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- A soccer player with one of our bottles
Did you know that Americans each drank an average of 218 bottles of water in 2007? bottles – 66 billion, in fact! Only 23% of them are recycled so on a daily basis, a staggering 140 million disposable plastic bottles go to landfills in the USA. That’s enough, laid end to end, to reach from New Jersey to China and back every day.
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- A soccer player with one of our bottles
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- bottled water bottles laid end to end from Xhina to the US
It doesn’t take an engineering degree to understand that this is a problem. It is extremely wasteful. To begin with, finite natural resources like water and oil are being consumed in the manufacturing of bottled water. It takes 4 ounces of oil and 51 ounces of water to make one 17 ounce bottle of water! Then after their use, 50 billion disposable plastic water bottles are dumped in landfills each year where they will take over 700 years to decompose.
There is a simple solution to this problem. Drink tap water instead of bottled water and use a reusable bottle when you are on-the-go. Even if you filter and flavor your tap water, you will save money because bottled water is 1000 times more expensive than tap water. There are many reusable bottles on the market today. For a high performance, high quality water bottle, try a stainless steel bottle from Back2Tap.
OK, I haven’t seen the movie “The Age of Stupid” yet, and from the looks of it, it won’t be easy to find it in a theatre nearby for quite a while, if ever. There are so many interesting eco-films out there that never come to a theatre near me. What’s up with that? In this day and age, it seems downright ridiculous and wrong to drive 45 minutes on a highway to see a movie, especially a green flick!
I’ve read three reviews of this movie so far this week: one says it’s overboard gloomy, one says it’s a wake up call, and one reports that it has already inspired a huge greenhouse gas reduction campaign in Great Britain called 10:10 (reduce emissions by 10% by 2010 – that would be in a few months!).
As a co-founder of Back2Tap, I figure I’ve got to see “The Age of Stupid” because it rails on people who think they are green simply because they recycle their disposable plastic bottles. The movie makes the point that it isn’t going to be as simple as recycling more or buying organic. We’re going to have to “reinvent” the way we live in order to avoid catastrophic climate change.
Thankfully, there is one lifestyle change we can all make without much effort – the way we drink water and use disposable plastic bottles. Tap water takes 800 times less energy to deliver than bottled water according to “The Age of Stupid.” We can all drink tap water from reusable bottles instead of bottled water and significantly reduce our waste of resources and carbon footprint. That is the primary message Back2Tap shares with schools, groups, and anyone who will listen. Join our Reusolution!
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?
I remember squirming when my favorite manager at Shell quiped one day: there are two things you don’t want to see being made: your car and your hot dog. I would now add to that, your bottled water. As it stands, the regulations for bottled water are weaker than for tap water. This is news to most people who just assume bottled water is better than tap due to a decades long bottled water marketing blitz. According to the July 8, 2009 Wall Street Journal article by Jane Zhang: “…by December, bottlers must eliminate E.coli in their products.” Bottoms up!
Currently, if bottling companies find contamination, they do not have to report it, whereas municipal water suppliers are required by the EPA to report contaminants within 24 hours according to Zhang. Bottling companies should also be required to put more information on their labels. It seems, Congress is on it. Stricter regulations for bottled water are being discussed on Capitol Hill. It’s about time they do something to better regulate this $11.2 billion industry.
Personally, I’ll be disappointed if bottled water is held to the same high quality standard as tap water. The poor regulation of bottled water makes a very compelling argument for my business, Back2Tap. If this new legislation comes to pass, we’ll merely have the staggering waste and unhealthy plastic arguments to convince people to forego bottled water…
How does the fact that 100 million disposable plastic bottles are thrown in landfills every day in the USA sound? How about the fact that plastic takes more than 700 years to decompose? How about the 4 ounces of petroleum used and 120 grams of CO2 generated in the manufacturing of each bottle of water? How about the unknown health effects of plastic components leaching from the bottle into the water when it is stored under warm conditions? On second thought, I guess we still may still be able to convince some people to kick the bottled water habit, even if there’s not supposed to be any more E.coli in it after December.
What type of water filtration system should I install in my kitchen? This is a question I am asked more and more frequently as people decide to ditch bottled water and get Back2Tap. There are many choices. First, you have to decide how much money you want to spend – you can improve the taste of your tap water for free or you can buy a filter system for $15 up to more than $500.
The cheapest method of improving tap water taste is simple and free: fill a pitcher with tap water and let it sit uncovered for 24 hours. The chlorine will dissipate and the water will taste better. The next most economical option is a $15-25 filter pitcher. There is an added cost of $8 for every 30 gallons for replacement filters.
Personally, I’m the $50 faucet-mounted filter type. It’s easy to install, convenient to use, and not very expensive. I use a PUR faucet-mounted filter for my kitchen sink because it has a three-stage filter that we were able to install ourselves within minutes – no plumber needed. It improves taste by removing chlorine, which is our primary goal. I’m not concerned about the quality of water coming from my water company, but I admit that it is nice to know that the filter also removes lead, microbes, some organics and other unwanted constituents. In order for the system to be effective, the filter has to be changed regularly ($20 to filter 100 gallons), about every two to three months. Mine has an indicator light that alerts you when the filter should be changed.
