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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 »

Bring a plastic water bottle at your own demise; the pressure of widespread belief is turning against you. From big rating documentaries, to papers and politics, the hot topic around is the menace of bottled water and the waste that the industry generates.

The producing, transportation and removal of water in petrochemical plastic bottles requires large quantities of water as well as energy, and creates ridiculous measures of greenhouse gases and waste.

Director of the new 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 team behind Tapped are promoting the documentary with an across-America roadshow, asking sponsorships from people to lower their water bottle use and swapping their empty plastic water bottle for a reusable stainless steel bottle. Download Tapped from Amazon or iTunes.

A similar film ‘The Story of Bottled Water’ was released on World Water Day in March. Created by Annie Leonard of the well-received ‘The Story of Stuff’, this animated film delves into the methodology that goes into conning Americans into buying more than five hundred million bottles of water each and every week, instead of a few cents cost for water from the tap. Find this new documentary on You Tube.

In her book ‘Bottlemania’, writer Elizabeth Royte chronicles one of the greatest marketing takeovers of our century and demands a strong environmental wakeup call. She asks the problems we must eventually respond to. Who owns the water? What could happen when a bottled-water corporation stakes a claim on your town’s water supply? Is the water that comes from your tap entirely safe? What really is the environmental cost of producing, transportation and disposing of a single plastic water bottle?

Politicians from around the nation are beginning to understand that they have to take action – especially when the institutions at which they work are large consumers of bottled water. How often do we view a politician in a meeting drinking from a water bottle. They must be able to use 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 place around Australia to ban the retailing of bottled water. About 60 towns in the United States and a few in Canada and the UK have recently stopped the expenditure of taxpayer dollars on bottled water.

It is certain that this dilemma will be on the agenda come World Water Week 2010 from September 5 to 11 in Stockholm, Sweden, the annual meeting for the world’s most time-sensitive water-related problems.

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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