Movies, Books, Politicians the Water Bottle is Under Siege

April 26th, 2010

Carry a plastic water bottle at your own peril; the pressure of social opinion is coming back down on you. From top rating documentaries, to articles and politics, the red hot topic on the soapbox is the terror of bottled water and the waste that the industry pumps out.

The production, transportation and removal of water in petrochemical plastic bottles consumes large amounts of water alongside energy, and creates huge quantities of greenhouse gases and waste.

Director of the upcoming documentary ‘Tapped: get off the bottle’ Stephanie Soechtig states “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 crew of Tapped are promoting the movie with their across-America roadshow, collecting money from citizens to lower their water bottle use and changing their used plastic water bottle in exchange for a reusable stainless steel bottle. Download Tapped from Amazon or iTunes.

A short film ‘The Story of Bottled Water’ was released on World Water Day in March. From Annie Leonard of the critically acclaimed ‘The Story of Stuff’, this film shows the process that amounts to tricking Americans into wasting at least hundreds of millions of bottles of water each and every week, despite the option of a few cents cost for tapwater. See this documentary on You Tube.

In her book ‘Bottlemania’, investigator Elizabeth Royte explores one of the biggest marketing cons of the last century and provides a sudden environmental alarm bell. She details the situations we must eventually deal with. Who appropriates our drinking water? What will happen when a bottled-water corporation stakes a claim on your town’s water supply? Is the water coming from a tap wholly safe? What is the environmental footprint of making, transportation and disposal of one plastic water bottle?

Politicians from everywhere around the world are beginning to realise that they need to take responsibility – particularly when the institutions at which they work are huge consumers of bottled water. How often do we view a politician in a political debate drinking from a water bottle. Surely they can drink from a water glass in Parliament House.

Leslie Samuelrich of Corporate Accountability International, told “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 from Australia to cease the retailing of bottled water. About 60 towns in the US and some in Canada and the UK have now ceased spending taxpayer money on bottled water.

It is doubtless that this issue will be discussed in World Water Week 2010 from September 5 to 11 in Stockholm, Sweden, the annual meeting for the world’s most urgent water-related events.

Article written by Tracey Bailey, founder of Biome Eco Stores.

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Water Bottles Need to be Clean to be Safe: How to Clean Your Water Bottle

February 22nd, 2010

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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