Movies, Books, Politicians the Water Bottle is Under Siege
Bring a plastic water bottle to your own demise; the tide of public perspective is turning against you. From big rating documentaries, to books and political campaigns, the hot debate in our lives is the terror of bottled water and the waste of resources the industry pumps out.
The producing, transporting and removal of water in petrochemical plastic bottles demands large amounts of water along with energy, and pumps out tremendous quantities 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 team behind Tapped are publicizing the movie with their across-America roadshow, asking donations from donors to lower their water bottle numbers and swapping their used plastic water bottle in exchange 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 short animated film shows the methodology that is used to convincing Americans into wasting at least five hundred million bottles of water a week, despite the option of a few cents cost for a drink from the tap. Check out this new short film on You Tube.
In her book ‘Bottlemania’, author Elizabeth Royte explores one of the biggest marketing cons of our century and demands a strong environmental alarm. She explores the problems we must at some point understand. Who owns the drinking water? What can happen when a bottled-water company stakes a claim on your town’s source? Is the water that comes out of a tap wholly safe? What is really the environmental factor of making, transportation and disposing of one plastic water bottle?
Politicians from everywhere around the globe are beginning to understand that they are required to do something – particularly when the buildings where they work are high consumers of bottled water. How often do we witness a politician in a meeting drinking from a water bottle. It is probable that they might locate 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 society in Australia to prevent the retail of bottled water. Around 60 townships in the American states and a few towns in Canada and the UK have lately banned expending taxpayer money on bottled water.
It is doubtless that these issues will be on the agenda come World Water Week 2010 from September 5 to 11 in Stockholm, Sweden, the annual meeting for the environment’s most time-sensitive water-related problems.
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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