Truth About Bottled Water

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Free Filtered Water For Reusable Bottle Users - The Trend Grows

by A.K. Streeter

From: http://www.treehugger.com/

Photo A. Streeter via flickr and Creative Commons.

Certain places hold us captive to buying bottled water - which if you've seen the documentary Tapped you'll likely not want to do. Airports are generally the worst - if you unthinkingly purchase bottles in the terminal before passing through security, your very expensive water will basically go staight into the trash. Adding a reusable bottle to the things we all cart around sometimes feels like a drag, but hopefully a new trend makes schlepping the reusable Kleen Kanteen or other stainless or glass bottle much more rewarding.

The Chicago Department of Aviation has installed filtered water stations especially designed for reusable bottles at both O'Hare (Terminal 2) and Chicago Midway airports. Not only is this a boon to those of us with reusable bottles and a real aversion to buying bottled water. It's also saving CO2 emissions. Yes, a drop in the proverbial bucket, but a start in turning back the massive tide of bottled water that is so damaging to our environment and so unnecessary.

At both the airports, there's a Liquid Disposal Station before security lines, and refill stations are located right next to the regular drinking fountains (a big plus, as it is quite difficult to refill bottles at the regular fountains).

You simply set your bottle onto the station's metal tray and refill happens hands free.

The Dept. of Aviation estimates the water stations, installed after Earth Day 2010, will save approximately 17,000 pounds of greenhouse gases from being emitted, and 29 fewer tons of trash from going to landfill annually.

In San Francisco, Virgin Airways is sponsoring a similar filtered water refill station.

Washingtonians are also lucky - the TapIt initiative means there are more than 60 spots in the city, (participating businesses) that will allow you to fill your reusable bottle for free.

Reviewing some of the highlights from the documentary for your water edification:

- A large amount of the water you are buying in bottled water comes from the same sources as tap water.

- Bottled water is more than a $10 billion annual business, with the biggest corporate players being Coca-Cola, Pepsico, and Nestle.

- Approximately 18 million barrels of oil are used each year to transport water for bottled water consumption.

-Eliminating or minimizing bottled water usage would be a huge boon for the ocean where lots of plastic ends up circling endlessly in loops like the Pacific Gyre.


-Storing water in plastic is a very risky business, as toxic chemicals have been shown to leach from the plastic in to the water, especially over time (including bisphenol-A).

And, most relevant for consumers, bottled water costs from 240 to over 10,000 times more per gallon to purchase than tap water (NRDC source).

Filter Turns Filthy Water Drinkable

Water filter turns filthy water drinkable - Michael Pritchard 2009 video

Uploaded by nexfutbol on Oct 13, 2009

Support my Raise to Empower campaign at http://igg.me/p/29202?a=151955&i=shlk

A Solution for Flash Floods, especially here in the Philippines

Check out The Clean Water Project by two creative Filipinas.
http://web.me.com/tish_valles/The_Clean_Water_Project/The_Clean_Water_Project...

Jennifer Aniston's Sax Tape: goes viral - smartwater

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smartwater presents jen aniston in her first ever viral video

Harmful Drinks in America

From: http://worldmysteries9.blogspot.com/

20. Worst Water
Snapple Agave Melon Antioxidant Water (1 bottle, 20 fl oz)

150 calories
0 g fat
33 g sugars

Sugar Equivalent: 2 Good Humor Chocolate Éclair Bars

While “Worst Water” may sound like an oxymoron, the devious minds in the bottled beverage industry have even found a way to besmirch the sterling reputation of the world’s most essential compound. Sure, you may get a few extra vitamins, but ultimately, you’re paying a premium price for gussied-up sugar water. Next time you buy a bottle of water, check the recipe: You want two parts hydrogen, one part oxygen, and very little else.

Drink This Instead!

Smartwater

0 calories
0 g sugars

19. Worst Bottled Tea
SoBe Green Tea (1 bottle, 20 fl oz)

240 calories
0 g fat
61 g sugars

Sugar Equivalent: 4 slices Sara Lee Cherry Pie
Leave it to SoBe to take an otherwise healthy bottle of tea and inject it with enough sugar to turn it into dessert. The Pepsi-owned company’s flagship line, composed of 11 flavors with names like “Nirvana” and “Cranberry Grapefruit Elixir,” is marketed to give consumers the impression that it can cleanse the body, mind, and spirit. Don’t be fooled. Just like this bottle of green tea, all of these beverages are made with two primary ingredients: water and sugar.

