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RedditI knew bottled water was a social ill but I didn't know how damaging it was until I saw an explosive and compelling new documentary called Tapped.
With style, verve and righteous anger, the film exposes the bottled water industry's role in suckering the public, harming our health, accelerating climate change, contributing to overall pollution, and increasing America's dependence on fossil fuels. All while gouging consumers with exorbitant and indefensible prices.
Claire Thompson summed up the problem well in her post on the movie at Grist:
"Not only is it [bottled water] a clear waste of resources (only 20 percent of plastic water bottles used in the United States are recycled, and far too many of the rest probably end up in the Pacific Garbage Patch), it's an incredible waste of money for consumers, who pay more than the price of gasoline for water that's marketed as "pure," but in reality is largely unregulated, full of harmful toxins like BPA, and far less safe for drinking than free tap water. (In fact, 40 percent of the time, bottled water is nothing but municipal tap water, freed from the government oversight that keeps it safe.)"
Watch the movie's powerful trailer.
The film's website lists where you can see the doc in the theater, and offers opportunities for hosting a screening of your own. (So far, it will be screened in a smattering of the coastal cities where you'd expect them to play.)
There's also a Facebook page for the film and, most importantly for readers of this blog, ample tips on how to get involved in the effort to wean America of its pernicious bottled water habit. The first thing to do is stop drinking bottled water and gently but firmly urge your friends and family to follow suit -- buying them a reusable thermos can be a useful incentive. You can also sign an online petition, tell Jennifer Aniston and Tom Brady to stop shilling for Smart Water, and call on Congress to adequately fund our water infrastructure, which in many regions consists largely of dilapidated, Civil War era-water and sewer pipes.
PS: If you have extra time on your hands and want to follow me on Twitter -- a micro-blog -- click here. You'll find (slightly) more personal posts, basketball, breaking news and lots of links.
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Peter Rothberg
Your guide to expressing informed dissent to war, racism, sexism, environmental degradation and market-based solutions to social problems.
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I lost this battle at home a long, long time ago!
I'd always drank straight from the tap or into a glass of ice....and now w/fancier refrigerators, still drink out of the tap via the freezer door's dispenser though it's now filtered.
I blame this entire bottled-water waste on Libs & the Hollywood set for whom, tap water just wasn't cool enough and started Perriering the country!
Posted by Happy at 08/05/2009 @ 11:46pm
I am not sure about bottled water. I guess you as a consuming adult with a brain could exercise your free choice and not buy it.
I am interested in the plastic patch. Maybe a small part of the stimulus bill could go toward sending a ship designed as a recycling plant out to the Pacific and harvest the patch and sell it to China. They buy recycled everything as they grow their economy snd ignore the globdl warming fraud.
The money could be found to build the ships(in a private ship yard creating union jobs)by canceling Nancy Pelosis new jets at $200 million and strap her fraudulent ass to one if the rowing seats in the manner of Ben Hur on one of the new ships. With 100 miles by 100 miles of plastic the jobs should last for years.
Maybe even ALGORE could invest some if his conmam $100 millions of indulgence sales profit into the project.
Posted by YourJomamma at 08/05/2009 @ 11:46pm
Why is there no science presented in your argument?
You seem to be unaware of how bad tap water can be in this country.
If bottled water came in glass containers like it used to most of your argument would go away.
When bottled water is delivered with electric cars and trucks almost all of your argument goes away.
That just leaves comparing the quality of the water.
You say that bottled water is far less safe than tap water but that is just a rash generalization that seems to imply that everywhere in the United States the water is of the same quality and is safe to drink.
Do you really believe that? Have you tested it all? Have you tasted it all?
It sounds to me that you are trying to bully your way into a campaign much like George W. Bush did for the Iraq war with just about as many bad facts.
Come back when you have most of the world's scientists and nutritionists on your side, like we did for climate change.
Posted by guitarsandmore805 at 08/05/2009 @ 11:52pm
Not all tap water is as pure as you claim. Come to AZ and taste the swill that comes out of the tap; you will run for the bottled stuff in a heart beat.
When we have guests from out of state, we let them decide for themselves; they all choose the bottled stuff.
Don't be so sure everyone has the same situation as you; and don't be so quick to judge.
