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Movies, Books, Politicians the Water Bottle is Under Siege

Posted: April 26th, 2010 | Author: Linkguru | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: | No Comments »

Take a plastic water bottle at your own demise; the wave of widespread belief is turning on you. From big rating documentaries, to books and campaigns, the biggest news in town is the horror around bottled water and the waste of resources that the industry demonstrates.

The processing, transporting and removal of water in petrochemical plastic bottles requires big use of water along with energy, and generates tremendous amounts of greenhouse gases and waste.

Director of the recent documentary ‘Tapped: get off the bottle’ Stephanie Soechtig says “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 people behind Tapped are publicizing the documentary with their across-America roadshow, taking sponsorships from citizens to take down their water bottle use and exchanging their discarded plastic water bottle 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 the pen of Annie Leonard of the well-received ‘The Story of Stuff’, this short film delves into the method that amounts to convincing Americans into consuming around hundreds of millions of bottles of water each week, compared with a few cents cost for tapwater. See the film on You Tube.

In her book ‘Bottlemania’, author Elizabeth Royte demonstrates one of the most massive marketing cons of this century and demands a strong environmental wakeup call. She details the situations we must eventually respond to. Who owns our drinking water? What happens when a bottled-water company seizes your town’s source? Is the water coming from the tap absolutely safe? What is the environmental cost of making, transporting and waste of one plastic water bottle?

Politicians from everywhere around the international community are realising that they need to start the campaign – notably when the places in which they collate are huge consumers of bottled water. How often do we witness a politician at a conference sipping from a water bottle. It is probable that they might be able to locate a water glass in Parliament House.

Leslie Samuelrich of Corporate Accountability International, stated “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 of Australia to prevent the retail of bottled water. At least 60 towns in the US and some places in Canada and the United Kingdom have now stopped spending taxpayer holdings 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 planet’s most time-sensitive 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

Posted: February 22nd, 2010 | Author: Linkguru | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , | No Comments »

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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