An interesting thought about bottled water

[Flashy]

from the ever amusing writer greg easterbrook-



Bottled water note: Fiji water really comes from Fiji -- think of the fossil resources used to ship it. Charles Fishman reports in Fast Company magazine that last year Americans drank 28.3 gallons per capita of bottled water, versus 1.6 gallons per capita in 1976. The 2006 figure is an 18-fold increase in three decades, and it works out to 226 16-ounce water bottles per American per year. People buy bottled water in New York City, though its tap water, which comes from upstate reservoirs, tastes delicious and contains no contamination. Fishman pointed out that bottled water is even popular in San Francisco, though San Francisco tap water comes from Yosemite National Park and tastes really good. If San Francisco tap water were sold as Yosemite Water and cost too much, then people would want it!
The bottled water craze began in Europe, where civic water is not as pure as here and often "hard" -- in much of Europe, you're smart to drink bottled water or to use a Brita filter. In America, where most tap water is of high quality and good flavor, bottled water is in many uses just another frill; and it takes substantial amounts of petroleum to manufacture the plastic in the bottles, plus ship bulk water around the country. Imagine telling the 1 billion people worldwide who lack access to clean drinking water that Americans use clear, pure drinking-quality water to wash their cars, then drink from water bottles and throw the bottles away. That last is my feared real explanation for the bottled water craze -- we've become too lazy to fill a glass, drink and return the glass to the kitchen. We want to throw the bottle away.


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[SpeedoGuy]

Frikkin' empty water bottles are amounting everywhere.

 

[vince]

They really import water from Fiji? Good god. I guess it's no worse than Perrier or Evian though. Evian is flat, dead water btw. Here in Turkey I drink tap water and have never been sick from it. My Euro and American friends are horrified at that.
Not all N. American city water is fit to drink. It may not kill you, but some of it tastes like crap. South Florida for example. The water coming out of my parents taps isn't fit to make coffee with. Vancouver use to have wonderful water until the govt. decided it was a health hazard and started treating it. Now it tastes like a swimming pool.
I always drink bottled water when I travel. Even if it's to a place with 100% safe water. I think the small change of flora in the local water causes a big change in the flora in my guts. It's happened to many times that I get the trots from different water, so I just do what I've found works and drink bottled.

 

[Cougar]

All those people used to drink citrus and when the carb/sugar info made people drink less juice they swithed to water.

I carry one of those reusable metal type bottles and fill it from my tap.

I was just thinking if they got rid of the "open container" law, that there would not be so many beer bottles and cans littering the highway. People chuck them out their window so if they get stopped by the cops, they don't have an open container in their vehicle.

I didn't become aware of this till I started drinking heavily when I drove and felt the urge to get rid of all my empties....lol :biggrin1:

 

[D_Ivana Dickenside]

i stay away from water bottles as much as possible. generally, those cases upon cases of water bottles sit in warehouses for months and months and somehow rat feces get all over the containers and taint them. of course people will still buy it cause there's nothing a little wiping can't clean up. gross.

usually i just stick to tap or filter water. it's not a big deal to me. studies show tap is more purified than bottled anyway. plus, what's so hard about using an actual cup? taking the time to wash and rinse it?

the only way i'll drink out of a bottle is if i have no other damn choice, i.e. when i travel or visit places that don't have clean or sanitary drinking water. i always save my bottles and recycle them no matter what.

and i just have to rant about people who drink from water bottles:

RECYCLE YOUR FREAKIN BOTTLES PLEASE!!! YOU'LL EARN A FEW CENTS BACK FOR EVERY BOTTLE YOU RECYCLE. IT'S A GOOD WAY TO EARN EXTRA CASH IN THIS RECESSION, PEOPLE!

ALSO, PLASTIC IS NOT A BIODEGRADABLE MATERIAL AND YOUR BOTTLES ARE TRASHING THE EARTH AND KILLING ANIMALS. IT TAKES 1,000 YEARS FOR ONE PLASTIC BOTTLE TO BREAK DOWN AND DECOMPOSE. IMAGINE WHAT KIND OF HARM MILLIONS OF UNRECYCLED BOTTLES WILL DO.

 

[nudeyorker]

The tap water in Hawaii tastes just like Fiji water. I have a water filter on my tap in NY, and it tastes great. I only drink bottled water when I travel.

