Movies, Books, Politicians the Water Bottle is Under Siege
Carry a plastic water bottle to your own demise; the pressure of public perspective is forming on you. From big rating documentaries, to articles and campaigns, the red hot topic in town is the horror of bottled water and the waste the industry creates.
The processing, transportation and waste of water in petrochemical plastic bottles eats up large amounts of water and energy, and creates ridiculous amounts of greenhouse gases and waste.
Director of the upcoming documentary ‘Tapped: get off the bottle’ Stephanie Soechtig says “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 behind Tapped are plugging the show with their across-America roadshow, asking pledges from Americans to lower their water bottle numbers and changing their used plastic water bottle in exchange for a reusable stainless steel bottle. Download Tapped from Amazon or iTunes.
Another short film ‘The Story of Bottled Water’ was released on World Water Day in March. From Annie Leonard of the acclaimed ‘The Story of Stuff’, this film explores the process that is used to conning Americans into wasting over 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 new film on You Tube.
Through her book ‘Bottlemania’, author Elizabeth Royte demonstrates one of the greatest marketing takeovers of our century and gives a sudden environmental alarm. She details the questions we must inevitably answer to. Who has ownership of the water distribution? What happens when a bottled-water company stakes a claim on your town’s drinking water? Is the water that comes out of a tap absolutely safe? What really is the environmental price of making, transportation and waste of a plastic water bottle?
Politicians from around the international community are acknowledging that they have to do something – especially when the buildings in which they collate are high consumers of bottled water. How often do we witness a politician at a debate sipping from a water bottle. They might be able to drink from a water glass in Parliament House.
Leslie Samuelrich of Corporate Accountability International, claimed “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 place from Australia to stop the selling of bottled water. About 60 places in the American states and a few towns in Canada and the UK have recently stopped the expenditure of taxpayer dollars on bottled water.
No doubt 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 current water-related issues.
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.