Posts
Check it out.
Dave
Showing posts with label Plastic Bottles. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Plastic Bottles. Show all posts
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
Sigg contains BPA afterall
There are people out there who say that BPA isn't a problem, and as far as I'm concerned, it's academic in this case. The bottom line to me is that they were not honest about their product with consumers.
I used to carry a Sigg bottle and even talked with some folks at the company back in February of last year. But after some research, I decided that i'd be happier with a stainless steel bottle than an aluminum one with the coating. While Sigg states that they have extensively tested these coatings, my thought has always been "Why take a chance?".
According to the president of the company, Steve Wasik, the bottles in question are pre 2008 and you can figure out if you have one and see a list of FAQ here. In addition, if you want to email Steve himself, he can be reached at steve.wasik.ceo(at)sigg.com.
Supposedly they are accepting returns of BPA bottles but I can't find any info. I'll post it up when I do.
Dave
Update: The Sigg Bottle Return Site is http://mysigg.com/bulletin/exchange_program.html. You ahve to get your bottles in by 10/31 and you are required to pay to ship it to them.
Monday, August 31, 2009
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
And A Little Town Shall Lead Them
Did you hear the news? Finally, a government led by the people has stood up and said “no” to plastic water bottles and the environmental degradation they cause. And may I say, it’s about time.
The small town of Bundanoon in New South Wales Australia voted last week to officially ban the sale of plastic water bottles from within the cities limits. The 350 residents who turned out to vote (a record by some accounts) agreed almost unanimously with two residents voting no; a gentlemen worried that the ban would increase soda usage, and another resident who just so happens to be a member of the plastic water bottle industry (shocking, no?).
This is huge. Not because of all the “As Bundanoon goes so goes the world” bumper stickers that everyone has seen all these years. And not because this, as a single act, will impact the water bottle industry all that much. But simply because this small group of people stood up and said, this isn’t ok with us anymore, and we’re not going to put up with it. It’s a huge start and as an indication, the town has been inundated by reporters and tourists seeking more information, and perhaps wanting to be a part of the start of the end.
OK. I just read back on all of that and I’m all over the place, so I’m grabbing a glass of tap water (dear lord, not tap water), taking a few deep breaths and I’ll be back in a minute.
There we go, and my apologies, it’s just that I’ve been waiting for this to happen for a while and am so psyched that it has occurred in a town such a Bundanoon. You see, contrary to what you might think, it’s not a town of Uber Hippies looking to drop out, but of ordinary every day citizens who got upset when a Sydney based beverage company announced plans to tap an underground aquifer, siphon off their water, bottle it, and then potentially sell it back to them down the road.
The great thing is that they didn’t just do this and hope everybody was ok with it. Instead, they looked at the establishments in town that would lose revenue and came up with a solution. Instead of selling bottled water, they’d sell reusable containers that can be filled up around town for free or for a small fee, at filtered stations in certain stores. So essentially, they had everything to gain, and not much to lose.
While Bundanoon is a small example of what needs to be done, we can look at them and realize that we are all in the same boat. Is someone tapping the water you are paying 1000 times more than tap water for and then selling it back to you? Most likely not, but having said that, they are tapping someone’s water somewhere and that makes you responsible. Not only for the plastic and all the problems associated with the bottles, but for depleting someone else’s water source so you can buy something that for a good many of us reading this, comes into our house practically free and clean. Today it’s Fiji, tomorrow it’s Pittsburgh.
As always, I’ll head a few folks off at the pass and point out that I am only speaking to those of us who live in residences that have clean running water. If you are looking at this piece on your computer, chances are better than not that this means you.
So is it going to take a multinational corporation buying up our water rights for us to stand up and say enough? Or should we all stand up now, join in with Bundanoon and just say no. I know where I stand.
Finally, if you think this won’t have an impact, the government of New South Wales has just announced their own plans to stem the sale of plastic water bottles. Let the ripples begin.
“Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the life of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends a tiny ripple of hope, and those ripples, crossing each other from a million different centers of energy, build a current which can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance.” Senator Robert F. Kennedy
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
EWG's Bottled Water Study
The Envirnmental Working Group just released a study of major bottled water brands that is worth a look.
