Though disposable bottled water is a thorn in the side of sustainability, the reality is that disposable bottles will be with us, at least for some limited uses, far into the foreseeable future.  The Renew Blue solution offers a way to provide the convenience with a lower carbon footprint.

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The small Australian town of Bundanoon is credited with having started the resistance to bottled water, that has now through an initiative by Thames Water, reached as far as Buckingham Palace.

What’s Driving This?

Ever since

• it became clear that the energy input to bottled water could be visualised as a bottle a quarter full of crude oil
• it was shown that the energy required to produce bottled water is 2000 times that to produce tap water
• Watkiss revealed that England imported 20,000 litres ( 5,500 gallons) of water from Australia but at the same time exported 20,000 litres of British water to Australia
• Australia suffered a drought that was so severe than it drove many farmers off the land

there was little doubt that things would start to happen.

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German Reactor ‘Accident-Prone’

July 6th Berlin: The Kruemmel nuclear power plant was described as ‘accident-prone’ following an automatic shut-down on Saturday. The shut-down was caused by a transformer failure. The plant only re-opened in June, after a two year period of closure following a fire. Greenpeace activists demonstrated in front of the site, near Hamburg on Monday to highlight both the number of issues that the plant has experienced since it opened in 1984, and the reopening of the ‘nuclear question’ by the German government. Kruemmel should  close in 2018 and at present there is no replacement nuclear reactor planned, but this could change if the government chooses to follow the lead of several other European countries and either extend the life of its reactors or build new ones.

Banning bottled water environmentally sound, economically stupid?

The New South Wales government in Australia has decided to boycott the use of bottled water. Following the lead of the town of Bundanoon in NSW, the federal government has said that it will cease to use bottled water in government offices. But the decision, made on the grounds of transport, energy used to bottle the water, and environmental costs of plastic packaging for it, is being criticised on several levels.

The bottled water industry, and retailers, are protesting. They complain that the ban could not only lead to redundancies and job losses, but also cause adverse health results, as consumers turn to sugar-rich soft drinks because water is not available to them. The Director of the Australasian Bottled Water Institute said that there could be economic impacts if the ban becomes widespread, “In a month when Australia shed 22,000 full-time jobs the NSW government should be encouraging small business not hurting it.”

Mount Rushmore Protest for G-8 summit

On 8th July eleven Greenpeace activists were charged under federal law after they displayed a banner on Mount Rushmore. They claimed they were not guilty, and that their two thousand square foot sign would not damage Mount Rushmore.  The arrested protestors were charged with illegal climbing and trespassing. They came from eight states across the USA, including California and New York. The banner, which read ‘America honors leaders not politicians: stop global warming’  is being held by the National Parks Authority as evidence.

Mount Rushmore courtesy of jimbowen0306 at Flickr under a creative commons licence

Bisphenol A (BPA) is a chemical used in can linings and hard plastics. It’s been around for a while and is widely used. And chances are, you have it in your system as we speak. With such common usage of the chemical, what are people making such a fuss about?

As it turns out, the chemical has been linked to cancer, diabetes, developmental damage and heart disease in animals. It is also known for leaching from can and bottle linings into foods and drinks. With such widespread use, 90% of Americans tested by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) had traces of BPA in their urine.

So we know that it is a harmful chemical. What does the FDA have to do with all of this? Well, the FDA has long claimed that its assessments show that the chemical is “safe.” This stance, along with recent events have investors applauding. Recently the FDA has decided to reassess BPA using independent, rather than industrial, science and data.

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As you probably know, that convenience comes at an environmental and social price: documentaries such as FLOW and Thirst, organizations such as the Sierra Club and Environmental Defense Fund, and even a few of us lowly bloggers, have reported on the costs created by water’s transformation from a freely-available resource to a multi-billion dollar commodity. That bottle of water you buy now contributes to the world’s third-largest industry.

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Beginning December 1st, “bottled water containing E. coli will be considered adulterated,” says the US Food and Drug Administration.  You don’t say?  It doesn’t seem as though we’d need a press release to tell us that, but this is the FDA we’re talking about.

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Recently, commentator/comedian Bill Maher hypothesized what would happen if the only sacrifice required to curb climate change was for people everywhere to give up their TV remotes. His theory was that, after an intolerable stint of shuffling betwixt couch and television, harried viewers would finally give up and resume clicking the world toward apocalypse.