If you can afford to make a larger investment, a more thorough and reliable filtration system would be an under-the-sink system. It could be a three-stage system or a reverse osmosis system. These would cost between $150 and $500 and would require a plumber for installation. I do not have first hand experience with either of these although I have read that reverse osmosis is the best choice if you want to remove pharmaceuticals and just about everything else. One criticism I have read, is that reverse osmosis takes all the minerals out of the water, many of which are good for your health. Remember, people originally sought out spring water precisely for its mineral content and associated health benefits.
You can visit this helpful website that compares 10 of the leading water filter options and offers some cautionary advice for your filter search. I hope it will help you decide which model will meet your needs best: http://www.waterfiltercomparisons.com/water_filter_comparison.php .
Happy filtering!
The trustees of the London School Board are considering banning bottled water from vending machines in their school district. During their deliberations, they raised valid points about the importance of offering and implementing solutions before “banning” bottled water. First, they need to ensure that there are enough working water fountains or water coolers. In the wake of the bottled water epidemic, many fountains have not been properly maintained. The students need to be educated so they understand that switching to another drink in a single serving disposable plastic bottle is not a suitable alternative for the planet or for their health. Lastly, reusable bottles should be made available to the students to make it easy for them to bring tap water or other drinks from home and to refill their bottles with tap water at school.
This Back2Tap movement is a win-win for the planet and for people’s wallets. To read more about how one company is encouraging schools across the United States to get Back2Tap and to raise money in the process, visit http://www.back2tap.com/.
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!
To be perfectly honest, giving up bottled water was a no-brainer for me because I was always too frugal, practical, and lazy to bother with it. I never enjoyed spending money for plain water, hauling pallets of it home, storing it (where?), and having to recycle the empty bottles. It made so much more sense to just drink tap water. The other thing is, I drink mostly seltzer water, and much to the shock of my friends and family who think of me as a very health- and eco-conscious person, an occasional diet cola. I have to admit I guiltily kept buying these products long after I swore off regular bottled water because I didn’t know there was any option other than abstinence.
My husband came to the rescue and gave me a Soda Club seltzer and soda maker on Christmas in 2007. I was skeptical at first. Would the water be fizzy enough? Would it cost more? How much space would it take up? How would we get replacement CO2 tanks? What are the plastic bottles made of?
It is a fabulous machine. The selzer is as fizzy as you choose to make it, it saves us around $250/year, it takes up about the same amount of space as a blender, the CO2 tanks are picked up and delivered from our front steps free of charge (in groups of three), and the reusable bottles are made of a safe, BPA-free plastic.
I don’t miss hauling 7 two-liter bottles home from the grocery store each week. Beyond convenience and economy, our eco-footprint has been reduced, too. By eliminating 365 disposable plastic seltzer bottles, I estimate that we are saving 50 gallons of oil, 400 gallons of water, and 200 pounds of greenhouse gases each year.
Since seeing the movie FLOW (see my December 4, 2008 post), I haven’t been as keen to drink commercial sodas, on principal. I can’t stomach contributing to their profits. Thankfully, the Soda Club machine can make an array of regular and diet sodas for those days I need an extra treat. It’s a big hit with kids, too.
Ever wonder what happens to all the plastic bottles we use? A surprisingly small percentage of disposable plastic bottles are recycled – only 23%. The other 77% go to landfills.
Due to the complexity of reprocessing plastic, bottles collected for recycling are typically “downcycled” – that is, made into something of lesser value. Instead of being made into new drink containers, most are used for carpet backing, clothing, etc. The economics of this process are challenging in the best of times. It is cheaper to use virgin material – oil – than to use recycled plastic.
Given our current economic downturn, the economics of recycling plastic have gotten even worse. Prices for recycled materials have plummeted as demand from China and everywhere has dropped. According to a recent New York Times article, “Back at Junk Value, Recyclables Are Piling Up” recycled materials are accumulating by the ton and if things don’t change they may be heading for landfills instead of a second life.
Time to reuse, not recycle!
The facts about bottled water usage and waste are staggering. In 2006, Americans drank an average of 167 bottles of water each for a total of 50 billion bottles or $15 billion spent. Of that total, only 23% was recycled. Roughly 38 billion disposable plastic water bottles end up in U.S. landfills each year – 100 million every day! That’s enough, laid end to end, to reach China and back each day.
It’s not just that they are filling up our landfills – it’s also the waste of resources. The amount of oil we use to produce water bottles, 17 million barrels, could fuel over 1,000,000 cars for an entire year. Picture a disposable water bottle 1/4 full with petroleum. That is how much oil it takes to make and distribute a single plastic bottle of water. One bottle also requires at least three bottles of water to make and distribute and generates about 120 grams of greenhouse gases – enough to fill 12 balloons.
Can we really afford to continue wasting our limited resources this way? There is an easy solution – drink tap water from a reusable bottle!