Drink This Instead!

Honest Tea Green Dragon Tea (1 bottle, 16 fl oz)

60 calories
0 g fat
16 g sugars

18. Worst Energy Drink
Rockstar Energy Drink (1 can, 16 fl oz)

280 calories
0 g fat
62 g sugars

Sugar Equivalent: 6 Krispy Kreme Original Glazed Doughnuts

None of the energy provided by these full-sugar drinks could ever justify the caloric load, but Rockstar’s take is especially frightening. One can provides nearly as much sugar as half a box of Nilla Wafers. In fact, it has 60 more calories than the same amount of Red Bull and 80 more than a can of Monster. If you’re going to guzzle, better choose one of the low-cal options. We like Monster; it offers all the caffeine and B vitamins with just enough sugar to cut through the funky extracts.

Drink This Instead!

Monster Lo-Carb (1 can, 16 fl oz)

20 calories
0 g fat
6 g sugars

17. Worst Bottled Coffee
Starbucks Vanilla Frappuccino (1 bottle, 13.7 fl oz)

290 calories
4.5 g fat (2.5 g saturated)
45 g sugars

Sugar Equivalent: 32 Nilla Wafers

With an unreasonable number of calorie landmines peppered across Starbucks’ in-store menu, you’d think the company would want to use its grocery line to restore faith in its ability to provide caffeine without testing the limits of your belt buckle. Guess not. This drink has been on our radar for years, and we still haven’t managed to find a bottled coffee with more sugar. Consider this—along with Starbucks’ miniature Espresso and Cream Doubleshot—your worst option for a morning pickup.

Drink This Instead!

Illy Issimo Caffè (1 can, 6.8 fl oz)

50 calories
0 g fat
11 g sugars

16. Worst Soda
Sunkist (1 bottle, 20 fl oz)

320 calories
0 g fat
84 g sugars

Sugar Equivalent: 6 Breyers Oreo Ice Cream Sandwiches

Wait . . . but aren’t all sodas equally terrible? It’s true they all earn 100 percent of their calories from sugar, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t still varying levels of atrocity. Despite the perception of healthfulness, fruity sodas tend to carry more sugar than their cola counterparts, and none make that more apparent than the tooth-achingly sweet Sunkist. But what seals the orange soda’s fate on our list of worsts is its reliance on the artificial colors yellow 6 and red 40—two chemicals that may be linked to behavioral and concentration problems in children.

Drink This Instead!

Izze Sparkling Clementine (1 bottle, 12 fl oz)

120 calories
0 g fat
27 g sugars

15. Worst Beer
Sierra Nevada Bigfoot (1 bottle, 12 fl oz)

330 calories
0 g fat
32.1 g carbohydrates
9.6% alcohol

Carbohydrate Equivalent: 12-pack of Michelob Ultra

Most beers carry fewer than 175 calories, but even your average extra-heady brew rarely eclipses 250. That makes Sierra’s Bigfoot the undisputed beast of the beer jungle. Granted, the alcohol itself provides most of the calories, but it’s the extra heft of carbohydrates that helps stuff nearly 2,000 calories into each six-pack. For comparison, Budweiser has 10.6 grams of carbs, Blue Moon has 13, and Guinness Draught has 10. Let’s hope the appearance of this gut-inducing guzzler in your fridge is as rare as encounters with the fabled beast himself.

Drink This Instead!

Leinenkugel’s Fireside Nut Brown Ale (1 bottle, 12 fl oz)

155 calories
13.4 g carbohydrates
4.9% alcohol

14. Worst Kids' Drink
Tropicana Tropical Fruit Fury Twister (1 bottle, 20 fl oz)

340 calories
0 g fat
60 g sugars

Sugar Equivalent: Two 7-ounce canisters Reddi-wip

Don’t let Tropicana’s reputation for unadulterated OJ lead you to believe that the company is capable of doing no wrong. As a Pepsi subsidiary, it’s inevitable that they’ll occasionally delve into soda-like territory. The Twister line is just that: a drink with 10 percent juice and 90 percent sugar laced with a glut of artificial flavors and coloring. You could actually save 200 calories by choosing a can of Pepsi instead.