It’s an amusing premise, though one seasoned with the nagging aftertaste of truth.  For sustainability will ultimately require changing many small habits, which when weighed in the aggregate, make a big difference.

Few of these habits have received as much attention from environmental advocates as disposable water bottles. Why water? Mainly because (disposable) bottled water adds an avalanche of industry to a resource that is readily and cheaply available at the tap.

Pointing to the success of bottled water, one could make a compelling case for a bottled air industry. There could emerge rainforest and mountain flavors. Cracking open a bottle would provide a lungful of rarefied airs from exotic locales.

Alpine Air. Belgium Breeze. Wyoming Wind. In the realm of the absurd, possibilities are endless.

Yet bottled water has become a staple of Americans on the go, and plucking it from the shelf plays a part in the grocery store shopping ritual for millions of us.

Toothpaste?
Check.

Noodles?
Got ‘em.

Bottles containing the same stuff drawn nearly free from household tap?
Score.

Now enter boxed water. The company’s name is Boxed Water is Better, and it is marketing the product as an earth-friendlier alternative to plastic bottles.

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Where does your bottled water originate? Is the company bottling public water and selling it for profit?

Most water companies try their hardest to hide this information, but if a new bill that just was approved by committee today in the California state assembly takes hold, the companies would be forced to sing a different tune.

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Born from the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, World Water Day has a different theme every year. This year’s focus is on transboundary waters: sharing water, sharing opportunities.

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The survey was conducted by Harris Interactive for the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry (AAPD), a leader in children’s oral health.

It found U.S. parents and caregivers are uninformed about cavity-causing bacteria and teeth-friendly snacks.   One result showed 96% of U.S. adults with children under 12 years old in their household thought a cracker was better for children’s teeth than a piece of caramel.  Starches, however, can also cause cavities like sugars, and caramels dissolve more quickly from the mouth than crackers.

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Hope-Despair, a painting by Feroza Unvala

2008 - what a year! As we get ready to draw the curtains on one of the most unsettling economic years in history, we the writers of the Inspired Economist are still wondering… was this year one that has left our battered economy begging for inspiration? Or have the sustainable events of 2008 spearheaded the initiation of what we believe is truly an Inspired Economy?

2008 was about the $700 billion bailout. Foreclosures. The plummeting stock market. As the year came to a close, the nation’s economic turmoil battled with the presidential election. But it was also a time when new businesses were born into what appears to be an unprecedented sustainability boom. When energy, economy and environment have taken on a new and inter-dependent definition.

As we position our economy to take off on this inspiring eve of the Obama generation, let’s reflect on the change that has come into play this year……

The First Quarter

The first quarter of the year saw the idea of social entrepreneuring take flight beyond the borders of America.

Cover of Jeffery Sach’s book Common Wealth

It was also the time when the Center for Resource Solutions launched the Environmental Tracking Network of North America – North America’s first network organization for renewable energy and greenhouse gas emissions tracking systems and registries.

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Let me start off, though, by expressing my immense gratitude to all of the writers who contributed during 2008. This was our first full year as a multi-author blog, and I couldn’t have been more pleased with the way it turned out. Some of the writers I’ll mention have moved on; others on coming on board. I’m grateful for the inspiration you’ve all brought to the blog over the past year, and look forward with anticipation to what the new year brings us.

January 2008

Like New Year’s fireworks, January started off with a bang.  Here are a few great posts to remember:

• Jason Phillip’s post on Chicago’s bottled water tax was one of our most popular ever… it’s still getting pageviews!
• Maria Surma Manka wrote a very thorough (and also very popular) review of Scientific American’s “Solar Grand Plan.”
• I took a look at an innovative South African whose developed a low-cost, high-yield method of generating energy from chicken poop.

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]]> http://sustainablog.org/2008/12/19/the-twelve-days-of-sustainablog-bees-stimulus-checks-and-biodynamic-wine/feed/ http://ecopreneurist.com/2008/12/15/lessons-from-the-greenwash-police/ http://ecopreneurist.com/2008/12/15/lessons-from-the-greenwash-police/#comments Mon, 15 Dec 2008 16:47:40 +0000 Jennifer Kaplan http://ecopreneurist.com/2008/12/15/lessons-from-the-greenwash-police/

A few weeks ago I wrote about how the greenwash continues at Nestle Waters as their CEO Kim Jeffery Whines But Still Doesn’t Walk The Walk in a recent Businessweek article. Their Director of Corporate Communications “respectfully disagrees” with the charges.

