Hopefully everyone reading this participated in Earth Hour and turned their lights off between 8 and 9 on Saturday night. I know I did and it was actually kind of fun and not a bother at all. I mean, although I didn't get to watch the NCAA game, we all played cards under the candlelight and had a great night! If you didn't partake, hopefully you were at least aware of Earth Hour. An update for those of you that participated and those that didn't: Although not all of the numbers have been calculated, Toronto alone saved about 264 MegaWatts of energy which is equivalent to 175,000 households! Woot!Woot! Go Toronto!!
You can check out all of the other information and results at http://www.earthhour.org
Monday, March 31, 2008
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Bottled Water
I am just going to throw my opinion out right at the beginning and get it over with: I think bottled water is the second stupidest invention of all time behind weapons of mass destruction. Ok, now to the non-biased facts!
I couldn't figure out how to get all of the terribleness that bottled water contributes to in one post so I've separated it into a few. Also, I've tried to filter all of the information that is out there down to numbers that most people can relate to: I hope this helps.
In short, bottled water is destroying the environment, taking water away from those truly in need, and taking money out of your wallet for something that is free!
Sarah and all you other goofs who pay for tap water in a bottle, prepare to feel extreme guilty (if you have any sort of conscience that is :) .
I couldn't figure out how to get all of the terribleness that bottled water contributes to in one post so I've separated it into a few. Also, I've tried to filter all of the information that is out there down to numbers that most people can relate to: I hope this helps.
In short, bottled water is destroying the environment, taking water away from those truly in need, and taking money out of your wallet for something that is free!
Sarah and all you other goofs who pay for tap water in a bottle, prepare to feel extreme guilty (if you have any sort of conscience that is :) .
Bottled Water: the environment
There really shouldn’t be any doubt in people’s minds about the fact that bottled water is bad for the environment. It works out to roughly 1,000,000 tons of plastic that is being wasted unnecessarily. Approximately 70,000,000 PET bottles end up being dumped in North American landfills every year.
What most people do not think of is the production of this plastic and the transportation of this water (from one place with clean tap water to another with clean tap water). Last year alone, over 3 billion litres of oil was used to make the bottles. This does not include the transportation of the bottles after they are produced. That is equivalent to adding over 1.5 million cars to the road.
Then there is the energy required to produce these bottles. It takes around 3.4 megajoules to make a typical one-litre plastic bottle, cap and packaging. Using the average annual household energy consumption for the US in 2001, this works out to the same amount of energy as 3.2 million households for a year.
What most people do not think of is the production of this plastic and the transportation of this water (from one place with clean tap water to another with clean tap water). Last year alone, over 3 billion litres of oil was used to make the bottles. This does not include the transportation of the bottles after they are produced. That is equivalent to adding over 1.5 million cars to the road.
Then there is the energy required to produce these bottles. It takes around 3.4 megajoules to make a typical one-litre plastic bottle, cap and packaging. Using the average annual household energy consumption for the US in 2001, this works out to the same amount of energy as 3.2 million households for a year.
Bottled Water: humanity
I am not going to attempt to believe that the horrible inequality in this world will ever end. However, when something as completely free and plentiful as water is being hoarded by the wealthy it becomes a little excessive.
Globally, an estimated $100 billion US are spent every year on bottled water. Yet it would only take $30 billion to halve the number of people who do not have ready access to clean, safe, drinking water, and achieve one of the Millennium Development Goals established by the UN in 2000 (Earth Policy Institute, 2006).
Last year, the US alone drank 36 billion litres of bottled water. This figure does not include the 6 times that amount that is used to produce this bottled water.
6,000 children die everyday because they don’t have access to clean drinking water. They only need 2 litres per day to survive so that is 12,000 litres needed per day to prevent these unnecessary deaths. That works out to 4.36 million litres.
If you do the math, this means that last year alone, the US DRANK (not including the 6 times this amount needed for the production of the bottles) 8219 times more water than is needed to prevent 2,190,000 children from dying. One year’s worth of bottled water drank by rich, fat Americans (who have access to free, clean water in their kitchen) could save 2,190,000 children from dying for 8219 years.
Globally, an estimated $100 billion US are spent every year on bottled water. Yet it would only take $30 billion to halve the number of people who do not have ready access to clean, safe, drinking water, and achieve one of the Millennium Development Goals established by the UN in 2000 (Earth Policy Institute, 2006).
Last year, the US alone drank 36 billion litres of bottled water. This figure does not include the 6 times that amount that is used to produce this bottled water.
6,000 children die everyday because they don’t have access to clean drinking water. They only need 2 litres per day to survive so that is 12,000 litres needed per day to prevent these unnecessary deaths. That works out to 4.36 million litres.
If you do the math, this means that last year alone, the US DRANK (not including the 6 times this amount needed for the production of the bottles) 8219 times more water than is needed to prevent 2,190,000 children from dying. One year’s worth of bottled water drank by rich, fat Americans (who have access to free, clean water in their kitchen) could save 2,190,000 children from dying for 8219 years.