Drink This Instead!

Honest Kids Tropical Tango Punch (1 pouch, 6.75 fl oz)

40 calories
0 g fat
10 g sugars

13. Worst Functional Beverage
Arizona Rx Energy (1 can, 23 fl oz)

345 calories
0 g fat
83 g sugars

Sugar Equivalent: 6 Cinnamon Roll Pop-Tarts

Obviously Arizona took great pains in making sure this can came out looking like something you’d find in a pharmacy. But if your pharmacist ever tries to sell you this much sugar, he should have his license revoked. And if it’s energy you’re after, this isn’t your best vehicle. Caffeine is the only compound in the bottle that’s been proven to provide energy, and the amount found within is about what you'd get from a weak cup of coffee.

Drink This Instead!

Glaceau Vitamin Water 10 Revitalize Green Tea (1 bottle, 20 fl oz)

25 calories
0 g fat
8 g sugars

12. Worst Juice Imposter
Arizona Kiwi Strawberry (1 can, 23 fl oz)

345 calories
0 g fat
81 g sugars

Sugar Equivalent: 7 bowls of Froot Loops

The twisted minds at the Arizona factory outdid themselves with this nefarious concoction, a can the size of a bazooka loaded with enough of the sweet stuff to blast your belly with 42 sugar cubes. The most disturbing part isn’t that it masks itself as some sort of healthy juice product (after all, hundreds of products are guilty of the same crime), but that this behemoth serving size costs just $.99, making its contents some of the cheapest calories we’ve ever stumbled across.

Drink This Instead!

Fuze Slenderize Strawberry Melon (1 bottle, 18.5 fl oz)

20 calories
0 g fat
2 g sugars

11. Worst Espresso Drink
Starbucks Peppermint White Chocolate Mocha with Whipped Cream (venti, 20 fl oz)

660 calories
22 g fat (15 g saturated)
95 g sugars

Sugar Equivalent: 8½ scoops Edy’s Slow Churned Rich and Creamy Coffee Ice Cream

Hopefully this will dispel any lingering fragments of the “health halo” that still exists in coffee shops—that misguided belief that espresso-based beverages can’t do much damage. In this 20-ounce cup, Starbucks manages to pack in more calories and saturated fat than two slices of deep-dish sausage and pepperoni pizza from Domino’s. That makes it the equivalent of dinner and dessert disguised as a cup of coffee. If you want a treat, look to Starbucks’ supply of sugar-free syrups; if you want a caffeine buzz, stick to the regular joe, an Americano, or a cappuccino.

Drink This Instead!

Cinnamon Dolce Latte with Sugar-Free Syrup (grande, 16 fl oz)

260 calories
6 g fat (4 g saturated)
38 g sugars

10. Worst Lemonade
Auntie Anne’s Wild Cherry Lemonade Mixer (32 fl oz)

470 calories
0 g fat
110 g sugars

Sugar Equivalent: 11 bowls of Cookie Crisp cereal

There is no such thing as healthy lemonade, but Auntie’s line of Lemonade Mixers takes the concept of hyper-sweetened juice and stretches it to dangerous new levels. See, sugar digests faster than good-for-you nutrients like protein and fiber, which means it’s in your blood almost immediately after you swallow it. Drinking the 3 or 4 days’ worth of added sugar found here jacks your blood sugar and results in strain to your kidneys, the creation of new fat molecules, and the desire to eat more. Ouch.

Drink This Instead!

Diet Lemonade (21 fl oz)

15 calories
0 g fat
0 g sugars

9. Worst Hot Chocolate
Starbucks White Hot Chocolate with Whipped Cream (venti, 20 fl oz)

520 calories
16 g fat (11 g saturated)
75 g sugars

Sugar Equivalent: 9 Strawberry Rice Krispie Treats

See that stack of Rice Krispie Treats? It’s just three treats shy of two full boxes. Unless you were a contestant on Fear Factor—and there was a sizeable monetary prize on the line—you’d never even consider noshing down that much sugar at once. But here’s what’s interesting: While that stack is the sugar counterpart to this atrocity from Starbucks, it still has 40 percent less saturated fat. Makes us wonder what’s going on in the hot chocolate. Stick to beverages with single-flavor profiles instead of pile-on recipes like this and you’ll fare better every time.