I would have written about it sooner, but I just noticed this response from Jane Lazgin, Director, Corporate Communications, Nestlé Waters North America:

We’re pleased you agree we should be talking about our Eco-Shape bottles. Like you, we think reducing the plastic content in our bottles is an important step toward a lighter environmental footprint. The Eco-Shape half-liter bottle uses 30% less plastic than the average juice, soda, or other brand of bottled water containers. And, when more than 70 percent of what we drink comes in a bottle or can, why not choose the lightest beverage package?

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]]> http://ecopreneurist.com/2008/12/15/lessons-from-the-greenwash-police/feed/ http://planetsave.com/blog/2008/11/14/nestle-waters-ceo-whines-but-still-doesnt-walk-the-walk/ http://planetsave.com/blog/2008/11/14/nestle-waters-ceo-whines-but-still-doesnt-walk-the-walk/#comments Fri, 14 Nov 2008 13:41:36 +0000 Jennifer Kaplan http://planetsave.com/blog/2008/11/14/nestle-waters-ceo-whines-but-still-doesnt-walk-the-walk/

In a recent Businessweek article, Kim Jeffery the CEO of Nestlé Water North America, makers of Poland Spring waters, whines (yes, whines) that they are misunderstood and not given the credit they deserve.  Clearly he thinks all the charges of greenwash are unfair.

But, are they? The article tells of all the environmentally preferable things that they had done but that no one knew about.  The article then goes on to say:

Part of the reason Nestlé Waters wasn’t touting its environmental efforts, according to Jeffery, was that he and the rest of management considered such actions business as usual.

Yes! That’s the point. the “green” things Nestlé were doing were part of normal business operations, many of which saved the company lots of money. Are they good for the environment? Of course. But that’s not really what greenwashing is all about. Its about consumer marketing. This is where the real greenwashing occurs. Before I go on, I want to say that I truly applaud the industry for implementing eco-bottles. That said, it seems to be a blatant case of greenwash to position bottled water as being good for the environment. Water companies should tout eco-bottles, but they shouldn’t suggest that they are good for the environment. They should sell the water, not the the environmental friendliness of the packaging. I would like to ad, that Nestlé is not the worst offender of greenwashy bottled water ads and their ad campaigns are far less offensive than those for Fuji Water and Deer Park.

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]]> http://planetsave.com/blog/2008/11/14/nestle-waters-ceo-whines-but-still-doesnt-walk-the-walk/feed/ http://ecoworldly.com/2008/10/27/bye-bye-bottled-water/ http://ecoworldly.com/2008/10/27/bye-bye-bottled-water/#comments Mon, 27 Oct 2008 04:11:53 +0000 Gavin Hudson http://ecoworldly.com/2008/10/27/bye-bye-bottled-water/ The following video is from our friends at ViroPOP. Head over to their website for more great clips with host Jessica Williamson.

This post contains additional media. Click here to view the full post.

$268 bottle of water, anyone? Going once… going twice….

Just as growth in the US bottled water market is finally dropping off, Greenland has made the bewildering move to bottle and export 1 to 3,000 year old water that it will drill from icebergs. To add insult to environmental injury, Greenland will market its product as “sustainable.” Just how much marketing sense went into the idea to bottle the climate-induced melt from Greenland’s glaciers in plastic and ship it with a heavy carbon footprint stamped firmly into each “sustainable” bottle is anyone’s guess.

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]]> http://ecoworldly.com/2008/10/27/bye-bye-bottled-water/feed/ http://ecochildsplay.com/2008/10/19/being-green-in-a-tight-economy-part-i/ http://ecochildsplay.com/2008/10/19/being-green-in-a-tight-economy-part-i/#comments Mon, 20 Oct 2008 04:25:29 +0000 Jamie Ervin http://ecochildsplay.com/2008/10/19/being-green-in-a-tight-economy-part-i/ Right now, times are tight for most families. Gasoline and food costs are cutting into our budgets in a drastic manner. If you are one of the many who owns plunging stock, you are probably worried about the future.

So you may wonder, how can I be greener when I can’t afford the basics. This is the best time to learn to live simpler. Go back to the basics. This is the first in a series of simple steps to be greener and save green.

Image from Dreamstime.

