Bottled Water bad for the environment

[RecycleMichael]

I am trying to invent dehydrated water.

You could store that in a better environmental container.

[pmcalk]

Like Artist, I occasionally buy water when I am thirsty, and its the only thing available.  Maybe I am just getting old, but I recall there used to be more public drinking fountains around (and they usually worked).  Now days, I find them very rarely. I've been told by other mothers that they don't allow their kids to drink from public water fountains.  Guess I am just a bad mom who puts here kids at risk by (gasp) drinking from a water fountain.

[Steve]

quote:Originally posted by recyclemichael

I am trying to invent dehydrated water.

You could store that in a better environmental container.

Great idea.  Just add water, stir, and voila!  Instant water!  I am sure you would make millions.

I think bottled water is the epitome of a rip-off.  I can count on one hand the number of times I have bought a bottle of water in my 50 years, and each time was at a club/bar when I had no other choice for water. (Either that or go drink out of the dirty bathroom faucet.)

I do have a PUR filter on my kitchen faucet, but only use it for filling the ice trays and when Tulsa water has odor problems (not in a long time).  One filter cartridge lasts me nearly a full year.

[AMP]

Are not the majority of all bottled beverages in similar plastic bottles as the bottled water?  

Why pick on the bottled water alone?

[RecycleMichael]

quote:Originally posted by AMP

Are not the majority of all bottled beverages in similar plastic bottles as the bottled water?  
Why pick on the bottled water alone?

Yes. I estimate that we have about twice as many soda bottles in our trash as water bottles.

You have a valid point when talking about selective spotlight on one item. There are some differences...

Soda packaging has not changed dramatically in the last few years. Bottled water has gone from almost no sales to now a third of mobile packaged beverages in one decade. There is almost no make it yourself soda choices while water is found in every home. Soda also has many choices including fountain and aluminum.

Interesting fact...about half of Americans recycle, but almost 60% of aluminum cans are recycled. Either recyclers drink more than others or somebody like janitors and the homeless are doing the difference.

You are right that I am probably unfairly picking on one segment. I am doing it because the big messages are being ignored. It is a way to talk while getting attention. I realized this a few years ago when we were seeing the anti-litter messages totally ignored. I have spent three and a half decades saying don't litter and nobody listened.

A few years ago, we ran a anti-litter campaign that just focused on one item in litter, cigarette butts. (I called the campaign "nobody wants to see your butt".)

We weren't against smoking, we were against dropping the remains on the ground. But suddenly, we got some good free media and attention to the messages.

I promise to try the same approach with soda and other items in the waste stream toward a goal of zero waste.

[pmcalk]

I am sure that RM will correct me if I am wrong, but I have heard that aluminum is the most easily, cost efficient material to recycle. You can recycle 100% of it, and it can be recycled over and over.  We don't drink much soda, but when we do, we buy aluminum cans (also, it won't go flat before you finish, like those big plastic bottles).  So why can't they put water in aluminum cans?

[RecycleMichael]

Aluminum cans are very easy to recycle and are actually quite a success story. When you put your recycling bin at the curb or take your cans to a local recycling drop-off center, the cans begin a unbelievably quick journey back into cans.

When the truck fills up, the cans are then put into a warehouse where they are stored until there is enough for a bale of around 25,000 cans. When there are are enough bales to fill a semi, they take it to a smelter who melts them into sheets and then sells the sheets to a can manufacturer. The new cans are made and filled then put on a truck to go to your retail outlet.

The entire process, from your recycling bin to the grocery shelf as a new filled can takes on average about seven weeks.

The energy savings from making cans from recycled materials instead of virgin materials is also a trememndous story. One can recycled saves enough energy to run your television for two hours.

There a lots of good reasons to recycle beverage cans.

[Ed W]

When you think about it, the process of making used aluminum cans into new aluminum cans seems fairly wasteful.  You take a product, spend time and energy, and end up with the same product.  At least with a glass bottle, you can refill and re-use it several times (in the case of returnables) and THEN recycle it through the glass plant.

Which uses more energy - recycling aluminum or recycling glass?

[RecycleMichael]

They don't really have very many returnable glass bottles anymore. Glass bottle recycling saves much more energy. Here is a fun calculator that shows how much energy you can save by recycling...

http://www.getrecycling.org/theconversionator/shell.html

There are other factors in making products from virgin materials. One has to go no further than Tar Creek area in Northeast Oklahoma to see the effects of mining materials. The number one Superfund site in America is in Oklahoma and is a result of mining metals.

Recycling lessens the need to destroy the Earth.

[Rowdy]

I think some people miss the point.  A lot of people don't drink bottled water because of its benefits over tap water but rather the convenience it comes in.

I don't buy bottled water for the house but I do when I am driving.  It makes sense.  If this writer had water rage (one step below road), then they need to consider the fact that there are other reasons and perhaps we should look at going back to animal skins.  I guess the argument could be made that I should buy a water bottle that fits in my cup holder and refill it every time.

There is nothing like drinking cold water from kangaroo bladders...[]

[sgrizzle]

For those who want to drink non-bottled water. Here is a good deal:
http://www.woot.com/

Today only.