Posted by ljwaldron at 08/06/2009 @ 12:02am
Please go to the Love Canal and drink the water there. Then go to the Mojave desert and drink the water there. Did you not see Erin Brockovich? Did you not read about the Nuclear Power melt down at three mile island and all of the land and water infected there?
Did you not read about all of the people who died of cancer and other horrible diseases in those areas?
Please go to the hudson bay EPA superfund site and drink the water there. GE dumped 150,000 pounds of pcbs over a 200 mile stretch of that river in the 1970s and the EPA is still trying to clean that up.
Did you know that many restaurants still served unfiltered water loaded with chlorine?
Next time you order a coke, iced tea, or coffee, think about where that water came from.
Posted by guitarsandmore805 at 08/06/2009 @ 12:03am
Why is it when I put a goldfish in tap water it instantly dies? Yet when I put a goldfish in Arrowhead Springwater it will live for years, without even a filter?
Why do dogs live much longer and healthier drinking Arrowhead springwater than tap water?
Why do nutritionists such as Dr. Andrew Weil in his book specifically recommend drinking bottled water?
There is too much anecdotal evidence documented to dismiss bottled water so swiftly and unscientifically.
You better do so more research kid.
Posted by guitarsandmore805 at 08/06/2009 @ 12:52am
Over 70 international brands of bottled water are owned by one company, the Swiss-based Nestlé ... the same wonderful people who pumped millions into convincing West African women not to breastfeed their babies but to feed them Nestlé processed formula.
Don't think for a moment that Nestlé, via its lobbyists & bought politicians, isn't working to lower or keep low the quality of tap water.
Hey, it's just business, just like Swiss banks, nothing personal.
As a Swiss journalist wrote in an exposé, Switzerland washes whiter. And its waters are so clean.
Posted by sloper at 08/06/2009 @ 01:28am
I'm just wondering why the evolution of bottled water included making the bottles (petroleum-based, non-biodegradable) plastic, which I'm sure thrills the oil companies and just does wonders for the environment.
Posted by jarshadow at 08/06/2009 @ 08:10am
Posted by guitarsandmore805 at 08/05/2009 @ 11:52pm Posted by guitarsandmore805 at 08/06/2009 @ 12:03am Posted by guitarsandmore805 at 08/06/2009 @ 12:52am
For more information, visit guitars' non-partisan, un-biased website-
www.arrowheadwater.com
heheh
Posted by Mask at 08/06/2009 @ 08:12am
Do a little more research about tap water, Peter... please...
There is a great TED video on their home page right now about a portable water purifier... and it begins to highlight the issues around clean water... especially in times of disaster...
Posted by ttr at 08/06/2009 @ 09:17am
I have no connection to Arrowhead Springwater other than that is the one I drink. I do not work for Arrowhead, nor are they paying me, nor do I own any of their stock. My web site, guitarsandmore805 at blogspot.com has nothing on it about arrowhead.
I met a woman in the park who had a Dalmatian that was 17 years old. The dog was in pretty good shape. I asked her what kind of water she fed the dog and she told me Arrowhead Springwater. so that is where that information came from.
Then she told me her previous dalmatian had only lived 10 years on tap water.
My own dog, a mutt from the animal shelter, was very sickly when we got her and almost died a couple times. We switched her over to the Arrowhead Spring Water and she perked right up. That was in 1998 and she is still alive today.
I know this is anecdotal evidence and I keep saying Arrowhead Springwater because that is the one I use and I have no evidence on any other brand.
I too, believe that most of the bottled water is tap water cleaned up.
Dr. Andrew Weil did not recommend a brand in his book on aging, but he did say drink bottled water.
So where are your doctors telling you to drink tap water? Let's here from them. I'm waiting.
Posted by guitarsandmore805 at 08/06/2009 @ 09:50am
Posted by guitarsandmore805 at 08/06/2009 @ 09:50am
Just a joke, Guitar.
Would you mind telling us what profession you ARE in? No names, just generically.
Posted by Mask at 08/06/2009 @ 09:58am
So why is bottled water worse than plastic bottles of Pepsi?
And why don't more states adopt a bottle law like Michigan's where the deposit is enough to motivate people to take the bottles back to the store (eventually to be recycled)? One stat I've seen is that 97% of our pop bottles get recycled. Even if you don't do it, the bums will.
Although Michigan currently doesn't include water and non-carbonated beverages in the returnable law (I wish it did), other states could write that in from the get-go.