Drink This Instead!

Hot Chocolate with Nonfat Milk (grande, 16 fl oz)

240 calories
2.5 g fat (0.5 g saturated)
40 g sugars

8. Worst Frozen Coffee Drink
Dairy Queen Caramel MooLatte (24 fl oz)

870 calories
24 g fat (19 g saturated, 1 g trans)
112 g sugars

Sugar Equivalent: 12 Dunkin’ Donuts Bavarian Kreme Doughnuts

Coffee-dessert hybrids are among the worst breed of beverages. This one delivers 1 gram of fat and 4.6 grams of sugar in every ounce, making even Starbucks’ over-the-top line of Frappuccinos look like decent options. Maybe that’s why DQ decided to give it a name that alludes to the animal it promises to turn you into. If you can bring yourself to skip DQ and head to a coffee shop instead, order a large iced latte with a couple shots of flavored syrup and save some 600 calories. But if you’re stuck where you are, you’re better off pairing a small treat with a regular cup of joe.

Drink This Instead!

Small Chocolate Ice Cream Cone with a Medium Cup of Coffee

240 calories
7 g fat (5 g saturated)
25 g sugars

7. Worst Margarita
Traditional Red Lobster Lobsterita (24 fl oz)

890 calories
0 g fat
183 g carbohydrates

Carbohydrate Equivalent: 7 Almond Joy candy bars

Of all the egregious beverages we’ve analyzed, the Lobsterita surprised us the most. The nation’s biggest fish purveyor is one of the few big players in the restaurant biz to provide its customers with a wide selection of truly healthy food options. We would hope they’d do the same with the beverages, but obviously not. Drink one of these every Friday night and you’ll put on more than a pound of flab each month. Downgrade to a regular margarita on the rocks and pocket the remaining 640 calories.

Drink This Instead!

Red Lobster Classic Margarita on the Rocks

250 calories
0 g fat
22 g carbohydrates

6. Worst Float
Baskin-Robbins Ice Cream Soda (vanilla ice cream and cola) (large, 28.6 fl oz)

960 calories
40 g fat (25 g saturated, 1.5 g trans)
136 g sugars

Sugar Equivalent: 9.7 Fudgsicle fudge bars

Done right, an ice cream float can be a decent route to indulgence. Go to A&W and you’ll land a medium for fewer than 400 calories. Order it with diet soda and you’ve dropped below 200 calories. So why can’t Baskin-Robbins make even a small float with fewer than 470 calories? Because apparently the chain approaches the art of beverage-crafting as a challenge to squeeze in as much fat and sugar as possible. Whatever you order, plan on splitting it with a friend.

Drink This Instead!

Ice Cream Float (vanilla ice cream and root beer) (small, 16.9 fl oz)

470 calories
20 g fat (13 g saturated, 0.5 g trans)
68 g sugars

5. Worst Frozen Fruit Drink
Krispy Kreme Lemon Sherbet Chiller (20 fl oz)

980 calories
40 g fat (36 g saturated)
115 g sugars

Sugar Equivalent: 16 medium-size chocolate eclairs

Imagine taking a regular can of soda, pouring in 18 extra teaspoons of sugar, and then swirling in half a cup of heavy cream. Nutritionally speaking, that’s exactly what this is, which is how it manages to marry nearly 2 days’ worth of saturated fat with enough sugar to leave you with a serious sucrose hangover. Do your heart a favor and avoid any of Krispy Kreme’s “Kremey” beverages. The basic Chillers aren’t the safest of sippables either, but they’ll save you up to 880 calories.

Drink This Instead!

