Originally Posted By DVC_dad ...^^^ And are you going to start drinking from the tap? If not, then its all moot.
Originally Posted By DVC_dad <<<ed. The cooler and the 5-gallon bottles are very convenient>>> Yes but is it REALLY clean? Who washes it before it goes out again? What do they use? Can they speak English, that is to say were they properly trained? No thanks.
Originally Posted By trekkeruss Dad, you must bring your own dishes and utensils when you go to a restaurant, because after all, are the ones they give you REALLY clean?
Originally Posted By amazedncal2 Hi, Thank you all for your thoughts. We have a PUR filter on our kitchen tap and on our refrigerator water whatever you call it. I can fill a reusable bottle up at home and take it with me, no problem there. I'll use the disposable/recyclable ones when we travel, I'm not opposed to them, just don't need to be using so many. The chemical thing creeps me out so I'm willing to give it a go. I'm not comfortable debating what is right or wrong about the water leaching thing. It's just something I want to do for myself. Kind of like getting used to remembering to bring those darned bags into the grocery store I'm 3 for 3 this week on those
Originally Posted By LuLu Yes I drink water from the tap! Did you think I was going to fill it with pre-bottled water? I have a nifty under-sink water filter from Sears. I'm sure the 5-gallon water bottles are better for the environment than the individual ones, but you still have pollution from the processing plant and delivery. I prefer filtering water at home, right from the tap.
Originally Posted By mele The belief is that the cheap plastic bottles also start to degrade even more once you've opened them and use them a few times. Refilling for a few days is definitely better than using a new bottle everytime but, of course, it still creates trash. I don't think people realize how much energy and garbage is created just to *manufacture* processed foods and bottled water. I think we really only think about the trash the bottle itself generates since it's the only thing we see. I saw a program that showed a small piece of paper garbage from processed foods and the trashed created just to make it, plus the energy used to produce it, and the oil used to transport it, it was at least 5 times as much trash. But because we don't see it, we don't really think about it. Or maybe everyone else does think about it and doesn't care. I don't know. I was quite surprised by it and the fact that I never thought about *that* issue before. I had thought of manufacturing plants and thought about the waste that THEY put onto the Earth but I never thought about how MY consumerism was contributing to it. Yet another reason to go with real, fresh, whole foods.
Originally Posted By DVC_dad <<<Dad, you must bring your own dishes and utensils when you go to a restaurant, because after all, are the ones they give you REALLY clean?>>> LOL good point.
Originally Posted By LuLu mele, I don't think that people do think about it. when you start to read about it, it's really shocking. I did a quick check on REI and found the bottle that I'd seen on ewg.org (which is Environmental Working Group) <a href="http://www.rei.com/product/738271" target="_blank">http://www.rei.com/product/738271</a> I just started looking, but I think I'll get a couple of these: <a href="http://www.rei.com/product/776892" target="_blank">http://www.rei.com/product/776892</a> I like that it's easy to get *really* clean, you can put it in the dishwasher, it comes in great colors!, and has great reviews.
Originally Posted By LuLu Since mele brought this up, I'll post an article I found while looking for infor on water bottles: The true cost of a bottle of Fiji brand bottled water is significantly more than the money required to produce and transport it. Consider the calculations from the article linked below: * A bottle that holds 1 liter of water requires 5 liters of water in its manufacturing process * Assuming Fiji must import plastic bottles for their water from China, this uses 2.3g of fossil fuels and 20g of water, and outputs 4.3g of greenhouse gas emissions (GHG), per bottle delivered to Fiji from China. * The total amount of water used to produce and deliver one bottle of imported water from Fiji to the United States is 6.74kg, and the amount of GHGs released amount to 250g. Aside from the huge environmental strain, these imported waters are expensive for purchasers. It's estimated that a $1.50 bottle of water costs just $0.22 to produce and deliver, leaving $1.28 per bottle in profits. Sources: * TriplePundit.com February 5, 2007
Originally Posted By amazedncal2 LuLu, thank you for the links. They both look good. I like the second link though because I can buy a few different colors and change them up according to seasons Theme bottles! I love it.
Originally Posted By Jim in Merced CA Thanks for the link to REI, Lulu. I wish I had a store nearby. Those bottles are awesome! And at $8.99, they're a great price. I was watching some celebrity talking about water bottles. She determined that she used 2000 bottles a year. Too many she decided! So, now she's gone to filtered tap water.
Originally Posted By Jim in Merced CA ^^Should have been more specific. The celebrity -- Cindy Crawford it was -- was talking about the disposible bottles of water.
Originally Posted By trekkeruss <<I don't know why people keep insisting this leaching thing is an urban myth. The science is there, go read it.>> I guess I wasn't really clear about what I said before about it being an urban myth. I'm not denying that there is a measurable amount of leaching. I just think the amount is miniscule to the point that I am not worried about it. I recently saw a report on TV; I think it was Dateline. They brought in two families to measure chemicals in their bodies. One family was "typical" and the other lived "organic" and "green." After the battery of tests, both families showed trace amounts of about 40 chemicals in their bodies; the green family having exactly one less than the typical family. For me what it comes down to is that I think that living in our industrialized society makes it impossible to avoid being subjected to all sorts of unnatural elements. Perhaps it would be wise for me to control what I can, but since there is so much that I cannot control, I am not going to worry about it when there are other things that can harm me and carry a much higher known risk factor.
Originally Posted By Jim in Merced CA For me, it's less about the leeching chemicals, and more about the hassle of purchasing, storing, using, rounding up, and recycling the plastic water bottles. It just became too much. And when you add in the manufacturing of the bottles, and the fact that so many of them don't end up being recycled, it does seem a bit odd. And it's not just water. Soft drinks are all in plastic bottles now. It's funny that we look back with nostalgia at a company like the Coca-Cola, that used glass bottles that you'd return to them for cleaning and reuse. It's easy to sort of pass it off as quaint and old-fashioned -- but it probably makes more sense than what we do with all these plastic bottles.
Originally Posted By Julia123 Ok - no matter what your thoughts on leaching chemicals are (and they do leach if they get frozen or hot) they burn up our natural resources! Did you know that in the United States we used the equivalent to 15 million barrels of oil to produce the disposable bottles last year? That's enough to fuel 1 million cars for a year! Worldwide, we used 100 million barrels of oil to produce these throwaways! Recyclable? Yes - bot only 14% of them were recycled last year. Also alarming is the fact that, between the manufacturing of the bottle and the filling process, it takes 3 liters of water to produce a one liter bottle of it. We're planning another trip to Disney World next fall - our favorite time to go - I'll definately be toting my reusable this time! It just makes good sense.
Originally Posted By mawnck Gas $4/gallon Bottled water $10/gallon Starbucks Venti Latte $23/gallon Which fuel is most cost effective?
Originally Posted By DyGDisney So I'm looking at the PBA free bottles on REI.com. Does anyone know where you can buy them without having to order them and pay shipping? I looked at Target and couldn't find any. We don't have an REI near us.