The grocery lobby has been consistently against this bill, but they've adapted. Every store of any size has machines to put your bottles and cans in, then it spits out a receipt. And I don't see pop in other states being any less expensive than here.
I'm just fine with drinking tap water or Brita-filtered water out of a reusable bottle. I'm just saying that singling out water is kind of silly, and there is a proven solution to making recycling attractive to consumers.
Posted by VEH at 08/06/2009 @ 10:05am
to Mask:
When I worked I was in the Telecommunications industry as a consulting systems engineer and later a sales engineer. nothing to do with bottled anything.
I am now retired living on social security disability....
I am president of the local democratic club and moderator at the progressive alliance club here locally.
Posted by guitarsandmore805 at 08/06/2009 @ 10:43am
I lost this battle at home a long, long time ago!
I'd always drank straight from the tap or into a glass of ice....and now w/fancier refrigerators, still drink out of the tap via the freezer door's dispenser though it's now filtered.
I blame this entire bottled-water waste on Libs & the Hollywood set for whom, tap water just wasn't cool enough and started Perriering the country!
Posted by Happy at 08/05/2009 @ 11:46pm
Whereas, here in Michigan, it was our previous governor, Engler (R), a neocon type, who worked frenziedly to make sure Perrier could pump up Michigan spring water to its heart's content, making it all possible for that "Hollywood" crowd you're talking about.
Posted by schnellerheinz at 08/06/2009 @ 10:46am
Posted by guitarsandmore805 at 08/06/2009 @ 10:43am
It just seems a little strange that THIS issue, and no other on this magazine's site...has drawn you out for a serious of adamant supporting posts for plastic bottled water???
Posted by Mask at 08/06/2009 @ 11:09am
My goodness. The busybodies never sleep.
Posted by freiheit1 at 08/06/2009 @ 11:49am
I blame this entire bottled-water waste on Libs & the Hollywood set for whom, tap water just wasn't cool enough and started Perriering the country!
Posted by Happy at 08/05/2009 @ 11:46pm
Tap water isn't cool enough for liberals, all liberals wanna do is kill babies and make you pay for it, healthcare reform is really just a cover for nazi style eugenics/euthanasia. There is some serious crazy going around here, more so than just the usual wingnuttery.
Hey Happy, I got a bet for you. $10,000,000.00 says you believe the coming zombie apocalypse will be caused by gods anger over healthcare reform and a democratic majority.
Posted by mishelley at 08/06/2009 @ 12:31pm
It is disturbing that The Nation mis-brands bottled water as a "social ill." Anything that discourages the consumption of water -- either from bottle or tap -- is not in the public interest. As a food product, bottled water is subjected to the full FDA regulations for "Good Manufacturing Practices," but also tough regulations just for bottled water. FDA's standards of Indentity and standards of quality are rigorously enforced. There are severe penalties for mis-branded products. I note that in their recent "investigation" of bottled water labels, in sworn testimony before Congress, the Environmental Working Group failed to find even a single example of a mis-branded or a legally improper bottle water label.
The International Bottled Water Association (IBWA) participated in the filming of the so-called documentary you refer to, and we were repeated told by its producer they wanted a fair, balanced, two-sided presentation of the facts. In hindsight, it was a ruse to get us on camera. IBWA's on-camera comments and post-interview e-mails delivered actual citations of FDA regulations of bottled water, letter and verse. None of that factual, clear information showed up in the film. You can see for yourself how they literally distorted IBWA's comments on the soundtrack. Thoughtful audiences have little patience for this kind of stumbling bluster from filmmakers.
When there are natural disasters and accidents, and tap water is not available, where do people turn for primary hydration? They turn to bottled water over and over again. How can you then label this safe, healthy, convenient products as a "social ill?" Would you prefer people drink beverages with sugar, caffeine, colorings, calories and chemicals or should they drink pure, fresh water? TOM LAURIA
Posted by TomLauria at 08/06/2009 @ 12:50pm
There is no BPA in bottled water. Wrong type of plastic. Water bottles are Pet Plastic no BPA.
As to the purity of bottled water 90% of the bottled water in this country comes from four companies Coke Pepsi Nestle and DS Waters. They test their water 6000 Times a day 50 times more often that tap water is tested.
The film also fails to mention that the source for any bottled water has to meet the same EPA guidlines for that tap water does.