Very Berry Chiller (20 fl oz)

290 calories
0 g fat
71 g sugars

4. Worst Frozen Mocha
Così Double Oh! Arctic Mocha (gigante, 23 fl oz)

1,210 calories
19 g fat (10 g saturated)
240 g sugars

Sugar Equivalent: 41 Oreo Cookies

A frozen mocha will never be a stellar option, but we’ve still never come across anything that competes with this cookie-coffee-milkshake hybrid from Così. Essentially it’s a mocha Blizzard made with Oreo cookies and topped with whipped cream and an oversize Oreo. The result is a beverage with more calories than two Big Macs and more sugar than any other drink in America.

Drink This Instead!

Chocolate Covered Strawberry Smoothie (12 oz)

316 calories
12 g fat (8 g saturated)
37 g sugars

3. Worst Drive-Thru Shake
McDonald’s Triple Thick Chocolate Shake (large, 32 fl oz)

1,160 calories
27 g fat (16 g saturated, 2 g trans)
168 g sugars

Sugar Equivalent: 13 McDonald’s Baked Hot Apple Pies

There are very few milk shakes in America worthy of your hard-earned calories, but few will punish you as thoroughly as this Mickey D’s drive-thru disaster. Not only does it have more than half your day’s caloric and saturated fat allotment and more sugar than you’d find in Willy Wonka’s candy lab, but Ronald even finds a way to sneak in a full day of cholesterol-spiking trans fat. The scariest part about this drink is that it’s most likely America’s most popular milk shake.

Drink This Instead!

Hot Fudge Sundae (small, 6.3 oz)

330 calories
10 g fat (7 g saturated)
48 g sugars

2. Worst Smoothie
Smoothie King Peanut Power Plus Grape (large, 40 fl oz)

1,498 calories
44 g fat (8 g saturated)
214 g sugars

Sugar Equivalent: 20 Reese's Peanut Butter Cups

If Smoothie King wants someone to blame for landing this high on our worst beverages roundup (and truth be told, its entire menu is riddled with contenders), the chain should point the smoothie straw at whichever executive came up with the cup-sizing structure. Sending someone out the door with a 40-ounce cup should be a criminal offense. Who really needs a third of a gallon of sweetened peanut butter blended with grape juice, milk, and bananas? Sugar-and-fat-loaded smoothies like this should be served from 12-ounce cups, not mini kegs.

Drink This Instead!

High Protein Banana (small, 20 fl oz)

322 calories
9 g fat (1 g saturated)
23 g sugars

1. Worst Beverage in America
Cold Stone PB&C (Gotta Have It size, 24 fl oz)

2,010 calories
131 g fat (68 g saturated)
153 g sugars

Sugar Equivalent: 30 Chewy Chips Ahoy Cookies

In terms of saturated fat, drinking this Cold Stone catastrophe is like slurping up 68 strips of bacon. Health experts recommend capping your saturated fat intake at about 20 grams per day, yet this beverage packs more than three times that into a cup the size of a Chipotle burrito. But here’s what’s worse: No regular shake at Cold Stone, no matter what the size, has fewer than 1,000 calories. If you must drink your ice cream, make it one of the creamery’s “Sinless” options. Otherwise you’d better plan on buying some bigger pants on the way home.

Drink This Instead!

Sinless Oh Fudge Shake (Like It size, 16 fl oz)

490 calories
2 g fat (2 g saturated)
44 g sugars

Madonna is Crazy for Coconut Water

By MERCEDES CARDONA

Madonna is coming soon to your neighborhood bodega: The Material Girl has become a major investor in a company that sells coconut water in supermarkets.

Madonna's manager, Guy Oseary, told The New York Post that the singer invested about $1.5 million in Vita Coco, a New York-based company that sells the beverage in New York and Los Angeles and wants to take its product national. Oseary also told The Post he's convinced other celebrities, including actor Matthew McConaughey and singer Anthony Kiedis of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, to make smaller investments in the company.

Apparently, Madonna liked the juice of green coconuts so much, she's throwing marketing ideas to the Vita Coco management, and is talking about making a follow-up investment, according to The Post.

Coconut water has been gaining trendiness over the last couple of years, moving out of inner-city bodegas, where its main audience had been immigrants from the Caribbean and Latin America, and into the realm of hipster chic. With Madonna's seal of approval, it could go mainstream.

