By Kristen Chase •
January 11, 2009
With all the cold, overcast weather we’ve had here in Atlanta, I have to say we’ve time our vacation perfectly. Okay, so we actually had no choice in the matter thanks to my husband job, but still, heading to the beach in the dead of winter sounds practically perfect to me. So, in exactly one week (oh yes, I’m counting), I’ll be packing up my family of five and shoving off to a warm beach destination, which in the past has meant one gigantic eco nightmare.
Granted, it is vacation and so it’s going to be hard to keep things as green minded as I usually try to be, but thanks to so many exciting new products, it’s not that hard to go green on vacation.
Whether you’re flying off to an island resort, or just taking a long drive South for the winter, here are some great products that will help lessen your carbon footprint and still enjoy the sun and sand.
By Jennifer Kaplan •
December 18, 2008
…it’s the middle of day, and you’re running erands and you’re thirsty. You can buy a coffee or a cola but you want something healthy and refreshing, so you buy a nice cold bottle of water. Zero calories. Major hydration — it wakes you up! Any attempt by anyone to get people to drink less water is not in the public interest. Why are you targeting the packaged beverage with the smallest possible carbon fooprint? And it is clear people drink more water when they drink bottled water! At the end of day, there’s GREENSMOG…where anti-corporate types hide behind “saving the earth” to bash businesses because they hate capitalism.
First, I want to say that he has a point. From a public health perspective it is better to promote water that coffee or soda. But what about water fountains? What about Nalgenes and Siggs? That said, I have to admit Tom’s response actually made me roll my eyes. The Vice President of Communications for the bottled water industry thinks that we shouldn’t criticize…the bottled water industry. Surprise, surprise.
However, the part that really got me was how he made one good point and then, given the paucity of reasonable defenses, devolved into grade-school, 1950’s rhetoric: Anti-corporate types bashing businesses because they hate capitalism. Anti-corporate? Hate capitalism? Um, Tom, this is a blog about being an entrepreneur.
By Robin Shreeves •
October 17, 2008
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.
- 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?
By John Simonetta •
August 7, 2008
This is a guest post by John Simonetta, owner of ProformaGreen, an eco-friendly promotional items consultancy. John’s blogs are designed to keep us up to date on the “greening” of his industry.
Everyone knows that the plastic bottles for packaged water are bad for the environment and bad for your health. The promotional items industry knew this as well and seized on this to promote the reusable plastic bottles ubiquitous in gyms and office promotions.
Water bottles became big business for us. Then came the Bisphenol A scare.
Overnight plastic bottles were out. If you are in the business of promotions and brand management it really did not matter if the plastic water bottle your client had purchased in the past was made with Bisphenol A or not. All water bottles got painted with the same brush.
So what happened?
Well basically overnight, and industry wide, the plastic water bottle orders became steel or aluminum water bottle orders. And then - due to the rush, the tragic earthquake in China which was one of the main manufacturing areas for these items, and basic distribution issues - the aluminum water bottles sold out.
Editor’s note: We’re big fans of SIGG water bottles here at GO… I even bought them for the whole family for stocking stuffers last Christmas. Joel at Life Goggles provided some great details about these eco-friendly bottles last week. This post was originally published on Thursday, February 21, 2008. (Disclosure: SIGG has advertised on the GO Media network)
The reduction in the use of plastic bottles in our lives is an aim I think most of us share. It’s all too easy to pick up a new plastic bottle of water rather than carrying your own, over 100m in the US alone are ending up in landfills every day. There are a few schools of thought, using aluminum bottles, steel bottles or corn based biodegradable plastic bottles (with or without a water filter). This review looks at one of those choices, a SIGG aluminum water bottle.
It’s an aluminum bottle. That’s pretty much it, it carries about 1 litre of liquid and does a fine job of it. At about 22.5cm (9 inches) in height, not including the cap (more about them in a minute) it’s a decent size to use on a walk, picnic, or gym, and just about fits in an average car cup holder. The bottles are fully recyclable at the end of their, probably long, life.
Who are SIGG? SIGG Switzerland dates back to 1908 when metal processing specialist Ferdinand Sigg established an aluminum product factory about 30 kilometers outside of Zurich. Still manufactured in Switzerland, they’ve been called the world’s toughest water bottles. Available in 144 designs with 22 bottle lids, some of the bottles are also displayed in the Museum of Modern Art in New York. SIGG is also a member of 1% For The Planet - donating 1% of all sales to helping to preserve our environment.
By Rebecca Carter •
January 8, 2007
Heading out of the house? Don’t forget to BYOB. We’re talking about beverages, yes, but in your own bottle.
You know that the second you walk out that door you’ll get thirsty. That means you’ll want to stop somewhere to pick up a bottle of water or maybe a soda or coffee. Unfortunately, each of these drinks will come in their own container, be it a plastic bottle, aluminum can, or paper cup.
Recycling is
[...]
With all the cold, overcast weather we’ve had here in Atlanta, I have to say we’ve time our vacation perfectly. Okay, so we actually had no choice in the matter thanks to my husband job, but still, heading to the beach in the dead of winter sounds practically perfect to me. So, in exactly one week (oh yes, I’m counting), I’ll be packing up my family of five and shoving off to a warm beach destination, which in the past has meant one gigantic eco nightmare.