Bottled water compnaies state of the art filtration, a combination of Reverse osmosis, multistage charcoal, and ultraviolet light to purify the water. No one has ever found a contamiant in any sample of the major water manufacturer's water.
The tests you see that find contaminants in bottled water are carefully constructed using small mom and pop water companaies, and they fail to mention that the contaminants they find are the same ones that are in the local tap water where they're bottled.
Go to ewg.org/tapwater to find out what's in your local utilities water. They also list violations of EPA regulations of your local utility.
As for the bottles 75% of what goes into a landfill is recycalble. Water bottles are .3 of 1%.
Only 40% of all households have curbside rdcyling. That's the real environmentla issue not bottled water,
Posted by RichP at 08/06/2009 @ 2:32pm
The environmental issues against using bottled water are these: 1) raw petroleum is used to make the bottles. 2) petroleum is used to ship the bottles. 3)petroleum or coal supplies the energy to pasteurize and filter the water, and then fill the bottles. 4)petroleum is used to ship the filled battles to market. 5)petroleum is used to drive the bottles home. 6)petroleum is used to haul the empties to the recycling center. and 7) All this wasted oil product, carbon footprints and all, to get ahold of stuff no better and sometimes worse than what is delivered at your kitchen sink. Most of us are already charged a municipal water bill for the high quality water we get at home. So why pay several dollars per gallon extra to get it in bottles that leach solvent into us? It's just dumb. Dumb, dumb, dumb. And people get so high and mighty about drinking so much water as though it were a virtue, when they are poisoning themselves, their family and society by doing it. Crazy.
Posted by davidebert at 08/06/2009 @ 2:52pm
I must comment on my own previous post- I began drinking bottled water in the 1960's traveling in Europe, when tap water was not necessarily good everywhere. Still today, there are many many places where bottled water is necessary. I would never advise an African villager to start drinking tap water, if she even has it. I still love a good bottled mineral water when in an Italian restaurant. If you live in an area where PCB's are in the ground water, or lead and mercury from mine tailings, drink bottled water. Have your well tested if you have one. In my town in New Hampshire, a town dump poisoned all the wells for three miles around, and who knows how far the plume traveled. My point is, that for everyday municipal water drinkers, stick to the tap. I had to add this caveat, because industry has poisoned a lot of water sources, and a septic system, even on an organic farm, can dump fecal coliform into a well. So, choose your battles. And bottles.
Posted by davidebert at 08/06/2009 @ 3:04pm
"Why is ever'body always pickin' on me?" singeth Hollywood.
Posted by Stephen_Carver1 at 08/06/2009 @ 3:11pm
Bottled water interests are probably actively propping municipal political candidates who advocate treating gray water sewerage with military surplus purification tablets for recirculation as city water.
Those old wooden & tile water pipes from the 19th century don't need replaced. Exploding mains under intersections provide recreational opportunity! Bring your own container! Load up! This stuff works better than than cola on rusty nuts & bolts! Put lazy govt employees to work repairing a national heritage!
Nestle North America needs you!
Posted by Sorelish at 08/06/2009 @ 8:15pm
When there are natural disasters and accidents, and tap water is not available, where do people turn for primary hydration? They turn to bottled water over and over again.
Posted by TomLauria at 08/06/2009 @ 12:50pm
No one is critical of having bottled water on the market as emergency supplies or for travel where tap water qualities are unknown.
My son's room was just cleaned a couple of days ago and several bottles, not all empty, were brought down....that's the problem we're talking about (where we have excellent tap water).
Posted by Happy at 08/06/2009 @ 8:24pm
to Mask:
I have written here many times and a couple times was even awarded the prestigious red star.
To everyone else:
One of the dangers here is getting side tracked on this bottled water issue....getting rid of bottled water is not going to make us green.
We are right on track installing more solar, wind, and other renewables; hybrid cars are gaining momentum, electric cars are next. These are the real issues for making a greener country; and we need to get out of the Middle East. Bottled water has little of nothing to do with the Middle East. Cars that burn too much gasoline have everything to do with the Middle East, as do giant corporations that insist on making oil profits; as do giant corporations that want to build and sell weapons to the military.
Let us refocus the spending power of the U.S. government from weapons to renewable energy projects.
We spend 10 times more on the military than even China. We have 12 aircraft carriers and China is hoping to build 1 air craft carrier sometime in the next 5 years. So enough already.