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]]> http://ecochildsplay.com/2008/10/19/being-green-in-a-tight-economy-part-i/feed/ http://sustainablog.org/2008/10/17/its-hip-to-drink-tap-reasons-to-give-up-the-one-time-use-bottle/ http://sustainablog.org/2008/10/17/its-hip-to-drink-tap-reasons-to-give-up-the-one-time-use-bottle/#comments Fri, 17 Oct 2008 18:53:26 +0000 Robin Shreeves http://sustainablog.org/2008/10/17/its-hip-to-drink-tap-reasons-to-give-up-the-one-time-use-bottle/ I try not to eco-judge people. But recently, I’ve been silently judging people at the grocery store with cases of water at the bottom of their cart. And there are a few friends of mine who I’ve thought about lecturing, but I don’t because I know there is no better way to turn someone off than to lecture.

Still, if one of my friends asked me about my views on bottled water, I’d be happy to tell them they should stop buying them. Here’s why.

1. Bottled water costs a ridiculous amount of money. According to Food & Water Watch,  the national average cost for a gallon of tap water in the U.S. is .002 cents. The national average cost for a gallon of bottled water is anywhere from .89 cents to $8.26 per gallon.
   Even at it’s least expensive, bottled water is 224% more expensive than tap. I can’t think of a single other item the average American would pay 224% more for when it was unnecessary, can you?

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   ]]> http://sustainablog.org/2008/10/17/its-hip-to-drink-tap-reasons-to-give-up-the-one-time-use-bottle/feed/ http://ecochildsplay.com/2008/10/16/toxic-chemicals-in-wal-marts-bottled-water/ http://ecochildsplay.com/2008/10/16/toxic-chemicals-in-wal-marts-bottled-water/#comments Fri, 17 Oct 2008 00:21:14 +0000 Derek Markham http://ecochildsplay.com/2008/10/16/toxic-chemicals-in-wal-marts-bottled-water/ Myth: Drinking bottled water is safer than drinking tap water.

   Truth: You are being ripped off, and then poisoned, by drinking bottled water from unknown sources.

   Recently found in bottled drinking water: Trihalomethanes, Haloacetic acids, Nitrates, Ammonia, Acetaldehyde, Hexane, Toluene, bacterial contamination, Arsenic, radioactivity contamination (and more…)

   Not the sort of chemical cocktail you had in mind when you bought bottled water at the grocery store, now is it?

   The results of a two year study by the Environmental Working Group (EWG) were recently released, detailing the lab tests of 10 brands of bottled drinking water from 8 different states in the US.

   The report is shocking.

   38 different chemical pollutants were detected, with an average of 8 contaminants per brand. One-third of the chemicals they found are not even regulated in drinking water. Some brands, like Sam’s Choice (Wal Mart) and Acadia (Giant) contained cancer-causing chemicals at levels exceeding the standards for safety set by the Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986.

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   ]]> http://ecochildsplay.com/2008/10/16/toxic-chemicals-in-wal-marts-bottled-water/feed/ http://planetsave.com/blog/2008/10/15/toxic-bottled-water-at-wal-mart/ http://planetsave.com/blog/2008/10/15/toxic-bottled-water-at-wal-mart/#comments Wed, 15 Oct 2008 16:52:58 +0000 Meg Hamill http://planetsave.com/blog/2008/10/15/toxic-bottled-water-at-wal-mart/ The Environmental Working Group (EWG) tested ten brands of bottled water and found that Wal-Mart’s “Sam’s Choice” contained chemical levels higher than is legal in California, and exceeding voluntary limits set by the industry.

   

   The study found that 10 popular brands of bottled water, purchased from grocery stores and other retailers in 9 states and the District of Columbia, contained 38 chemical pollutants altogether, with an average of 8 contaminants in each brand.  The group is not disclosing most of the brand names at this point, but did single out Wal Mart’s “Sam’s Choice,” as a brand to be wary of.

   The Environmental Working Group found that some of the Sam’s Choice bottled water bought from stores in Mountain View and Oakland, California, came from the Las Vegas Valley Water District’s public water supply, which is sometimes chlorinated.  Scott Huntley, a spokesman for the Las Vegas Valley Water District, said he had no knowledge that Wal-Mart was using Las Vegas’s water supply for bottling.

   On Tuesday, the Environmental Working Group filed a notice to sue Wal-Mart, stating that the chain did not effectively warn the public about the health risks of their bottled water.