 

[EagleCowboy]

I have well water which is better for me than any city tap water or bottled water. I do have a kickass expensive water filter but I don't use it that much. I prefer it straight out of the ground, tasty fresh!!

For those that think global warming is a problem, you are wasting time on that. THIS is the real problem!! I was horrified to learn this recently. We need to focus on this quick!! Stacy is absolutely right and totally on to something. Check this out!!

CDNN :: Plastic Ocean - The Great Pacific Garbage Patch

 

[D_Portelay Porquesword]

I never consume tap water, my kidneys react to something in the water here. It taste bad for one and is very hard.

I stopped consuming bottled water almost a year ago. After doing some research on filtration systems, I found one that suited my needs.

There were too many stories in the news about the chemicals found in plastic containers of water and the effects of those chemicals in the body over time. Especially in men.

I keep chilled water in the fridge using glass bottles. After they are empty, I wash them and use them again. When I am out and about I carry a stainless container with me.

So far, this has worked out very well for me and I have saved a bit of money in the process.

The filtered water is great and has an alkalizing effect in the body.

 

[mitchymo]

I never drink bottled water, it is often as contaminated albeit different chemicals as what tap water might be. I heard it on TV after university students carried out research....they could be wrong but i hate water so don't make much diff to me....lalalalala

 

[DiscoBoy]

I drink tap water passed through a Brita filter. I only drink bottled water if there's no other [potable water] alternative.

 

[MercyfulFate]

I use a Brita filter too, bottled water is such a scam.

 

[rob_just_rob]

I wish I could believe that, but considering how little effort Easterbrook puts into fact-checking, or even basic research, I can't take him seriously anymore.

Dude can't even correctly relate the events of a football game he watched the day before.

 

[EagleCowboy]

Brita filters are about the worst on the market, but still better than nothing. You guys should research into better filters.

 

[D_Ivana Dickenside]

I have well water which is better for me than any city tap water or bottled water. I do have a kickass expensive water filter but I don't use it that much. I prefer it straight out of the ground, tasty fresh!!

For those that think global warming is a problem, you are wasting time on that. THIS is the real problem!! I was horrified to learn this recently. We need to focus on this quick!! Stacy is absolutely right and totally on to something. Check this out!!

CDNN :: Plastic Ocean - The Great Pacific Garbage Patch

thank you! i'm happy there's finally someone who knows what i'm talking about!

great article btw! i read every word of it and i couldn't agree more with what charles moore is doing.

 

[Principessa]

i stay away from water bottles as much as possible. generally, those cases upon cases of water bottles sit in warehouses for months and months and somehow rat feces get all over the containers and taint them. of course people will still buy it cause there's nothing a little wiping can't clean up. gross.

That's true of anything you buy at a supermarket, not just water.

usually i just stick to tap or filter water. it's not a big deal to me. studies show tap is more purified than bottled anyway. plus, what's so hard about using an actual cup? taking the time to wash and rinse it?

I only drink and cook with distilled water. The local tap water has a high sodium count that triggers my Meniere's disease.

the only way i'll drink out of a bottle is if i have no other damn choice, i.e. when i travel or visit places that don't have clean or sanitary drinking water. i always save my bottles and recycle them no matter what.

LOL Sheesh I didn't realize you were such a crunchy granola tree hugger. :lmao:

and i just have to rant about people who drink from water bottles:

RECYCLE YOUR FREAKIN BOTTLES PLEASE!!! YOU'LL EARN A FEW CENTS BACK FOR EVERY BOTTLE YOU RECYCLE. IT'S A GOOD WAY TO EARN EXTRA CASH IN THIS RECESSION, PEOPLE!

FYI - There are only about 7 states that give you back a cash deposit when you return your plastic bottles, glasses, or cans.

ALSO, PLASTIC IS NOT A BIODEGRADABLE MATERIAL AND YOUR BOTTLES ARE TRASHING THE EARTH AND KILLING ANIMALS. IT TAKES 1,000 YEARS FOR ONE PLASTIC BOTTLE TO BREAK DOWN AND DECOMPOSE. IMAGINE WHAT KIND OF HARM MILLIONS OF UNRECYCLED BOTTLES WILL DO.