We have 18,000 military planes and china has maybe 2000. The other countries all spend less than China. All of them are defending themselves just fine on way less money.
Posted by guitarsandmore805 at 08/06/2009 @ 11:01pm
I blame this entire bottled-water waste on Libs & the Hollywood set for whom, tap water just wasn't cool enough and started Perriering the country!
Posted by Happy at 08/05/2009 @ 11:46pm
Just drinking it is a bit passe I'm afraid Happy.
What really counts is where avantgarde libs are discharging their Perrier these days:
Brazilians Urged to Pee in the Shower to Conserve Water aka Pee in the shower! Save the Atlantic rainforest!
http://tinyurl.com/lrnr65
Posted by lrjones4 at 08/07/2009 @ 01:17am
"Tapped" paints a misleading picture of bottled water.
Bottled water's a good alternative to sweetened, calorie-rich drinks, especially when tap water isn't drinkable or preferred. Tap water quality can vary by community, water source and home plumbing, and at-home filters can't solve all quality issues. They can't remove all contaminants and lose their effectiveness if not maintained. The CDC estimates 4 - 33 million cases of gastrointestinal illness associated with tap water each year.
People can feel comfortable with bottled water quality. Law requires quality standards for bottled water to be as strong as tap water standards. FDA actively regulates bottled water - in fact, there were 450+ inspections of U.S. bottled water plants in 2008 alone.
Nestlé Waters North America's internal standards are even stronger than what's required. We monitor quality with more than 200 tests a day on each of our bottling lines. We share water quality reports publicly, and our labels show water sources.
Managing our environmental impact is equally important to us. We reduced our CO2 emissions by 30% over the past five years, and the amount of plastic used in our bottles by 40% over the past decade, and set a goal to reduce carbon intensity an additional 20%. Doubling recycling rates for PET beverage bottles is another priority.
Check out this video to learn more: http://www.nestlewaterscorporate.com/bottled_water_things_to_know/
Thanks for the opportunity to contribute. Jane Lazgin Corporate Communications Nestlé Waters North America
Posted by janeatwaters at 08/07/2009 @ 09:42am
Posted by janeatwaters at 08/07/2009 @ 09:42am
Jane's honest. Glad she added her side openly and forthrightly.
Posted by Mask at 08/07/2009 @ 10:46am
Sorry folks, I love my Aquafina! One thing I like most about it is the consistency - no matter where I pick up a bottle it always tastes the same (which is pretty freakin' amazing if you think about it).
So, if my bottle water habit pisses off the treehuggers then so be it. Actually, that's kind of a bonus because I firmly beleive that people who want to tell me what to drink, eat, wear or drive can just go suck it!
Posted by vertigoskippy at 08/07/2009 @ 11:31am
"..because I firmly beleive that people who want to tell me what to drink, eat, wear or drive can just go suck it!"----Posted by vertigoskippy at 08/07/2009 @ 11:31am
What about somebody who tells you you don't control your reproducative system?
Posted by Mask at 08/07/2009 @ 12:00pm
I firmly beleive that people who want to tell me what to drink, eat, wear or drive can just go suck it! Posted by vertigoskippy at 08/07/2009 @ 11:31am
It good to hear that the last person on earth is you. Nothing else matter except skippys little world. I hear you, and the ping pong echo from the vast canyons of your mind. A true 24 carat opinion that has no merit, really, except to point out that only YOU are important. No one is 'telling' you anything. It's just a dialogue to find an equable solution for everyone.
Everybody's pointin' fingers At the other one, While a dolphin eats a bottle cap In the south pacific sun...
You gurgle down your water In it's plastic carapace, All the fishies eat its carcass And ya'll just take up space,
Clean water's hard to find, yo In the first world to the third If the streams and rivers didn't suck Life wouldn't quite be so absurd
So, get a grip, you whiners The cycle's near complete, There wouldn't be no problems here If them bottles was good to eat.
Posted by ficheye at 08/07/2009 @ 12:14pm
What about somebody who tells you you don't control your reproducative system?
Posted by Mask at 08/07/2009 @ 12:00pm
Ummmm...you have confused me sir. If you mean do I appreciate someone telling me who I can have sex with then the answer is no.
At some point in our history the people of this country seem to have been infected with what I call the "busybody" virus--we love to tell each other how to live. This is true for both the left and the right. As a center-right independent I detest this form of meddling just as much (or more) when it comes from the right as when it comes from the left.
