US Congress wastes thousands on bottled water

Congress wasting thousands of dollars in taxpayers' money on bottled water that harms our environment

by Michael Smith (Veshengro)

During and after the State of the Union recently, President Obama and Congressional Republicans waxed poetic about the need to cut wasteful spending in Washington. But there is an easy place to start:

According to Corporate Accountability International, Congress spent nearly $200,000 on bottled water in just three months last year. Recent studies estimate that bottled water costs almost 2,000 times more than tap water – even though the two types of water often come from the same sources.

Besides being a waste of money, bottled water is terrible for the environment: The energy needed to produce the plastic consumption is enough to fuel three million cars for a year.

But it is not just the plastic bottled and the fact that most of them never get recycled, for instance, that is the problem; the unnecessary extraction of water, whether from springs or municipal sources, as it the case in 40 percet of all cases, is what is the greatest problem even.

Nearly one million tons of plastic bottles are discarded as litter each year, ending up in landfills, lakes and streams. What's more, public water infrastructure in DC and around the whole country needs all the support it can get – especially from Congress.

And the same is true elsewhere too and while the American citizen can, theoretically, find out all theses things, such as Congress expenditure on bottled water in Britain, for example, that information is, and please don't laugh, covered by the “Official Secrets Act 1911”. Sad, I know. It is, however, the belief of the British government, over the years, that the general public could not understand all those fact and figures. In other words, the Subjects of Her Britannic Majesty are seen as and treated like children, or imbeciles.

American lobby groups are now calling upon Congress to stop wasting our money and end its use of bottled water and to sweeten the deal, DC Water (a local utility) has even offered to provide every member of Congress with a reusable water bottle as well as free water quality testing systems for Congressional office buildings.

When members of Congress complain about wasteful spending, they should curb their own bad habits first.

No doubt the same problems exist in the Houses of Parliament as regards to bottled water usage and other waste too. I could mention the waste of food, for instance, and while government keeps telling us that we must end the practice of food waste the catering establishment within the Palace of Westminster, in the way they operate, waste tons, literally, of food a week. Food that has been cooked but never been eaten.

They, whether in the Palace of Westminster or Whitehall or at Capitol Hill in DC, try to tell the general public how to live and behave but it would seem that it is a definite case of “Do as I tell you not as I do”. Shame they think that different rules apply to them than to the rest of us.

We can see that by the way the British MPs have been milking the expenses system and when they are caught with the hand in the till, so to speak, try to claim parliamentary privilege and thus exception from criminal prosecution. They really think themselves, in the majority, better than those that have put them there. Time for a change, methinks, a serious one.

© 2011

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TAP LAUNCHES A REFRESHING ALTERNATIVE TO BOTTLED WATER

- Tap into the growing trend of re-usable bottles to save money and the environment -



A new ethical enterprise called Tap has entered the world of bottled water, with a sole mission of getting Brits to re-think bottled water and turn to tap.

Despite having some of the highest quality tap water in the world, Britain spends £1.5billion per year on designer label water, discarding over 3 million empties. Not only is this impacting on the environment, but it’s costing the nation too, with bottled water up to 10,000 times more expensive than tap.

We Want Tap has really launched the real alternative to bottled water, namely what we already have and that is mains water, that is to say, TAP.

In a bid to break the habit, Tap has launched its very own re-usable water bottles. Think of them as flasks for water. Set to become the ‘must-have’ item of the summer, the bottles are stylish and sustainable, and available in two sizes, making them the perfect fit for your handbag, gym bag or fridge.

More importantly, they are made from a new generation of Tritan plastic which is 100% recyclable and free from the polycarbonate chemicals, such as being absolutely 100% free of Bisphenol A, also known as BPA, found in most other re-usable plastic bottles. What’s more 70% of profits from each Tap bottle sold will go to water and sanitation projects in the developing world.

Bisphenol A (BPA), as most of us know by now, I am sure, has had some rather bad press as it is related to hormonal changes in humans and can affect children's hormonal development badly. Hence Canada has banned all BPA products, which meant 1,000s of baby feeding bottles had to be withdrawn and also Nalgene had to remove its old version bottled from the shelves.

Guaranteed to last a lifetime, Tap’s new re-usable bottles offer a practical alternative to unsustainable bottle water. Priced at just £6 for a 400ml bottle and £8.50 for a litre version, it’s a small price to pay to help save the environment, and people’s wallets in the long run. They can be purchased online at www.wewanttap.com.

Tap's founder, Joshua Blackburn, said: "Bottled water is simply a marketing invention, a brand – and one that is costing our nation both financially and environmentally. In a country where high quality water is literally on tap, we should be re-thinking the amount we spend as a nation on designer water.

"Tap water challenges undertaken across the country have repeatedly shown that tap is top. To encourage people to love their tap, we’ve engineered the ultimate re-usable bottle which can be used over and over again – designer water is set to become a thing of the past."

