The Slagosphere

Take a plastic water bottle to your own hazard; the tide of social opinion is turning away from you. From popular rating documentaries, to the written word and political campaigns, the biggest debate in town is the problem of bottled water and the waste of resources the industry creates.

The producing, transporting and waste of water in petrochemical plastic bottles requires large use of water along with energy, and creates ridiculous amounts of greenhouse gases and waste.

Director of the new documentary ‘Tapped: get off the bottle’ Stephanie Soechtig claims “1500 water bottles end up in landfill every second – that’s 30 million water bottles a day! We wanted to show people just how much waste is generated by bottled water.” The team behind Tapped are promoting the show with their across-America roadshow, taking sponsorships from Americans to lower their water bottle abuse and changing their used plastic water bottle in exchange for a reusable stainless steel bottle. Download Tapped from Amazon or iTunes.

A short film ‘The Story of Bottled Water’ was released on World Water Day in March. From Annie Leonard of the famous ‘The Story of Stuff’, this short film explores the methodology that amounts to swaying Americans into buying over five hundred million bottles of water a week, compared with a few cents cost for clean tap water. Check out her animation on You Tube.

In her book ‘Bottlemania’, investigator Elizabeth Royte explores one of the greatest marketing takeovers of this century and provides a strong environmental alarm bell. She asks the problems we must at some point respond to. Who distributes the water distribution? What can happen when a bottled-water company possesses your town’s drinking water? Is the water that comes from your tap completely safe? What really is the environmental factor of making, transporting and disposing of every plastic water bottle?

Politicians from around the nation are beginning to realise that they must take action – particularly when the buildings where they work are huge consumers of bottled water. How often do we witness a politician in a conference drinking from a water bottle. Why can’t they might locate a water glass in Parliament House.

Leslie Samuelrich of Corporate Accountability International, said “Cities and states are spending hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars on bottled water, and that’s not to mention what’s spent to deal with all the plastic bottles that are thrown out.”

In July 2009, the NSW rural town of Bundanoon became the first place in Australia to stop the retail of bottled water. Around 60 places in the United States and a handful of cities in Canada and the UK have at this point ceased spending taxpayer dollars on bottled water.

Surely these dilemmas will be tabled at World Water Week 2010 from September 5 to 11 in Stockholm, Sweden, the annual meeting for the globe’s most current water-related problems.

Article written by Tracey Bailey, founder of Biome Eco Stores.

Uncategorized water bottle

You are doing the right thing for the planet by filling up at home and carrying a reusable water bottle and you’ve chosen a safe, non-toxic bottle-but if it’s not kept clean then it may not be healthy.

Whether your drink bottle is a stainless steel bottle, SIGG bottle or a BPA free plastic water bottle, it is important to stop mould and other deposits forming in the bottle.

Wash your drink bottles with warm, soapy water at the end of every day and let the bottle air dry upside down with the top off every day where possible.

Should any mineral deposits or lime scale form inside, fill your clean water bottle with Distilled White Vinegar and let it soak for 24 hours. Then rinse with warm water mixed with one tablespoon of bicarbonate of soda (baking soda), rinse out and let dry. Spots inside the bottle that look like “corrosion” are most likely a mineral deposit.

Fill your bottle with filtered water wherever possible. It tastes so much better, but also because water contains different minerals in every area this may affect what happens inside your bottle.

Do not allow liquids such as fruit juice to ferment inside the bottle.

With all reusable water bottles you can also try SIGG cleaning tablets and a specially-designed SIGG bottle cleaning brush, or simply a baby bottle brush. Only ever use a soft brush on aluminium bottles with lining like SIGG so as not to damage the lining. Stainless steel water bottles like Klean Kanteen and Nathan can handle a hard brush.

While all bottles are technically dishwasher-safe, it is recommended to not put them in a dishwasher. Most dishwasher powders are caustic, so they will eat into the metal of your bottle and damage the exterior pattern. Bottle tops should also not be put in the dishwasher because extreme heat expands and deteriorates the plastic.

Never freeze metal bottles as metal can split even with only a little water inside. Water does not always expand in a predictable direction! Freezing plastic water bottles is also not advisable because it may cause the plastic to breakdown and toxins to leach. It is fine to place your bottle in the refrigerator.

Tips on cleaning your water bottle brought to you by Biome Eco Stores Australia.

Uncategorized how to clean water bottle, SIGG, water bottle