Movies, Books, Politicians the Water Bottle is Under Siege
Carry a plastic water bottle at your own hazard; the sway of popular view is forming against you. From popular rating documentaries, to papers and political debate, the biggest debate in town is the menace that is bottled water and the waste that the industry demonstrates.
The producing, transporting and removal of water in petrochemical plastic bottles consumes tremendous quantities of water and energy, and produces large measures of greenhouse gases and waste.
Director of the new documentary ‘Tapped: get off the bottle’ Stephanie Soechtig sums it up “1500 water bottles end up in landfill every second – that’s 30 million water bottles a day! We wanted to show people just how much waste is generated by bottled water.” The people behind Tapped are promoting the documentary with their across-America roadshow, taking donations from citizens to reduce their water bottle numbers and swapping their discarded plastic water bottle in exchange for a reusable stainless steel bottle. Download Tapped from Amazon or iTunes.
Another such film ‘The Story of Bottled Water’ was released on World Water Day in March. From Annie Leonard of the well-received ‘The Story of Stuff’, this animation displays the process that is behind swaying Americans into buying more than half a billion bottles of water each and every week, instead of a few cents cost for clean tap water. Look up her documentary on You Tube.
In her book ‘Bottlemania’, author Elizabeth Royte demonstrates one of the greatest marketing tricks of this century and demands a sudden environmental alarm bell. She asks the problems we must inevitably respond to. Who has ownership of the water supply? What happens when a bottled-water business seizes your town’s source? Is the water coming out of your tap completely safe? What is the environmental price of production, transportation and disposing of a plastic water bottle?
Politicians from all around the world are beginning to understand that they must take responsibility – especially when the meetings where they serve are high consumers of bottled water. How often do we witness a politician at a government function sipping from a water bottle. Surely they should be able to use a water glass in Parliament House.
Leslie Samuelrich of Corporate Accountability International, said “Cities and states are spending hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars on bottled water, and that’s not to mention what’s spent to deal with all the plastic bottles that are thrown out.”
In July 2009, the NSW rural town of Bundanoon became the first group in Australia to stop the sale of bottled water. About 60 towns in the US and some places in Canada and the United Kingdom have recently ceased the spending of taxpayer money on bottled water.
It is certain that these issues will be discussed in World Water Week 2010 from September 5 to 11 in Stockholm, Sweden, the annual meeting for the world’s most urgent water-related events.
Article written by Tracey Bailey, founder of Biome Eco Stores.
Water Bottles Need to be Clean to be Safe: How to Clean Your Water Bottle
You are doing the right thing for the planet by filling up at home and carrying a reusable water bottle and you’ve chosen a safe, non-toxic bottle-but if it’s not kept clean then it may not be healthy.
Whether your drink bottle is a stainless steel bottle, SIGG bottle or a BPA free plastic water bottle, it is important to stop mould and other deposits forming in the bottle.
Wash your drink bottles with warm, soapy water at the end of every day and let the bottle air dry upside down with the top off every day where possible.
Should any mineral deposits or lime scale form inside, fill your clean water bottle with Distilled White Vinegar and let it soak for 24 hours. Then rinse with warm water mixed with one tablespoon of bicarbonate of soda (baking soda), rinse out and let dry. Spots inside the bottle that look like “corrosion” are most likely a mineral deposit.
Fill your bottle with filtered water wherever possible. It tastes so much better, but also because water contains different minerals in every area this may affect what happens inside your bottle.
Do not allow liquids such as fruit juice to ferment inside the bottle.
With all reusable water bottles you can also try SIGG cleaning tablets and a specially-designed SIGG bottle cleaning brush, or simply a baby bottle brush. Only ever use a soft brush on aluminium bottles with lining like SIGG so as not to damage the lining. Stainless steel water bottles like Klean Kanteen and Nathan can handle a hard brush.
While all bottles are technically dishwasher-safe, it is recommended to not put them in a dishwasher. Most dishwasher powders are caustic, so they will eat into the metal of your bottle and damage the exterior pattern. Bottle tops should also not be put in the dishwasher because extreme heat expands and deteriorates the plastic.
Never freeze metal bottles as metal can split even with only a little water inside. Water does not always expand in a predictable direction! Freezing plastic water bottles is also not advisable because it may cause the plastic to breakdown and toxins to leach. It is fine to place your bottle in the refrigerator.
Tips on cleaning your water bottle brought to you by Biome Eco Stores Australia.