As Tap is also a consumer campaign, a range of stickers can also be purchased on the website to stick over existing empty bottles of bottled water – refilled with tap water - and raise awareness of Tap. Stickers cost £4 for a pack of 30 stickers – five large bottle labels, five small bottle labels and 20 fun size bonus stickers. It is advisable that ordinary water bottles are refilled only 10 times as most contain polycarbonate chemicals, such as BPA, to some extent. A Tap bottle, on the other hand, can be used for life.

The Tap enterprise has been launched by Provokateur, the ethical communications agency, in association with Belu, the carbon neutral water company.

The Centre for Innovation in Voluntary Action is responsible for the distribution of Tap profits to charity.

Log onto www.wewanttap.com for more information

by Michael Smith, August 2008
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Reusable water bottles -vs- Plastic disposable bottles

by Michael Smith (Veshengro)

The concept of disposable plastic items has, honestly, got to be one of the most stupid ideas in all of human history. On the same level, about, as nuclear energy, disposable plastics are made for a one-time only use and then end up as toxic waste that lasts almost forever. Its convenient and cheap in the short term, and polluting and cancer-causing in the long term. Plastic also does not biodegrade and there is no such thing as biodegradable or compostable plastic with the exception of that kind that is made with corn starch or lactic acids. Other plastics simply are not biodegradable and especially not compostable. Plastics do not biodegrade, they just simply, slowly, break down in the environment, that is to say this is true for plastic bags and other products of the polyethylene and related ranges. Harder plastics simply do not break down and they will still be down in that landfill or in the bush in a 1000 years. Only glass lasts longer.

The greatest problem with plastic, whether bottles, cutlery, dishes, etc., is that they will last for centuries if not nigh on forever in the soil and if they slowly break down – into ever smaller and smaller particles of still plastic – they release harmful substances into soil and water.

A shocking factoid: Americans use 2.5 million bottles every hour. Oh my.

So, what is one to do? As far as water bottles and bottled water is concerned this is easy. Just stop using both. Get yourself one of those reusable water bottles – no, it does not have to look like the army on exercise. Get the best water bottle you can find and afford and carry it with you wherever you go.

Concerned about quality of tap water? Don't be! There is no need, at least not in our developed countries, in the main. Pepsi's brand of bottled water, Aquafina, is the best-selling brand of water in the United States and it is – well guess what? – tap water – plain and simple. Coca-Cola's brand Dasani, is also nothing but tap water. So, why are you going to buy bottled water in plastic bottles?

We must all, well those that buy bottles water for sure, be stupid – tap water in a bottle.. at what cost? Who in their right mind – then again, oh well – would pay $2 and more for a bottle of what is more than likely tap water, even though it way have been filtered through charcoal and such? Doh! The mind boggles. We can do that also at home and at the office with water filters of the various kinds.

What is really amazing is that those Whole Food and Health Food stores, those claiming to be “green”, are also selling bottled water, in disposable plastic bottles. This does not compute.

Lets change the number one selling item at Whole Foods from plastic bottled water to stainless steel water bottles, and turn our future landfills into future land trusts. And let us all go and get reusable water bottles – whichever one is irrelevant, just get one, or even two or three, and use them.

© M Smith (Veshengro), July 2008

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NYC Tap Water to be Served at Olympus Fashion Week

Well up to 25,000 plastic water bottles are, traditionally, given out during Olympus Fashion Week at Bryant Park. But this year, in an effort to "green" the show, participants will be given reusable liter-sized non-toxic aluminum water bottles which have been specially prepared backstage and hold nothing but New York City tap water.

Aveda, along with NY's most talented and influential designers, is trying to raise the fashion industry's collective environmental conscience (as if boycotting food wasn't a grand enough contribution). They also plan to eliminate the use of fur in shows, serve organic and locally-sourced food, and print programs and invitations on post-consumer recycled paper.

Michael Smith (Veshengro), Feb 2008

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The Bottled Water Scam

Is bottled water better than tap water?

Environmentalists and health experts have stated that drinking bottled water is not, necessarily, any better for us than drinking and using water straight from the tap. The fact is that a large amount of bottled water is in reality nothing more than repackaged tap water.

Bottled water does not deserve the nutritional halo that most people give it for being pure. If you are not an exclusive bottled water drinker, you may find it worthwhile to check into filtering your tap water to save money. Though in most places this should not even be necessary unless you want to remove the slight trace of chlorine and such.

In a test on 1,000 bottled of 103 different brands of bottled water man-made chemicals, bacteria and arsenic were found in 22% of the bottles. Purer than tap, as the advocates of bottled water claim? I hardly think so.

It would therefore appear that while tap water may not be immune from contamination it may be a much safer option that bottled water. Apparently also the hygiene standards for bottled “spring” water a far, far lower than those for domestic tap water in the developed, especially the Western world, and often such bottled water falls very much below the worst tap water standard.

