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EVERYTHING IS BAD
So, you like the bottled water, huh? Well, thanks for killing the planet, you landfill-clogging, petrochemical-burning, guzzle-mad Gaia haters!
Bottled water is a great con. Western countries have safe, clean drinking water. It’s probably safer than the bottled stuff, given the amount of checking and monitoring of quality. So yep, all you’re doing is buying an image and creating landfill.
Posted by daddy dave on 2006 02 25 at 09:29 PM • permalinkDaddy Dave — Anything homer sap does that affects the environment is by definition an eco-disaster, since the mark of the true ecological advocate is a deep-seated conviction that humanity stands apart from the environment and only intrudes on it, just as committed feminists can with straight faces call foetuses “these invaders of our bodies,” as happened at a conference back in 2002.
Posted by richard mcenroe on 2006 02 25 at 09:41 PM • permalinkBottled water is of limited value, mostly when tap water is not safe or available; I drank nothing but bottled water in Kuwait, for example. That’s all that was available.
But those are special circumstances. Back in the States, or any place with a decent public supply? It’s a waste of money and resources. Convenient, but still a waste.
But this is hardly an “eco-disaster”. It reminds me of the original efforts to recycle pop cans and bottles, way long ago. It’s fixable in much the same way.....as the article itself describes.
Panic is right.
Posted by The_Real_JeffS on 2006 02 25 at 10:12 PM • permalinkBTW — Bottled water? It’s called a canteen, hippies…
Posted by richard mcenroe on 2006 02 25 at 10:13 PM • permalinkback in the 90s jeff kennett had bottled water tested for the bug count compared to tap water. the tap water came out way cleaner. melbourne’s water is top stuff. it’s cheap. you can put it in a bottle in your fridge & take it anywhere in one of those modified baby bottles for adults nearly every shop seems to give away. bugger the environmental aspects: buying bottled water is a sign of out of control wankery & more money than sense
#5 Richard: thanks for setting me straight on this. I have been living in ignorance about my environmental footprint. Now I will make sure I feel guilty about many more things.
I think I’ll start by feeling guilty about.. (*looks down*) ...my leather shoes. Not only are they made from a real sentient non-human, but they were made in a sweatshop, were transported to this country using fossil fuels, on a ship manned by sailors who were probably conservatives, and the profits of the sale went to a “multi-national”. I’m new at this, so any other suggestions for guilt would be welcome.Posted by daddy dave on 2006 02 25 at 10:41 PM • permalinkThe article is correct that recycling away from home is hard.
It upsets me that nearly all Sydney garbage bins don’t include a recycling option, except for some pedestrian malls e.g. Manly Corso.
Moreover, I remember years ago their were ‘bubblers’ or public drinking fountains all over the place, which are now gone. I resent paying up to three bucks for a bottle of water.
Do kids at school still drink from the tap?
Well, that’s it for bottled water for me. I refuse to contribute further to the success of a product whose very success has been deemed counter-intuitive by environmental scientists.
That would just be, well, er .. counter-intuitive, wouldn’t it.
There’s just too much success in the world today. I remember back in the good old days, when blah, blah, blah…
Posted by Whale Spinor on 2006 02 25 at 11:24 PM • permalinkHere comes my take on this watered topic:)
Posted by Mats Bergman on 2006 02 26 at 01:53 AM • permalinkdaddy dave,
Bottled water is a great con. Western countries have safe, clean drinking water. It’s probably safer than the bottled stuff, given the amount of checking and monitoring of quality. So yep, all you’re doing is buying an image and creating landfill.
Have you tasted the tap water in LA, or most anywhere in SoCal? Gaaggghhh! It has so much clorine in it that it tastes like water from a swimming pool. (Actually, Las Vegas is worse: when I lived there, even one of those on-the-tap purifiers wasn’t enough.)
OTOH, where I grew up, Big Bear Lake, the tap water tastes like Arrowhead bottled water, because it’s basically the same water supply: Arrowhead gets their water from an artesian spring about 15 miles west of there.
Posted by Spiny Norman on 2006 02 26 at 01:54 AM • permalinkThe article points out that most bottles of water are purchased for consumption away from home (cinemas, shopping centres, the beach, etc). Well, hello! With the steady disappearance of bubblers/drinking fountains over the years, where else are people going to drink water from? The bathroom taps of toilets?