Check it out.
Dave
"Unlike tap water, where consumers are provided with test results every year, the bottled water industry does not disclose the results of any contaminant testing that it conducts. Instead, the industry hides behind the claim that bottled water is held to the same safety standards as tap water. But with promotional campaigns saturated with images of mountain springs, and prices 1,900 times the price of tap water, consumers are clearly led to believe that they are buying a product that has been purified to a level beyond the water that comes out of the garden hose.
To the contrary, our tests strongly indicate that the purity of bottled water cannot be trusted. Given the industry's refusal to make available data to support their claims of superiority, consumer confidence in the purity of bottled water is simply not justified."
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Plastic Free Alternatives For Food
Check out NoPlastic.Ca for cool non plastic alternatives to food storage and transpo. They carry water bottles, flasks, kids items, and more. A lot of the stuff is Stainless, but most importantly, NO PLASTIC!
Dave
Saturday, October 18, 2008
Plastic Water Bottles, Kids Parties, And Being Different
My kids don't drink out of plastic water bottles. That's not to say that they have never done so, or that they never will again. It's just that early in this year, as my awareness grew to the problems at hand, we decided to get them some stainless steel bottles that were small and had cute little designs on them. They took them to school and not only did they like them, but most of their friends liked them so much that they asked their parents for them, and as a result, the water bottles coming into the classroom are much less than they used to be.
While this works most of the time, we generally fill the bottles up and bring them with us and our kids think nothing of drinking clean LA tap water, it's not foolproof. Take last Thursday.
I went to a party with my daughter at one of her friends house. As is usually the case, I had my backpack and had packed her water bottle for her along with some other things like a cool little plastic set of cutlery she likes which she can use when she has cake if she wants to.
We got there and she started running around with her friends and having a good time. She's 4 so we're still at the point where parents stay, so I sat down and started talking to a few of the other folks I knew there. About 5 minutes later, she came over and asked for some water so I pulled out her bottle, handed it to her, she took a big swig and off she went.
Another 5 minutes or so passed and again, she asked for water, but this time, she didn't want her cool bottle. Instead she pointed to the crate of small water bottles that all the other kids were grabbing from.
Now i know what you are thinking, that my heart sank, that i took her home, that i couldn't bring myself to do it. But actually, quite to the contrary, I reached over, grabbed her one, cracked it open, and gave it to her, much to the shock of some of the folks who know me fairly well and what i've been up to.
Don't get me wrong, it bugs me to have her drinking from plastic, health implications not being my only concern, but that said, life is not an all or nothing game. Even at 4 she gets that drinking out of steel is smarter than plastic (and cooler) but at the same time, she wants to be like her friends. At school she has made that happen, at home parties it can be another story.
Why am i writing this. Partly because it pains me to add a plastic water bottle to the basement, but moreso to throw the idea out there that we all need to do the best we can and recognize that an occasional slip up doesn't nullify everything else we are doing. Life is about steps and as long as the overall path leads forward, we're on the right track.
Allright, jumping down off my soapbox. I've got clean up duty down in the basement, and then I need to play subliminal anti plastic cds in my daughters room for a few hours (I kid).
Dave
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Enough With the Plastic Water Bottles Already
Monday, September 15, 2008
Monday, September 1, 2008
Junk Arrives in Hawaii!!!!
This is way overdue but a massive congrats to Marcus, Joel and Anna for the successful arrival of their boat Junk in Hawaii last Tuesday! 86 days, 2600 miles, and a whole lot of seasickness pills. Amazing! This picture is from the front of the national paper in India so I guess to say that their voyage was successful would be an understatement.
I'm posting their arrival post below but you can also check it out here.
Dave
JUNK has arrived safely, to a throng of cheering supporters, journalists, and videographers. After a few hours of interviews, the crew headed out for a much deserved lunch of FRESH FOOD and drink.