The market could be ripe for growth -- no pun intended. Several companies are already promoting coconut water as both a healthy substitute for sports drinks and a trendy mixer for cocktails. Vita Coco has reportedly turned down overtures from both Pepsico (PEP), which already owns two brands of coconut water in Brazil, and Coca-Cola Co. (KO). A rival coconut water brand, Zico, last year sold a minority stake to Coca-Cola, and another brand, O.N.E., signed a distribution agreement with Pepsi.

Lucky Stars? In High-Profile Investments, Not Always

But keep in mind, celebrity investors are not the same thing as investment celebrities. Madonna is nothing like Warren Buffett.

Any number of celebrities have put their money and fame behind various ventures -- U2 frontman Bono co-founded Elevation Partners, a Silicon Valley tech fund, and Bruce WIllis just signed up as an investor in distiller Belvedere SA -- but a having celebrities attached to your business is no guarantee of success. The company has to live and die by its own product.

Remember Planet Hollywood? The chain of restaurants was supposed to take on the Hard Rock Cafe, and it was a natural fit for movie stars like Willis, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone. For a while, it was flying high, and spawned imitators like the Fashion Cafe (models) and the All-Star Cafe (famous jocks). Then it overreached, opened too many restaurants and ended up with a trip to bankruptcy court, followed by a couple of sequels. Star power turned out to be no substitute for prudent management.

The investors apparently learned their lesson -- except perhaps for Arnold, who's trying to bail out California. Willis got a 3.3% stake in Belvedere in exchange for promoting its vodka, and his ex-wife Demi Moore -- another former Planet Hollywood investor -- made a smaller investment in Vita Coco than Madonna. Even stars sometimes have to start small.

The 5 Cleanest (and Dirtiest) U.S. Tap Waters - Infographic

Click Image above to Enlarge...

awesome.good.is —
Even though water comes out of the faucet looking clean and clear, there is a good chance it has some pretty nasty stuff in it. A new study has cataloged all the pollutants and chemicals that appear in our tap water, and they include things like arsenic and fuel additives. This is a look at the five most and least polluted water systems in America

The FACTS about Bottled Water

Presented by Online Education

Clean Water Everywhere: DIY Clay Water Filters

By Jasmin Greene

By Care2 .com

Aaron Lindberg/Getty Images

READ MORE ABOUT:
Do It Yourself | Health | Water

Clean drinking water has always been a major issue in many developing countries, but with the onset of climate change and droughts, this may become a problem for industrialized countries as well. There is a simple solution for clean water: clay. Tony Flynn with the World Vision charity and Potters for Peace have discovered people everywhere can drink clean water with the materials around us.

Tony Flynn, a master potter and scientist, has created a simple to create water purifier out of incredibly simple materials found almost anywhere in the world. The filter is created with clay, organic materials (coffee grinds or rice), water and manure. The straw and rice are mixed in with the clay and water and then fired over some burning manure. The organic materials are burned away during the firing process and create small passages in the filter that allow water, but not pathogens, to pass. This filter effectively removes 96.4-99.8% of E. Coli in water [Source: ANU]. One of these filters can great a liter of drinkable water in only two hours. You can make your own filter by following these steps:

Materials
1. crushed, dry clay
2. organic material(tea leaves, cofffee grounds, or rice hulls)
3. water
4. Cow manure

Instructions
1. Mix in enough water to make a stiff biscuit-like mixture
2. Form a cylindrical pot that has one closed end
3. Dry the pot in the sun
4. Surround the pot with straw and place it in a mound of cow manure
5. Light the straw and then top up the burning manure as required.
6. Filter will be completed in less than an hour.

This invention was purposely not-patented so that everyone could create their own water filters. Other organizations like Engineers Without Borders and Potters for Peace have introduced a similar clay filter designed by Guatemalan chemist Fernando Mazariegos. The filter follows the same idea as the one created by Tony Flynn, but fires the clay inside of a kiln rather than over an open fire and paints the filter with colloidal silver afterwards. The silver helps to remove bacteria and pathogens that traditional clay filters might otherwise miss [Source: Gazette Times].