If you want to be real sure as to nothing being in the water and be secure of real purity then get and use a filter, be this a British Berkfield ceramic filter or the simple filter jug such as Britta, Kenwood, or derivatives of the same. While the filter on the British Berky, so I understand, basically lasts for ever and can be cleaned, the filters in the jugs are active charcoal, sand, etc. and have to be replaced once every month or so. But this makes it still by far cheaper than buying bottled water.

This is also my advice to anyone who may be concerned about the fact that most tap water is chlorinated. However, the traces of chlorine in the tap water is, in most instances, minute, though you may still be able to taste and smell the chlorine. I know I can smell chlorine in the water in many places but I also know that it is harmless. Knowing that I can smell and taste chlorine in the water to me is a good indicator that the water has been treated and therefore can be assumed to be to at least 90% safe.

If you are storing water as a preparedness measure you, more than likely have added a small amount of chlorine to the water that you are storing in order to keep it safe and fresh, and especially in order to prevent bacterial production.

Bottled water and our immense use of it is also NOT good at all for the environment, and that on two levels:

1. The extraction of this spring/groundwater, where it comes from the source, puts a great strain on our water resources.

and

2. The plastic bottles, the PET bottles, cause a huge problem everywhere and use, for starters oil, a non-renewable resource, in their production and while they can be recycled into fibre from which fleece jackets and blankets are made the great majority of such bottled, about 80% of then, end up in the landfill sites, thus putting yet another strain on the environment.

Anyone of us who is concerned about living a frugal life and/or about the environment should get away from the use of bottled water as much as at all possible and use tap water instead in our own reusable canteens. This is better for you, your pocketbook and the environment.
Do you really want to pay 65pence ($1) to £1.20 ($1.80) for a 500ml bottle of water that could in fact repackaged tap water, after all? I for one am not.

© M V Smith, May 2007

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Bottled Water Boycott Highlights Waste, Resource Depletion

by Shreema Mehta

Apr. 26 – Environmentalists are calling for a boycott of bottled water in an effort to reduce the use of fossil fuels, protect the environment and protect local drinking supplies.

Campaign leader Food and Water Watch says bottled water dangerously "undermines confidence" in public tap-water supplies. "The more those who can afford bottled water depend on bottled water, the harder it is for communities to muster political and financial support for urgent upgrades to public water systems that most people depend on to provide safe, affordable water," the group said on its website.

Activists are urging members of the public to sign a pledge to end daily bottled-water consumption and to refill bottles with tap water rather than buy new ones.

The pledge is part of several environmental groups' efforts to halt the "commodification" of the nation's water supply through an increase in bottled-water production and private management of local systems.

"We need to maintain [the public water] system by adequately funding repairs and improvements to our national water infrastructure so that every citizen has access to clean and affordable tap water," stated Public Citizen on its own Water for All campaign site. "Bottled water is not the answer."

Over the past few years, sales of bottled water have risen sharply in the United States, to over 8 billion gallons in 2006, and with it the number of plastic thrown in landfills. According to the Container Recycling Institute, a nonprofit that promotes recycling, most bottled water is sold in "single serve" sizes which are "prone to being littered." The Institute's report also noted that 96 percent of bottled water is sold in polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastic bottles, and that less than 15 percent of those bottles get recycled.

The activists calling for the bottled-water boycott also point out that the water sold in gas stations and grocery stores throughout the country is not necessarily safer than cheaper tap water. Tap water is regulated by the US Environmental Protection Agency, while bottled water is regulated by the US Food and Drug Administration. The FDA gives inspecting water-bottling plants a low priority because of water's stable safety record.

But a widely cited Natural Resources Defense Council study tested 103 bottled-water brands, finding that 26 of them at had at least one sample that contained enough contaminants to violate California state regulations, which are among the strictest. The group did not test tap water to see how it compared.

Additionally, as a federal agency, the FDA does not regulate water that is bottled and sold within one state, leaving it up to state agencies. While most state agencies surveyed by the NRDC said their regulations were equal to or stricter than the FDA's, thirteen states said they had no staff or resources allocated specifically to enforce regulations on bottled water, while an additional 26 states had "less than one" full-time staff member enforcing bottled-water programs.

Advocates say that while bottled water is generally safe, the public wastes money and plastic at the detriment of tap water accessible to everyone. In addition to calling for more money to go into protecting and improving local water supplies, the anti-bottled-water campaigners also point out that the popularity of bottled water can have long-term dangers on local communities where the water comes from.

Nestle's plan to build a water-bottling plant at Mt. Shasta in McCloud, California, for instance, has drawn criticism for its potential to deplete aquifers and reduce river flow.

Mark Franco, headman of the Winnemem Wintu Tribe, which lives near the proposed plant, said Nestle should not "sell what is a public trust, and take it out from people who need it."

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