full in case of emergency. For those living in places with poorer water, a filtration system is a much better deal than bottled water, and will save you money in the long run. Bottled water is bad for the environment, the pocketbook, and the soul.
Our water in St. Paul is kind of "moldy" tasting, but the Brita filter on our faucet takes care if that just fine.
I rarely, rarely ever buy water anymore- I just use one of the Nalgene bottles we keep around. I stopped a long time ago for all of the reasons you give, but also because I think it's ridiculous to pay for something that I can get out of the tap for next to nothing. Basically, I'm cheap like that.
Gluttony, thats why its a problem.
Lower the demand and it will go away.
Everything works that way.
That's why it is a dealy sin.
Good luck.
Thanks for all the great comments, thoughts and ideas.
After talking to a neighbor up here in Smal-bany I have to now talk to my husband. He may be inclined to ignore what are issues with our water system in the house. Whatever treatment it is getting - it tastes nasty, period.
great post, and water is my favorite drink, too. Bottled water is not only environmentally unsound, it is mostly a rip-off. Most bottled water is sold as "healthy", but it's usually no more healthy than your tap water (our tap water is also quite good).
I have to get a stainless steel water bottle. I don't buy much bottled water (I refill the bottle with a Brita, although NYC water is great), but I do keep some for emergencies, which at my place means the super shut the water off to make a repair in someone else's apartment. Yes, he shuts off water to the whole building. You haven't lived until you have brushed your teeth and bathed with a 2 liter bottle of Volvic.
Great post.
I bought a metal water bottle recently at a local health food store. It didn't cost too much (it's not decorated like the mysigg ones). I'm glad not to be using plastic any more.
I use a britta filter at home, just because I think the water tastes better filtered (though I forget to change the filter). I'm sure the tap water is just fine.
Bottled water is an industry and the benefits of it have been greatly exaggerated. We should value our good tap water more!
Fran, we have terrible water. Ours comes from the Mississippi River down Bayou Lafourche. We get the runoff from all the farms and dumping up river, plus the runoff from the chemical plants along the river. Ours is really too polluted to drink.
This is an excellent post, and I'll do my part when they give us decent water from the tap.
First time I saw a human bean walking around, friggin yuppie, carryin a water bottle I knew in my heart it was wrong...stupid like...I mean we got fountains and canteens (oops .. that's the future now a metal bottle) good crap a mighty course I never let anything not rightly called liquor cross my lips in them days........
Very true Fran. We've been spoiled with bottled water for years. People never bother to take the same plastic bottle around with them because they either hate tap, or their not to fond of the britta filter, or worse, to lazy.
Fran, thank you so much for the poem, it was beautiful and perfect. :)
Great post franiam, I really have a problem with the water at my home. So I just must pick up bottle water to really enjoy it.
I've noticed, when I wash my hands at my home, the water seems rough, if that's possible.
Great post, it's something that is almost counterintuitive - water equals healthy - and yet it is one of the worst things for the environment. Good idea to buy the metal bottles. Also, we've been reusing bottles a lot and never gotten sick!
Thanks for these thoughts and researches, Fran.
Wonderful post. I used to work at a store that sold clothing made from recycled bottles, which was cool. I meet people every day (at work) who don't even throw their plastic bottles away--they BURN THEM in their "burn barrels" (I live in a rural area). Yeah. Burning plastic. And I work with CHEMISTS. It's ridiculous.
I'm feeling the need to copy and paste your whole post into an email and distribute....
Nicely done, Fran. I just posted a vid.
thanx for the info, Fran--
and I have a question: is there a problem with reusing plastic bottles?
I have whole slew of the gatorade bottles with the dispenser caps. I refill em constantly with water, lemonade, whatever. I WILL NOT allow an open container on the computer table -- but if my water bottle tips over, my keyboard is safe.
being in FLA, the water tastes of sulfur but a filter takes care of that. and, being in FLA, I have to keep emergency water on hand during hurricane season. I save milk jugs and refill em with water.
of course, storage can be --ummmm-- interesting. even the empties take up a lot of space -- and FLA doesn't know from basements. **sigh**
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