The right wants to tell you who you can sleep with and the left wants to tell you how to do everything else. How did this happen? Where does this come from? I honestly don't know but I wish there was some way to eliminate it.
I do have one idea; the next time someone from either the left OR the right tries to impose their will upon you and tell you how to conduct your life just smile warmly at them and say "Go fuck yourself". If enought of us do this we just might be able to stamp out "busybodyitus" forever.
I have a dream...
Posted by vertigoskippy at 08/07/2009 @ 2:55pm
I have a dream... Posted by vertigoskippy at 08/07/2009 @ 2:55pm
Then it's possible that you are asleep. We're just talking about bottled water here, and the variances between products.
Posted by ficheye at 08/07/2009 @ 4:33pm
Where I live the water is lovely straight out of the tap, but where I work its in bottles. Maybe I'll have a talk with the boss and save a dolphin too.
Posted by Denise29 at 08/07/2009 @ 5:15pm
Tap water is NOT necessarily safe. EPA tests do not include many chemicals, e.g. hexavalent chromium, as in the movie Erin Brockovich. Our son died from two sips of creek water in Willits, CA., and we found 49 ppb chromium in his vomit. www.earthspeak.org "Safe" standards are 50 ppb State and 100ppb Fed. These standards were not calculated for women, children, the elderly, those with illesses, etc. Hexavalent chromium, like other heavy metals, penetrates, thus it cannot be filtered. So filters are not the answer. And, it penetrates skin in baths/showers! (It then mutates, as it breaks down, emitting free radicals) Also, many communities are now finding pharmaceuticals in their water--don't flush your pills! Bottled water may be no different from tap water, but if you know where it comes from, it might well be better than filtered tap. I like Crystal Geyser and know where it is bottled. The glaciers are melting fast, though. PEACE NOT PEPSI--WATER NOT WAR!!! EARTHSPEAK.ORG
Posted by earthspeakorg at 08/07/2009 @ 11:11pm
Evian spelled backwards is naive.
Posted by I_See at 08/08/2009 @ 07:41am
Posted by vertigoskippy at 08/07/2009 @ 2:55pm |
"The right wants to tell you who you can sleep with and the left wants to tell you how to do everything else. How did this happen? Where does this come from?"
You seriously wonder why a country founded by PURITANS has control issues?
"I do have one idea; the next time someone from either the left OR the right tries to impose their will upon you and tell you how to conduct your life just smile warmly at them and say "Go fuck yourself"."
And then burn your bra...and your draft card...
"If enought of us do this we just might be able to stamp out "busybodyitus" forever. I have a dream..."
Just add 1 million marchers.
It's not about pissing off the tree huggers as much as not killing the fish and leaving us monkeys with no water to drink or fish to eat, long term.
Would you argue for the right to continue a valiant campaign to masturbate under each and every traffic light camera in your community? Would your arrest be the hallmark of fascism clamping down on your freedom?
In essence, we can't ALL be perfectly free to do whatever we want; your freedom, my nose.
We do need to have some modicum of control to guarantee a civilized society (too late? perhaps!), even if that means letting go of a slice of your freedom and being an adult.
I'm personally in the camp with Happy drinking tap water, but that's easy to say living close to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Hetch_Hetchy_Reservoir
I can sympathize with wanting an alternative to one's tap after living where some aquifers have interesting contents due to petrochem spills (Alamagordo, NM and Pismo Beach, CA: stick to bottled).
Posted by snowball777 at 08/08/2009 @ 08:13am
aa
Posted by JohnEagle at 08/08/2009 @ 08:24am
aa
Posted by JohnEagle at 08/08/2009 @ 08:25am
I find it hillarious when people bring up the the argument that when we all drive electric vehicles everything will be fixed. Have you ever wondered where all that electricity comes from. Hmmm? Coal fired and nuclear power plants, that's where. And just imagine everyone plugging in their electric vehicle at the end of the day; and you thought air conditioners were a problem. Can you spell 'brownout/blackout'. Remember, nothing's for free. My personal approach is: USE LESS STUFF.
Posted by RrrBWolf at 08/08/2009 @ 09:19am
Well, living in Greenpoint--near the infamous Newtown Creek--I have made sure to buy bottled water. (I know my tap water comes from upstate, but call me paranoid.) Having read this post, I decided maybe I don't need to waste all the money I spend on bottled water. But now, having read all of the comments, I can honestly say I'm about as confused on this issue as I have ever been about anything.