Photos coming of the arrival as soon as we've all settled into the land reality. Meantime, some final thoughts from Marcus and Joel:
At 1:00 am I took the helm, as Joel climbed into the cabin to sleep after having been on watch for 8 hours. A squall quickly overcame JUNK and left me and the deck drenched. The moon shot out from behind the clouds, illuminating the backside of the storm. By the light of the moon, a complete rainbow appeared. I’ve never seen one at night. I’ve 8 hours to keep the raft on a steady course for Honolulu, which is now only 40 miles away. There is so much to think about, so much to do, but still plenty of time to let my mind wander and ponder on this voyage. It’s been a long summer.
2,600 miles of open ocean crossed in 87 days. From our first week of sinking hopes on a sinking raft, through four hurricanes that swept under us, to the unbelievable chance meeting with Roz Savage in the middle of nowhere, we have had quite an adventure. We’ve collected 10 ocean surface samples using our marine debris trawl, managed to snatch a few large pieces of plastic debris that floated under us, and caught fish with stomachs filled with particles of plastic. Plastic is forever, and it’s everywhere.
That’s been our point. The Synthetic Century should have ended 8 years ago, replaced by the Age of Sustainability. There are over 20,000 man-made chemicals produced by the billions of pounds annually that are dispersed throughout the globe in an open loop of consumption that often ends as waste to be buried, burned or to flow down coastal watersheds out to sea. It is unsustainable and deeply troubling knowing that many synthetic compounds are persistent in the environment and are harmful to wildlife and humans. Plastic marine debris is one of them, and is the most ubiquitous form of pollution visible around the world. It is clear that single-use disposable plastic products have no place in modern society.
We return to society tomorrow if all goes well, to the world of alarm clocks, calendars, cars and shoes. Three months is enough time to forget the world you left and accept a new reality. But not everything is forgotten. I long for my friends, family and fiancée. I crave fresh veggies and exercise. In three months I wonder how I will reflect on this summer? Will there be days when I will find myself wishing to be back on JUNK, even if only for a minute? I don’t know what this experience will bring, but it is my intention to use it as a starting point for hundreds of conversations about solutions to the plastic plague. We have, in half a century, transformed 2/3rds of the ocean surface into a plastic soup. Knowing what I know, it would be immoral to do nothing.
As I watch the sun set on the final day at sea, I am overcome more with humility than excitement. I am truly humbled by the efforts of so many people that have made this journey a reality. Donations of time and funds came pouring in once we committed to this project, and thousands of people followed our story online. From an idea sketched on paper years ago, to the final miles of an amazing adventure, I can only say “Thank you.”
Best wishes,
Marcus
And for Joel's final words, read on:
Land oh! I spotted land this afternoon at 1:45 Hawaii Time. The flanks of Mount Haleakala were showing through the clouds on East Maui. It’s been 85 days since we were towed out of Rainbow Harbor in Long Beach and around two months since sailing away from Isla de Guadalupe, the last piece of land sighted.
Junk was built in Long Beach next to the mouth of the Los Angeles River. Everyday I was there working on Junk the tide would push plastic debris into the harbor and remind me why as doing this. In the 2600 nautical miles since then we have observed all kinds of plastic debris floating and collected in the trawl. We have also watched a small school of fish, rainbow runners, that have been following Junk, grow from small fries with their egg sack attached to juveniles close to a foot in length. They too have traveled through the gyre gathering plastic debris. After catching one of the larger rainbow runners we looked in it’s stomach and found it was full of plastic bits including a pre-production plastic pellet or a nurdle. It gives me a profound sense that there is no place and no life form on earth that isn’t being affected by the on slot of synthetic chemicals that humans are releasing into the environment. It also brings home the point that planetary life support system works in cycles and we eventually learn (usually the hard way) that things we once though were benign directly affect human health and that there is no difference between environmental health and human health.
I am looking forward to being on land, but I’m staying focused on the task at hand, that is safely navigating Junk through the Kaiwi Channel between Molokai and Oahu and into the Ala Wai Harbor. The open ocean has it’s challenges but sailing close to land is often more dangerous. Kalaupapa Peninsula almost wrecked Don McFarland on his rafting voyage from California to Hawaii more than fifty years ago. We trying to stay at least 10 nautical miles north of Kalaupapa but not so far north that we get trapped on the windward side of Oahu and blown into the sea cliffs around Makapu’u. Right now the weather is perfect. We’re making our course dead-on and at this speed we should arrive at Diamond Head around noon.