That is true, a plastic bottle is NOT biodegradable. However, a landfill or garbage dump is an anaerobic environment. That means there is no oxygen. Without oxygen NOTHING biodegrades, not even food.

Brita filters are about the worst on the market, but still better than nothing. You guys should research into better filters.

Brita & Pur filters are the most readily available. Okay Mr. Smarty Pants what filter do you use?

 

[D_Ivana Dickenside]

LOL Sheesh I didn't realize you were such a crunchy granola tree hugger. :lmao:

girl, you know i'm a native californian... just about everything is "green," "eco-friendly," "organic," "free-range," or "compostable" where i come from :biggrin1:

 

[Principessa]

girl, you know i'm a native californian... just about everything is "green," "eco-friendly," "organic," "free-range," or "compostable" where i come from :biggrin1:

Just tell me you don't put alfalfa sprouts on your burgers. To me that is sacrilege. The only green that belongs on a burger is iceberg lettuce and a pickle slice.

 

[EagleCowboy]

Brita & Pur filters are the most readily available. Okay Mr. Smarty Pants what filter do you use?

Hmmm. Seems like somebody has an attitude. Bad day, perhaps?

Just because something is "readily available", does not mean it's any good for you. Pick out any fast food restaurant, because everyone knows that none of them are any good for anyone. Yet they are "readily available". Keep in mind we do have things thing called the internet with a search function and FEDEX to ship it to you making worldwide access just 2 days away. Sometimes "readily available" isn't necessarily a good thing.

You are right in that the Brita pitcher filters and the Pur are readily available, and as I stated above, any filter is better than no filter. If you live in a city with "city water" thinking that's it's safe to drink, think again. Chlorine is a very bad thing. Not to mention Fluoride. And you do absorb these through your skin and lungs. Just those 2 alone are known to cause allergies and skin irritations, damages hair, and other ailments.

Here's the comparisons.
Water Filter Comparisons & Reviews

Do you really want to trust your health to those two particular filters?
I use a home filter system by Aquasana. Plus a distiller added on and a UV treatment. But since I have well water that is incredibly pure anyway, the house filter is on bypass most of the time.

Also, I have since gotten rid of any and all plastic containers as they are literally poisoning us. Bisephenol-A hurts the guys as in reproductive harm, plus many other toxins. And if you heat liquid or food in plastic containers, then the liquid and food has just become toxic as the plastic releases all kinds of horrible toxins into it. Non-stick coating pans do the same thing. Now everything in my kitchen is either, copper, surgical stainless, cast iron, or glass--all made in America.

Just remember this: If you don't have a filter, you ARE the filter.

 

[vince]

Ok, here's what I do for drinking water. I don't always make it, but every two or three weeks, on Saturday or Sunday I drive out of town into the foothills of the Taurus mountains and take my two 20 litre water bottles to a roadside spring and fill them for free.

There are many of these alongside the roads. Sometimes it's just a pipe gushing spring water from a rock, but often it's more elaborate marble construction donated by a local well-to-do family. Some of the older ones have inscriptions telling who donated it and who built it. People just stop and fill their bottles and have a refreshing face wash before continuing on their way. The water is as pure as can be and free.

The place I go to has a little hut and outdoor tables under a thatched roof and the ladies make the most delicious gozleme and huge fat pancakes called bazlama, cooked on a kind of a flattened dome-shaped metal hot plate, set over wood coals. They sit on the ground under a cover and one women mixes the dough and kneeds it into a ball. The next, more senior and older lady, probably the mother-in-law of the first, rolls it out really really thin and adds bits of cheese or potato or spinach. Another sister lays it on the cooker and turns it many times until it's ready and one of the kids delivers it to the eater (me). So the food has this nice bit of smoky flavor and you washed it down with glass after glass of sweet tea. The view is amazing as well. Last month a big herd of goats came down the road and passed right through the place. They had a drink as well and moved on.

Sorry for the diversion of the topic, but I love living here.

 

[D_Portelay Porquesword]

I have used this water filtration system, PI Mag from Nikken for about 7 months now and it works great. There are videos on YouTube of soda being filtered into drinking water using this system.

The initial costs was a bit pricey. Considering the fact that my household goes through at least 3 - 4 gallons of water a week (sometimes more during hot weather) plus the filters get replaced once a year. Overall, this systems has been a good investment for me.