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When the Patriots Path Council called to invite Back2Tap to their Jamboree celebrating 100 years of Boy Scouts, I didn’t really know what to expect. Preparing for the “jambo,” I began to wonder whether any boys would visit a table presenting the evils of bottled water when they could be spear throwing, mountain boarding, bullwhip cracking, or watching an army tank run over a car.
In spite of having about 175 cool activities to choose from, a couple hundred of the 4300 scouts and leaders did find time to spend at the Back2Tap table this past Saturday. Every single boy and leader listened intently, asked questions, and seemed genuinely excited about our campaign for getting back to drinking tap water and using reusable bottles. This was definitely the best crowd I’ve ever worked with as an exhibitor. I also learned a lot – from the challenges of having private well water to the best type of carabiner.
Interestingly, even these outdoorsy community-minded folks who had reusable bottles clipped to their belts weren’t familiar with the astounding facts about bottled water waste. Many of them told us that if people knew about the:
• 140 million disposable bottles going to landfills everyday,
• 700 years it takes for plastic to decompose,
• 4 ounces of oil it takes to make each disposable bottle,
• 1000 times greater cost of bottled water, and
• more stringent regulatory oversight of tap water compared to bottled water,
they would be persuaded to drink tap water from reusable bottles instead of bottled water. Most people just don’t know about the hidden costs of their consumer choices. To illustrate these impacts, we had a sequencing activity where scouts put the 18 steps in the Life Cycle of a Disposable Plastic Water Bottle in order (see photo). Impacts on the environment were obvious at many steps in the Life Cycle. Before leaving, they were also able to take our Bottled Water IQ Test to see how much they had learned.
Obviously, there is a lot more work to do getting these facts and concepts out to people. Most of the scouts and scout leaders left our exhibit table eager to spread the Back2Tap message with the rest of their troop and with their communities. This is exactly the type of help the Back2Tap movement needs because it is not a message that large multi-national corporations with large advertising budgets is going to sponsor. It will take community leaders like scouts, teachers, PTO members, municipal volunteers, and green activists spreading the word, community by community. To find out how to help foster the Back2Tap movement, visit our community page.
Congratulations to the Patriots Path Council and the participating scout troops for organizing such an exciting and inspiring event. It was an honor to meet and talk with so many of you – thank you for sharing your opinions and suggestions with Back2Tap.
Being in the business of selling reusable bottles and recommending tap water, I cringe when I hear news stories about unwanted chemicals like atrazine in our public drinking water supplies. Firstly, I worry about the possible long term health effects on people and critters. Secondly, I worry that these stories will drive people to give up on our public water systems and increasingly rely on bottled water. Elizabeth Royte, author of “Bottlemania” has responded to the latest barrage of bad news about tap water in her article entitled: Every Story about Chemicals in Drinking Water is a Gift to the Bottled Water Industry. I couldn’t agree more.
In a nutshell, bottled water is not a viable alternative to public water systems, nor is it necessarily any safer! If you aren’t familiar with the gross inefficiency and wastefulness of bottled water compared to tap water, please watch our Back2Tap video to learn about the life cycle of a bottle of water.
What we need is continual improvement of our current public water systems. So don’t give up on tap water – encourage the EPA to update drinking water regulations based upon up-to-date independently-financed scientific research. We do need to be sure that our public water supplies are protective of health. Support investment to improve our public water systems. In the long run, it’ll cost us all a lot less than buying our drinking water in bottles. In the meantime, if you live in an agricultural area, you might want to seriously consider filtering your tap water at home during the growing season.
How about kicking off a Back2Tap campaign for your school’s Earth Day celebration on April 22! This movement against the ridiculous wastefulness of bottled water, is gaining momentum in schools across the country. Once students are made aware of the problem, it is easy for them to take action by drinking tap water from a reusable bottle and making their own drinks using concentrated drink mixes with tap water. These very simple steps toward sustainability are easy for students to comprehend and feel good about.
Back2Tap offers free downloadable educational resources, including a fun 9 minute video about the wastefulness of bottled water and everything you need to know about tap water, suitable for ages K-8, but guaranteed to be enlightening to high school students and adults, too. Classroom activities include making a bottle tower out of discarded disposable plastic water bottles, conducting a drinking container survey, collecting and categorizing waste for a day, and more. These resources will raise students’ environmental awareness and their understanding of sustainability and are well suited for either an Earth Day assembly or for classroom activities.
The educational program can be followed up by our green fundraising campaign. Back2Tap partners with a representative from a PTO/PTA, Boosters, faculty, or student group to sell high quality reusable stainless steel bottles with custom logos to members of the school community. Do something good for the planet and for your budget with our Back2Tap campaign! To learn more, please visit http://www.back2tap.com/fundraising2.html.