While clay filters are easy to create and much environmentally friendly, there are some downfalls. One of the major disadvantages is that they can only produce a small amount of water and that if the water is turbid, then the filter needs to be scrubbed after use. This abrasive treatment wears away the ceramic and may even crack the ceramic. Any cracks would allow pathogens to short circuit the filters. Clay filters may be cheap to produce, but if the surface water that they are treating is highly turbid the filters may have a relatively short life [Source: RELFE] and need to be replaced at a very high rate.

Despite these flaws, clay filters are gaining in popularity and countries like Ghana and Cambodia are producing thousands of these for distribution per year. Clean drinking water does not have to a problem in the future if we take precautions not to pollute our water or climate.

How to Go Green: Water

At Care2, we believe that individual actions can collectively make a difference. Whether you start making differences in your home, your community, or across the globe, we are glad to help you on your journey. Join us today! With more than 11 million members, Care2 is the largest online community of people making a difference in healthy and green living, human rights and animal welfare. Join us today!

Australian town bans bottled water

Posted on : 2009-09-26 | Author : dpa
News Category : Environment

Sydney - Bundanoon on Saturday became the first town in Australia, and possibly the world, to ban the sale of bottled water. The 2,500 residents voted in July to stop shops from stocking single-use bottles and switch to retailing bottles that are refillable for free at taps around the town. "As politicians grapple with the issue of climate change, we should never forget that each and every one of us can make a real difference at the very local level," shopowner Huw Kingston told local paper the Southern Highland News. "As was demonstrated by the intense media interest from all around the world, it's extremely heartening that our small town has become an international role model for grassroots action."The tourist town of Bundanoon, 120 kilometres south of Sydney, showed it was fun to be green by putting on a parade and a party for the switchover. It also demonstrated that environmentalism and entrepreneurship can coexist. Collectors were picking up souvenir switchover bottles at 29 Australian dollars (24 US dollars) apiece. The standard refillable bottles retail for the same price as the superseded reusable ones. Jon Dee, head of environmental lobby group Do Something, reckons Bundanoon is the first place in the world to impose a ban. "Huge amounts of resources are used to extract, bottle and transport that bottled water, and much of the packaging ends up as litter or landfill," he said. "Bottled water is a menace and a marketing con that's been visited on Australians by the bottled water industry and what we are trying to do is expose that con for what it is."Environmental group Eco Worldly estimates that the energy required to produce bottled water is 2,000 times that to produce tap water. Kingston assured visitors that they would not be run out of town if they arrived with bottled water. "Nobody is going to get lynched for carrying a bottle of prepackaged water down the main street of Bundanoon," he said. Kingston hatched the Bundy-on-Tap idea after soft drinks company Norlex Holdings applied to pump water out of a local aquifer to supply the bottled water market. The initiative was put to the townsfolk and there were 355 votes in favour of banning the sale of bottled water and only one against.

http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/287312,australian-town-bans-bottled-water.html
© 2009 earthtimes.org. All Rights Reserved.

Spin on the Bottle: Water Packaging Gets Creative

BY Ariel Schwartz

Bottled water companies have been struggling with a backlash against their products because of energy and health concerns, but they're not going away. At least the innovation these days seems to be focused on improving the impact bottled water has on the environment rather than merely in its marketing claims. PepsiCo's Aquafina brand announced the launch yesterday of the Eco-Fina bottle, made with 50% less plastic than normal Aquafina bottles. The new bottle, scheduled to begin shipping in April, will save an estimated 75 million pounds of plastic each year. Aquafina also plans on removing cardboard base pads from 24-packs--a move that will save 20 million pounds of corrugated cardboard each year.

Startups are getting in on the act as well. A company called Boxed Water is Better is producing, as the name implies, boxed water. BWAB ships unfilled recylable containers to the water source in an attempt to keep pollution level low, and it donates 20% of all profits to world water relief and tree reforestation organizations.

Just today, Plant It Water debuted packaging made from over 60% renewable materials. The company also says it will plant a tree for every carton of water sold. (That's maybe not as fun as planting a tree for every vodka bottle sold, but it is easier--and healthier--to make a positive impact with heavy consumption.)

Of course, for the residents of most U.S. cities, drinking clean tap water is still the way to go. But if you have to drink bottled water, better to support the brands making an effort to be more sustainable. Some change is better than no change at all.

[Via Trading Markets]