Like some of you, I take my own (refilled) bottle of water (if I can remember to), but for most people it’s about conveinence and the lack of an alternative.
Posted by Mr Anderson on 2006 02 26 at 02:43 AM • permalink#17 partly right - you can use far less plastic to adequately carry liquids, liquids in plastic cost less in fuel to transport because the overall load is lighter than if you used glass, & you don’t need a weightlifter to hoist a carton, so delivery & shelf packing is easier. you can also recycle the PET into polar fleece. there are some other plusses but i forget them. if you do a lifecycle analysis factoring in transport & washing costs for glass bottles, there’s not a lot of difference in environmental impact
Have you tasted the tap water in LA, or most anywhere in SoCal? Gaaggghhh! It has so much clorine in it that it tastes like water from a swimming pool. (Actually, Las Vegas is worse: when I lived there, even one of those on-the-tap purifiers wasn’t enough.)
I don’t know if it’s still like that, but when I was on vacation in Orlando a little more than a decade ago, the same was true there.
I’m sort of in the middle of this issue...I’m one of those pretentious wankers who actually buy Evian (it’s hard to find another spring water that matches its utter non-taste, most waters here have too much of a mineral taste for me), but I do buy it in cases of 2 liter bottles and then refill to half-liter bottles (each of them probably used 100+ times by now) for portability. Can’t say the environmental impact is a huge concern for me, but the much lower price of the big bottles definitely is.
At this point, I’d like to remind Australian readers to carry plenty of potable water when you decide to go “walkabout” in the Outback.
Bubblers/water fountains are in limited supply there and often have long lines. Obviously, beer is your “mate” but water will do in a pinch so replenish those lost fluids ASAP.
why did they stop putting beverages in reusable glass bottles?
In addition to other responses: the cost of collection - the cost of sterilisation (uses lots of water and strong chemicals) - cost of individual inspection - cost of replacement of damaged units - the cost of incentives (deposits) - re-usable bottles are twice the weight of single use...and so on. The whole chain was a costly exercise. The great losers from the cessation of bottle re-use are home brewers. Beer bottles that take a crown seal are highly sort after.
Recall Donoghue v Stevenson - it was downhill from there.
Posted by walterplinge on 2006 02 26 at 05:02 AM • permalink#19 spiny norman,
Have you tasted the tap water in LA, or most anywhere in SoCal?
no I haven’t. I will be in LA later this year, though, so maybe I’ll have to eat my words!
Posted by daddy dave on 2006 02 26 at 10:42 AM • permalinkDaddy Dave — We buy all those Brita filters for a reason, ‘mano… Our our Department of Water and Power here in LA says our water is perfectly safe to drink but spends nearly half a million dollars (US) a year on bottle water for its offices…
Posted by richard mcenroe on 2006 02 26 at 12:05 PM • permalinkI’m never without a bottle of water at my side. They’ll take it from my cold, dead hands…
It’s not as though once we wean ourselves from bottled water we end our dependence on petro products--a partial list:
Ink Dishwashing liquids Paint brushes Telephones Toys Unbreakable dishes Insecticides Antiseptics Dolls Car sound insulation Fishing lures Deodorant Tires Motorcycle helmets Linoleum Sweaters Tents Refrigerator linings Paint rollers Floor wax Shoes Electrician’s tape Plastic wood Model cars Glue Roller-skate wheels Trash bags Soap dishes Skis Permanent press clothes Hand lotion Clothesline Dyes Soft contact lenses Shampoo Panty hose Cameras Food preservatives Fishing rods Oil filters Combs Transparent tape Anesthetics Upholstery Dice Disposable diapers TV cabinets Cassettes Mops Sports car bodies Salad bowls House paint Purses Electric blankets Awnings Ammonia Dresses Car battery cases Safety glass Hair curlers Pajamas Synthetic rubber VCR tapes Eyeglasses Pillows Vitamin capsules Movie film Ice chests Candles Rubbing alcohol Loudspeakers Ice buckets Boats Ice cube trays Credit cards Fertilizers Crayons Insect repellent Water pipes Toilet seats Caulking Roofing shingles Fishing boots Life jackets Balloons Shower curtains Garden hose Golf balls Curtains Plywood adhesive Umbrellas Detergents Milk jugs Beach umbrellas Rubber cement Sunglasses Putty Faucet washers Cold cream Bandages Tool racks Antihistamines Hair coloring Nail polish Slacks Drinking cups Guitar strings False teeth Yarn Petroleum jelly Toothpaste Golf bags Roofing Tennis rackets Toothbrushes Perfume Luggage Wire insulation Folding doors Shoe polish Fan belts Ballpoint pens Shower doors Cortisone Carpeting Artificial turf Heart valves LP records Lipstick Artificial limbs Hearing aids Vaporizers Aspirin Shaving cream Wading pools Parachutes (Source)
Plastic in and of itself is not an environmental hazard. You can bury a plastic bottle, dig it up 1000 years hence and find that not even one molecule had decomposed. The problem is finding space for all the waste (a very big problem in many parts of the US). It’s a recycleable product. There’s no need for all that waste.Some years ago I read about a man who had succeeded in growing plastic (well, not actual plastic, of course, but a reasonable facsimile--looked kind of like cotton). Never heard anything about it again.
