Movies, Books, Politicians the Water Bottle is Under Siege
Carry a plastic water bottle to your own peril; the sway of popular belief is turning against you. From top rating documentaries, to books and political debate, the hottest debate in town is the problem around bottled water and the waste the industry demonstrates.
The production, moving and disposal of water in petrochemical plastic bottles eats up tremendous waste of water along with energy, and creates tremendous measures of greenhouse gases and waste.
Director of the new 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 people behind Tapped are publicizing the show with their across-America roadshow, asking money from donors to take down their water bottle abuse and changing their old plastic water bottle in exchange for a reusable stainless steel bottle. Download Tapped from Amazon or iTunes.
A short film ‘The Story of Bottled Water’ was released on World Water Day in March. By Annie Leonard of the famous ‘The Story of Stuff’, this short animation delves into the strategy that amounts to conning Americans into purchasing at least five hundred million bottles of water each week, compared with a few cents cost for tapwater. Check out her short film on You Tube.
In her book ‘Bottlemania’, writer Elizabeth Royte explores one of the biggest marketing takeovers of this century and gives a sudden environmental wakeup call. She details the situations we must inevitably understand. Who has ownership of the drinking water? What will happen when a bottled-water business seizes your town’s source? Is the water coming from your tap absolutely safe? What is the environmental footprint of production, transporting and waste of a plastic water bottle?
Politicians from all around the international community are beginning to realise that they need to start the campaign – particularly when the buildings at which they debate are high consumers of bottled water. How often do we view a politician at a press conference drinking from a water bottle. They can drink from 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 around Australia to prevent the retailing of bottled water. Around 60 places in the US and a few towns in Canada and the United Kingdom have now banned spending taxpayer holdings on bottled water.
Surely this issue will be on the agenda in World Water Week 2010 from September 5 to 11 in Stockholm, Sweden, the annual meeting for the planet’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.
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