Malaho for following the Junk Blog!
Joel
JUNK has arrived safely, to a throng of cheering supporters, journalists, and videographers. After a few hours of interviews, the crew headed out for a much deserved lunch of FRESH FOOD and drink.
Photos coming of the arrival as soon as we've all settled into the land reality. Meantime, some final thoughts from Marcus and Joel:
At 1:00 am I took the helm, as Joel climbed into the cabin to sleep after having been on watch for 8 hours. A squall quickly overcame JUNK and left me and the deck drenched. The moon shot out from behind the clouds, illuminating the backside of the storm. By the light of the moon, a complete rainbow appeared. I’ve never seen one at night. I’ve 8 hours to keep the raft on a steady course for Honolulu, which is now only 40 miles away. There is so much to think about, so much to do, but still plenty of time to let my mind wander and ponder on this voyage. It’s been a long summer.
2,600 miles of open ocean crossed in 87 days. From our first week of sinking hopes on a sinking raft, through four hurricanes that swept under us, to the unbelievable chance meeting with Roz Savage in the middle of nowhere, we have had quite an adventure. We’ve collected 10 ocean surface samples using our marine debris trawl, managed to snatch a few large pieces of plastic debris that floated under us, and caught fish with stomachs filled with particles of plastic. Plastic is forever, and it’s everywhere.
That’s been our point. The Synthetic Century should have ended 8 years ago, replaced by the Age of Sustainability. There are over 20,000 man-made chemicals produced by the billions of pounds annually that are dispersed throughout the globe in an open loop of consumption that often ends as waste to be buried, burned or to flow down coastal watersheds out to sea. It is unsustainable and deeply troubling knowing that many synthetic compounds are persistent in the environment and are harmful to wildlife and humans. Plastic marine debris is one of them, and is the most ubiquitous form of pollution visible around the world. It is clear that single-use disposable plastic products have no place in modern society.
We return to society tomorrow if all goes well, to the world of alarm clocks, calendars, cars and shoes. Three months is enough time to forget the world you left and accept a new reality. But not everything is forgotten. I long for my friends, family and fiancée. I crave fresh veggies and exercise. In three months I wonder how I will reflect on this summer? Will there be days when I will find myself wishing to be back on JUNK, even if only for a minute? I don’t know what this experience will bring, but it is my intention to use it as a starting point for hundreds of conversations about solutions to the plastic plague. We have, in half a century, transformed 2/3rds of the ocean surface into a plastic soup. Knowing what I know, it would be immoral to do nothing.
As I watch the sun set on the final day at sea, I am overcome more with humility than excitement. I am truly humbled by the efforts of so many people that have made this journey a reality. Donations of time and funds came pouring in once we committed to this project, and thousands of people followed our story online. From an idea sketched on paper years ago, to the final miles of an amazing adventure, I can only say “Thank you.”
Best wishes,
Marcus
And for Joel's final words, read on:
Land oh! I spotted land this afternoon at 1:45 Hawaii Time. The flanks of Mount Haleakala were showing through the clouds on East Maui. It’s been 85 days since we were towed out of Rainbow Harbor in Long Beach and around two months since sailing away from Isla de Guadalupe, the last piece of land sighted.
Junk was built in Long Beach next to the mouth of the Los Angeles River. Everyday I was there working on Junk the tide would push plastic debris into the harbor and remind me why as doing this. In the 2600 nautical miles since then we have observed all kinds of plastic debris floating and collected in the trawl. We have also watched a small school of fish, rainbow runners, that have been following Junk, grow from small fries with their egg sack attached to juveniles close to a foot in length. They too have traveled through the gyre gathering plastic debris. After catching one of the larger rainbow runners we looked in it’s stomach and found it was full of plastic bits including a pre-production plastic pellet or a nurdle. It gives me a profound sense that there is no place and no life form on earth that isn’t being affected by the on slot of synthetic chemicals that humans are releasing into the environment. It also brings home the point that planetary life support system works in cycles and we eventually learn (usually the hard way) that things we once though were benign directly affect human health and that there is no difference between environmental health and human health.
