Movies, Books, Politicians the Water Bottle is Under Siege
Take a plastic water bottle to your own demise; the sway of public opinion is coming back down away from you. From high rating documentaries, to papers and political campaigns, the biggest news in our lives is the menace that is bottled water and the waste of resources the industry forces.
The processing, transporting and disposal of water in petrochemical plastic bottles demands huge amounts of water as well as energy, and produces large quantities of greenhouse gases and waste.
Director of the recent documentary ‘Tapped: get off the bottle’ Stephanie Soechtig claims “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 team of Tapped are publicizing the film with an across-America roadshow, collecting pledges from Americans to reduce their water bottle use and taking their used plastic water bottle for a reusable stainless steel bottle. Download Tapped from Amazon or iTunes.
A similar film ‘The Story of Bottled Water’ was released on World Water Day in March. Created by Annie Leonard of the famous ‘The Story of Stuff’, this film displays the method that goes into conning Americans into purchasing at least five hundred million bottles of water each and every week, as opposed to a few cents cost for a drink from the tap. See this film on You Tube.
Through her book ‘Bottlemania’, writer Elizabeth Royte demonstrates one of the most massive marketing tricks of the twentieth century and demands a super environmental wakeup call. She explores the questions we must at some point understand. Who has ownership of the water supply? What could happen when a bottled-water company possesses your town’s source? Is the water coming from a tap completely safe? What is really the environmental price of making, transporting and disposing of a plastic water bottle?
Politicians all around the globe are beginning to realise that they must take responsibility for action – particularly when the meetings in which they debate are major consumers of bottled water. How often do we see a politician in a debate sipping from a water bottle. It is probable that they might be able to use a water glass in Parliament House.
Leslie Samuelrich of Corporate Accountability International, stated “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 society around Australia to ban the retailing of bottled water. Some 60 towns in the States and a few in Canada and the UK have at this point prevented the expenditure of taxpayer funds on bottled water.
It is doubtless that this problem will be on the agenda in World Water Week 2010 from September 5 to 11 in Stockholm, Sweden, the annual meeting for the world’s most time-sensitive water-related events.
Article written by Tracey Bailey, founder of Biome Eco Stores.
Sphere: Related ContentWater 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.
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