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Many consumers feel that the price of bottled water is worth the convenience that the bottles provide. The fact of the matter is that the price of a single 18 ounce bottle of water is enough to buy 100 gallons of tap water. That takes care of the price factor. In an effort to counteract the convenience factor of bottled water, Back2Tap offers customizable and reusable stainless steel water bottles. With the price and convenience factors of bottled water now in perspective, you do the math… Is bottled water really as convenient as it used to seem?
Oil consumption is one of the main concerns of the environmental “Green” movement. It is a valuable and finite natural resource. Over the course of one year, 17 million barrels of oil are wasted in the production of plastic water bottles. That same amount of oil could be used for much more necessary and productive reasons. For example, the oil used for one year of water bottle production could be used to fuel 1,000,000 cars for that same year. By utilizing Back2Tap’s reusable stainless steel water bottles, we can do our part to help conserve our oil supply for future generations.
The consumption of oil releases carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas, into Earth’s atmosphere and contributes to global warming. Power plants, cars, buildings, and factories release immense amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Driving a hybrid vehicle in one way to reduce both fuel consumption and harmful emissions. Surprisingly, water bottle production plants produce and release 2.5 million tons of unnecessary carbon dioxide into Earth’s atmosphere every year. By using reusable stainless steel water bottles from Back2Tap, we can do our part to reduce the rate of global warming. These stainless steel water bottles serve the same environmental purpose as hybrid vehicles. They help to reduce the amount of oil consumed and the amount of harmful emissions released into the atmosphere.
Brian Lehrer of WNYC has been asking his listeners to share stories about uncommon economic indicators so I’ve been on the lookout for them in my daily life.
The most unusual and telling Super Bowl commercial this year was the Avon recruiting commercial. Trolling for door to door household product salespeople during the Super Bowl? Avon must figure there are a lot of people (men and women) looking for extra income or a job they can’t get laid off from to justify paying 1 million dollars for that 30 second spot.
I’ve noticed people brown bagging it more often. I used to eat lunch with my book group at a restaurant on Fridays. Now, most of us can’t meet because we are working and don’t feel that we can break for a lunch that could take, well usually takes, more than an hour. On special occasions when we do get together, we meet at someone’s house with our brown bag lunches instead of at a restaurant.
There’s also the increased popularity of reusable bottles and the expanded concentrated drink mix section at the super market. People are bringing tap water in reusable containers to school and work as well as on road trips, errands, and when they exercise. They are also mixing their own drinks at home. This may be primarily driven by people’s concern for the planet, but I think it is also driven by an economic reality – tap water is far cheaper than bottled water and mixing your own drink is cheaper than buying it already prepared.
Please feel free to share your own “uncommon economic indicators” especially if they cross over to “eco-consciousness”. Visit our website to learn more about our stainless steel reusable bottles or about running a Back2Tap reusable bottle fundraiser: Back2Tap.
As frugal as I am, I do not refill disposable plastic bottles. On rare occasions when I found myself stuck buying a bottle of water, I used to save the empty plastic bottle and reuse it. Not anymore. When I was researching reusable bottles last fall, I came across a Canadian study that had tested water bottles in a school and found that 13% had bacteria levels exceeding drinking water guidelines by the end of the school day. Worse than that, approximately 9% were found to have fecal coliforms. Ugh! Apparently, the children hadn’t washed their hands well before opening and closing the bottles. Even if hands are clean, there are bacteria in your mouth that will get into your drink. After sitting at room temperature all day on their desks, the bacteria had multiplied and the bottled water wasn’t too clean.
With all these germs, it is important to be able to get a bottle clean before reusing it. Disposable plastic bottles are made out of polyethylene terephthalate, PET or PETE for short. There will be a #1 in the plastic resin code triangle on the bottom. They are manufactured for a single use – the plastic is very thin and easily damaged so they are not designed to withstand washing or multiple uses. Getting them clean is also difficult because the top opening is very narrow. They never really get dry.
So recycle that disposable plastic bottle if you have to use one, or better yet, get yourself a reusable bottle like a stainless steel bottle with a wide-opening for easy cleaning!
Over the last decade, I’ve been feeling more and more out of step with my fellow suburbanites. I recently came to the regretful conclusion that I am seriously “old fashioned”. This was not an easy admission since I’m still in my 40s and working hard to stay as fit and mentally capable as I was in my 20s. Flashbacks brought me to my grandmother’s kitchen where there were all kinds of weird things on her drying rack and in bowls by her sink that she intended to reuse or compost. Uh oh, why do I have three plastic baggies on my drying rack and a jar full of rotting fruit and vegetable peels by my sink right now? Am I becoming, not my mother, but my grandmother?
Imagine my relief when I heard Slate writer, Farhad Manjoo, interviewed about the new frugality movement on NPR earlier this week. That’s me, I realized! I’m not “old fashioned” after all – I’m into frugality. I couldn’t wait to get back home and check out the Slate article and its links to frugality groups. I wasn’t surprised to read that frugality is different than being cheap or economical. It is a more deeply held conviction that we can live smarter, less wasteful lives. So, I can continue washing all my reusable bottles and plastic bags, drinking tap water, saving scraps, and using reusable bags at stores proudly now that I know I’m part of a new movement, even if it’s all about getting back to the smart ways of the “olden” days.