Bottled Water: quality
A large misconception that most bottled water companies are happy consumers have is the idea that bottled water is actually better for you. Well, most of the time this simply isn't the case. Over 40% of bottled water is actually straight from the tap. Sometimes bottled water is even worse for you: The Environmental Law Foundation has sued eight bottlers for using words such as "pure" to market water that contains bacteria, arsenic and chlorine. Now for some fun facts about the regulations on bottled water:
According to the NRDC study, "Even when bottled waters are covered by the FDA's specific bottled water standards, those rules are weaker in many ways than EPA rules that apply to big-city tap water." For instance, if we compare EPA regulations for tap water to the FDA's bottled water rules (these examples are quotes from the NRDC report):
* City tap water can have no confirmed E. coli or fecal coliform bacteria. FDA bottled water rules include no such prohibition (a certain amount of any type of coliform bacteria is allowed in bottled water).
* City tap water, from surface water, must be filtered and disinfected. In contrast, there are no federal filtration or disinfection requirements for bottled water.
* Most cities using surface water have had to test for Cryptosporidium or Giardia, two common water pathogens that can cause diarrhea and other intestinal problems, yet bottled water companies do not have to do this.
* City tap water must meet standards for certain important toxic or cancer-causing chemicals, such as phthalate (a chemical that can leach from plastic, including plastic bottles); some in the industry persuaded the FDA to exempt bottled water from the regulations regarding these chemicals.
According to the NRDC study, "Even when bottled waters are covered by the FDA's specific bottled water standards, those rules are weaker in many ways than EPA rules that apply to big-city tap water." For instance, if we compare EPA regulations for tap water to the FDA's bottled water rules (these examples are quotes from the NRDC report):
* City tap water can have no confirmed E. coli or fecal coliform bacteria. FDA bottled water rules include no such prohibition (a certain amount of any type of coliform bacteria is allowed in bottled water).
* City tap water, from surface water, must be filtered and disinfected. In contrast, there are no federal filtration or disinfection requirements for bottled water.
* Most cities using surface water have had to test for Cryptosporidium or Giardia, two common water pathogens that can cause diarrhea and other intestinal problems, yet bottled water companies do not have to do this.
* City tap water must meet standards for certain important toxic or cancer-causing chemicals, such as phthalate (a chemical that can leach from plastic, including plastic bottles); some in the industry persuaded the FDA to exempt bottled water from the regulations regarding these chemicals.
Bottled Water: your wallet
Here's one for all of you unfortunate people who are unaffected by the other posts about how ridiculous bottled water is when you consider the environment and other people's lives.
If you drink the recommended 64 ounces of water a day and all of that water comes from bottled water, that is approximately 700 litres/year. Now, if you buy the cheapest case of water that I have been told is out there (4.99/24) that works out to $332/year on bottled water. A brita filter and a nalgene bottle would cost you a mere $32.
Thats $300 you would have to spend on other shit!! Doesn't seem like much? Over the course of 60 years that works out to $18,000 extra that you spent for something that is free. In my mind, that would be like paying $18,000 for the snow outside and I don't think anyone would argue that makes any sense!
Here are some alternatives:
Kleen Kanteen stainless steel water bottle w/ cap, 27 fluid ounces
($17.95; www.kleankanteen.com)
MLS Stainless Steel Thermos Bottle, 1 liter ($22.16; www.mls-group.com)
Nissan Thermos FBB500 Briefcase Bottle, 1pt
($35; www.coffee-makers-espresso-machines.com)
Sigg resin coated aluminum sport bottle, 25 ounces ($19.99; www.mysigg.com)
Platypus #5 polypropylene 2+collapsible water bottle, 2.4 liters ($9.95; www.rei.com)
Nalgene HDPE Loop-Top Bottle, 16 ounces ($4.53; www.nalgene-outdoor.com)
If you drink the recommended 64 ounces of water a day and all of that water comes from bottled water, that is approximately 700 litres/year. Now, if you buy the cheapest case of water that I have been told is out there (4.99/24) that works out to $332/year on bottled water. A brita filter and a nalgene bottle would cost you a mere $32.
Thats $300 you would have to spend on other shit!! Doesn't seem like much? Over the course of 60 years that works out to $18,000 extra that you spent for something that is free. In my mind, that would be like paying $18,000 for the snow outside and I don't think anyone would argue that makes any sense!
Here are some alternatives:
Kleen Kanteen stainless steel water bottle w/ cap, 27 fluid ounces
($17.95; www.kleankanteen.com)
MLS Stainless Steel Thermos Bottle, 1 liter ($22.16; www.mls-group.com)
Nissan Thermos FBB500 Briefcase Bottle, 1pt
($35; www.coffee-makers-espresso-machines.com)
Sigg resin coated aluminum sport bottle, 25 ounces ($19.99; www.mysigg.com)
Platypus #5 polypropylene 2+collapsible water bottle, 2.4 liters ($9.95; www.rei.com)
Nalgene HDPE Loop-Top Bottle, 16 ounces ($4.53; www.nalgene-outdoor.com)
Sunday, March 16, 2008
First Post
Hey everyone. So the main reason I started this blog is just to talk about stuff that's going on in the world to make people aware. I find that a lot of issues I find important such as saving the environment and battling world hunger are not fully understood by the majority of people, especially kids my age. This is just the medium for me to get the facts out there, and that is all I plan to do. Take my personal opinions with a grain of salt. I will mostly just try and get the truth down and let people make their own educated decisions and opinions about the various issues. Please remember that I am not a reporter and although I will work hard to make sure everything I write here is valid ... the information here will only be as good as the various sources (mostly internet) that I get it from. Hopefully I will be able to teach the readers of this blog something new and get them to look at things from a different perspective. The human 'race' is not one that can be won by individuals but will only end once everyone can be running together in unison, all at the same speed.
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