I am looking forward to being on land, but I’m staying focused on the task at hand, that is safely navigating Junk through the Kaiwi Channel between Molokai and Oahu and into the Ala Wai Harbor. The open ocean has it’s challenges but sailing close to land is often more dangerous. Kalaupapa Peninsula almost wrecked Don McFarland on his rafting voyage from California to Hawaii more than fifty years ago. We trying to stay at least 10 nautical miles north of Kalaupapa but not so far north that we get trapped on the windward side of Oahu and blown into the sea cliffs around Makapu’u. Right now the weather is perfect. We’re making our course dead-on and at this speed we should arrive at Diamond Head around noon.
Malaho for following the Junk Blog!
Joel
Monday, June 30, 2008
US Mayors Vote To Ban Tax Payer Purchased Bottled Water
This is a huge step forward as 250 Mayors around the US have agreed to stop buying bottled water for their employees. According to the article in the Herald Tribune, that cities spend about $70 million a year to dispose of plastic water bottles. Wow. It's high time people started waking up to the fact that these things are not economical on any level and basically make no sense.
Dave
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
Junk Sets Sail For Hawaii
On Sunday my friends Marcus and Joel set sail for Hawaii on their raft made of and named "Junk". The raft came together quite nicely and they set sail (or more accurately were towed out of the harbor) with the full confidence of the crew and crowd of about 300 who came out to wish them well. One of the cool attendees, shown in the video above, was a guy who sailed across the pacific back in the 50s on a homemade raft. Cool stuff.
Dave
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Before and After
Doing some spring cleaning today and I came across this pic I snapped in a hotel room a few months back. It's a bottle of Fiji water (I was in California) that sells for $7 next to a sample of water from the North Pacific Gyre which contains a bottle cap remarkably similar to the one on the bottle. The irony is that 5 feet away there was a sink that i drank out of for free the entire time I was there.
Dave
Tuesday, January 1, 2008
Day 1 8:35 PM
8:35 PM
Ok, at this point, I've pretty much gotten through my first day. I started off with something that I knew would be a problem, dog poop.
Biscuit, who I happen to think is the greatest dog in the world, starts off every morning by doing her business on a short walk, and I realized way back when I started this that this would be one of my first problems. We have been using BioBags for her for quite some time now and they are compostable and biodegradable. Having said that, I started off day one by depositing the aforementioned bag in the trash bin. Like I said in the rules, certain things for health reasons right? That said, I vaguely recall some sort of dog poop composting system out there so I'll have to look into that. I won't mention this again, but suffice it to say, one of these a day (at least) will be part of my waste footprint.
As for the rest of the day, here's what I accumulated.
- 1 dead 15 watt fridge light bulb - Not much to do with this so in the basement it goes.
- 1 package from new 15 watt light bulb - Cut up the cardboard for the composter and I'm going to see what can be done with the plastic front and what it's made out of. More to come on this.
- 7 paper towels- We went to the beach and my three year old and five year old had to use the bathroom several times (amazing how that happens). I instinctively went to throw the paper towels away, realized I couldn't and packed em home. Now before everyone emails me, these were hand towels that simply dried clean hands. Tore them up and put them in the composter.
- 1 plastic orange juice bottle - my wife bought me this as a New Years breakfast surprise, so down to the recycling pile it goes.
- 1 paper table covering - we ate out and they had one of those white paper thingies on the table. Too much in the composter today, but I'll add this down the line.
- 1 plasticy band-aid wrapper and the two plasticy adhesive covers (I have no idea what these things are made of but will have to find out)
- 1 plastic produce bag and 1 pound of granola - apparently the best dog in the world found the granola and decided to help herself. The granola will go into the composter over time, and the bag to the recycle bin in the basement as I fear it is not salvageable.
- 1 receipt - it'll end up in the composter
As a side note, my 5 year old asked me why I was taking the table covering and I explained what I was doing. She asked me why I didn't want to throw anything away and I explained to her that when we do that, it gets taken to a large hole in the ground so we can forget about it, but it still causes all sorts of problems. She pointed out that that didn't sound too smart.
If only kids rules the world.
See ya tomorrow.
dave
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