Posted by Kyda Sylvester on 2006 02 26 at 01:01 PM • permalinkJDB 23
I’d like to remind Australian readers to carry plenty of potable water when you decide to go “walkabout” in the Outback.
And in case any KOS people are reading this, it’s good to clarify: “potable” means “drinkable.” It’s NOT the bong water, understand?
Posted by Stoop Davy Dave on 2006 02 26 at 03:57 PM • permalinkWhat, they’ve stopped worrying about global worming?
We recycle here, but I don’t buy bottled water unless I need to take it with me somewhere, and I actually have a refillable bottle with a handy carry bag and a thin slab of blue ice for that. But I figure all the plastic bottles go into that mountain they’re building over by Columbus, anyway. It’ll probably be a ski resort someday.
What’s yr point? Or has Fairfax put you on retainer to drive some meagre traffic their way?
Posted by Miranda Divide on 2006 02 26 at 08:43 PM • permalinkWhat’s yr point? Or has Fairfax put you on retainer to drive some meagre traffic their way?
Miranda, this is the point.
Posted by The_Real_JeffS on 2006 02 26 at 09:06 PM • permalinkYeah, i seen that rubbish, Jeffs… you sad clowns still haven’t gotten over the demise of that fish-in-a-barrel Margo… how terribly tragic for you all that no other leftie has stepped into your breaches to fill her void.
A bunch of lapsed Margo Tragics, lost with no target for your potshots. Cruel. Too cruel.
Posted by Miranda Divide on 2006 02 26 at 09:16 PM • permalinkOh Miranda, but you can help fill the void, can’t you?
Please tell us exactly what you think of us, and while you’re at it, if you don’t mind - what are you wearing?
Posted by Margos Maid on 2006 02 26 at 09:37 PM • permalink...you sad clowns still haven’t gotten over the demise of that fish-in-a-barrel Margo...
You are this blogs’ official parrot-in-a-barrel, Miranda. That makes you special, and certainly qualified to fill any void.
Posted by The_Real_JeffS on 2006 02 26 at 10:19 PM • permalinkNote to self: must stop asking them what they are wearing - always just drives them away.
Posted by Margos Maid on 2006 02 26 at 11:14 PM • permalink#19 spiny norman;
I grew up southern california. When I moved north, it took a while before I figured out that there wasn’t anything wrong with the tap water; water wasn’t *supposed* to have the ... um… “body” to which I’d become accustomed.
As for the chlorine, fill up an open container with water, let it sit for a day or two, and the chlorine goes away. At least it used to.
A lot easier on your aquarium fish, if nothing else.
how terribly tragic for you all that no other leftie has stepped into your breaches to fill her void.
We’re holding hope out for you, ‘Rander! Be what you once were! Don’t let us down.
Posted by Andrea Harris, Administrator on 2006 02 27 at 02:57 AM • permalinkIs there a void in my breaches? I can’t see, I don’t have a mirror…
Posted by richard mcenroe on 2006 02 27 at 11:40 PM • permalink
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That’s why I only buy one case, then re-fill the bottles from my purifier-equipped tap until the bottles attrit.
Well, actually, the reason I do that is because it’s stupid to buy bottled water. I’m buying the portability.