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   ]]> http://planetsave.com/blog/2008/10/15/toxic-bottled-water-at-wal-mart/feed/ http://sustainablog.org/2008/10/14/do-you-know-your-water-footprint-find-out-at-new-h20-calculator-website/ http://sustainablog.org/2008/10/14/do-you-know-your-water-footprint-find-out-at-new-h20-calculator-website/#comments Tue, 14 Oct 2008 23:08:06 +0000 Nayelli Gonzalez http://sustainablog.org/2008/10/14/do-you-know-your-water-footprint-find-out-at-new-h20-calculator-website/

   Most of us know something about carbon footprints. In fact, some of us may have already taken measures to reduce the hypothetical size of our footprints–from walking or riding a bicycle instead of driving, to purchasing carbon credits to reduce the impact of our carbon emissions. But many of us may have never thought about our water footprint. The new website H20 Conserve allows users to calculate their water footprint and gain insights on how most people waste water and how to conserve this precious natural resource.

   Despite my interest in water issues, I have never calculated my water footprint, so I decided to check out the website. According to the site, my individual water use is 1,073.25 gallons per day (yikes!). In comparison, the average American uses 1,190.5 gallons of water per day. I also learned that it takes 24 gallons of water to make a single pound of plastic, over a hundred gallons to make a pound of cotton, and that a single dripping faucet can add up to 20 gallons of water lost each day.

   In addition to the interactive H20 calculator, the website also offers a list of practical water saving tips, an information guide on relevant water topics, and a glossary of important water-related terms. The site also provides links to educational resources for elementary and high school classrooms. These tools can certainly empower individuals to make water conservation part of their everyday lives.

   “By allowing visitors to calculate their water footprint, including the water they use at home, the water used to produce their food, energy and household products, we hope to get people thinking about water in a whole new way,” commented Wenonah Hauter, Executive Director of Food & Water Watch, in a press release.

   H20 Conserve is the product of collaboration among several public interest organizations committed to water conservation, including Food & Water Watch, GRACE, and The John Hopkins Center for a Livable Future.

   Photo: H20 Conserve
   

   BWIB is marketing the package as more earth friendly, owing that it is made from trees, a “renewable resource.” Yet the word renewable has been disingenuously applied to trees and forests in greenwash circles, as it is here.

   To put it another way, trees are renewable the same way the vegetables in your home garden are. That is, you can pick all your tomatoes in one day, eat some, give some away, and hurl the rest at passing SUVs. But you should not expect to return the next day, the next week, or perhaps even the following season to find your tomatoes magically renewed and growing plump on the vine. Growth takes time and effort - one of many valuable lessons gleaned from gardening.

   Trees require decades to mature enough for use as wood, paper products, etc. The machinery invented a century ago gave humankind the ability to fell even the most robust trees in minutes. To do the math here requires no degree in forestry, but the simplest grasp of time and the laws of supply and demand.

   The bottled water industry has been facing pushback from other quarters in recent years, as community stakeholders have taken issue with the water below their feet literally being sucked dry by such companies. In Maine, a source point for Poland Spring water, a battle is ongoing to determine who exactly has the rights to aquifers deep beneath the soil.

   Bottled water companies may secure drilling rights in one area, but the water drawn from that point may spread out for miles in all directions beneath the soil’s surface. A good deal for bottlers. Not so good for the community above that well water that undoubtedly will need it someday .

   “Draaaaaaaaaainage! Drainage, Eli, you boy. Drained dry. I’m so sorry. Here, if you have a milkshake, and I have a milkshake, and I have a straw. There it is, that’s a straw, you see? You watching? And my straw reaches acroooooooss the room, and starts to drink your milkshake.

   I… drink… your… milkshake!”

   The exchange is among the more memorable in recent years, from the film “There Will Be Blood.”  It is the final edict of a rapacious oil baron who has literally drained many of his fellow countrymen dry of the oil beneath their feet.

   It is likely that many residents sitting atop aquifers would prefer to retain the rights to their milkshakes, to resist having them drained dry beneath them.  If you live near a lake, imagine a private water company draining and bottling it for sale. Yet this is being done in many areas, though those lakes are underground and unseen.

   In sum, the environmental cost in trees and water rights and landfill waste is far too high a price to be claimed as a victory with regard to our disposable container water usage.

   Boxed water may be slightly better than bottled, but tap water is still king.

   ]]> http://sustainablog.org/2008/10/14/do-you-know-your-water-footprint-find-out-at-new-h20-calculator-website/feed/