Posted by MikeinBrooklyn at 08/08/2009 @ 09:37am
I'll bet most bottled water drinkers also drink the proverbial 8 glasses per day too. Carrying your plastic bottles has become a social practice. It has little to do with health, pro or con.
Posted by great2bme at 08/08/2009 @ 10:37am
Call me old yet naive but since when was it necessary for everyone to either agree or get mad? When was some form of moderation totally erased from our society? This needn't be an absolutely right or wrong issue.
As an oceanographer and marine biologist I have no great love of plastic water bottles but I also believe that there are times, places, and circumstances where they (or some other form of 'packaged' water) are vital for health and safety.
Is it so difficult for us to use some common sense and personal economy and have filtration systems in our homes then use water bottles (either commercial or self filled) when we're somewhere where the water is either untrustworthy or bad tasting?
Doing something simple like this would save both money and trash.
Posted by shermanr at 08/08/2009 @ 11:19am
Bottle water is not the only problem. There is a big industry in home water-filtration. Every home supply store sells water-filters, from $20-$30 to over a $1000 plus installation. They provide various degrees of filtration, which can improve the taste of city-water in some cases. How much more healthful the filtered water may be is highly questionable.
There is also a particularly misleading product that makes a pseudo-scientific pitch that appeals to many who have superior cash but inferior well-being. These many may have chronic conditions such as arthritis, G.I. disorders, psychological or neurological problems. Overweight people are commonly susceptible to such sales. Anecdotally "miraculous" benefits are related. I refer to such products as Kangen-water filtering systems, sold by direct marketeers, similar to Avon ladies (not connected with Avon to my knowledge).
They describe and offer literature that purports to explain the "benefits" of Kangen-water that come from ionization of the filtered-water and raising the pH of the water, which they claim their machine does. An excellent examination of the claims for Kangen-water can be found at
http://www.chem1.com/CQ/ionbunk.html
Read it and beware!
Posted by goedel at 08/08/2009 @ 11:54am
One further comment: The more citizens who buy bottled water, the fewer and less affluent (and influential) are those who continue to drink city-water. The portent of this trend is to decrease the constituency who demand healthful and palatable water from their local governments out of the tap. This is a drive to the bottom, as in the case with wages after NAFTA and WTO. We are becoming more like those third world countries with abysmal wages and poor water supplies. Further, in many states, such as Florida, commercial bottlers are permitted to extract water from the underground acquifers, leaving less for municipalities. The landowners (bottlers) take it cheap and sell it high. Meanwhile, they add to greenhouse gasses in the bottling and transportation of their bottles to supermarkets and other vendors.
If you don't like your local water, organize and make your locally elected officials aware of your displeasure. Do it before your area turns into a Love Canal or a superfund site.
Posted by goedel at 08/08/2009 @ 12:09pm
Simple:
(1) If tap water isn't good, make it good.
(2) Outlaw bottled water.
When I was ten years old, I, like Louis Black in his famous rant, drank water out of a hose in the backyard. Why can't I do that now?
Posted by barnesgene at 08/08/2009 @ 6:26pm
to: RrrBWolf
OK.
One more time... slowly for you people on drugs........
The current fantasy is that there will be charging stations every 50 miles or so complete with solar panels on the roof, roof, roof.
You will drive your electric car into the charging station just like you drive into a car wash today and your battery will be changed out for one that has just been freshly charged by the solar panels. It will take about eight minutes and you won't have to own a battery either, ever.
Meanwhile France has built a car that runs on air. See treehugger.com
Everyone watch the movie Erin Brokovich again, then look up three mile island and love canal. Look up MTBEs in your water.
You can do this research I know you can.
Posted by guitarsandmore805 at 08/08/2009 @ 10:34pm
What sucks worse than bottled water are pontificating idiots whose need to pontificate outshines their ability and desire to ascertain the truth, such as the fact that tap water is poisonous.
Water fluoridation is forced medication, pure and simple. Want to purchase a $500 reverse-osmosis purification system for me so I can be an enlightened liberal like you are? Fine. If not, I'm going to get pure water the least expensive and most convenient way that I can. Its not my karma that we live in a sick society which poisons its water and forces medication upon people, therefore its not my karma how I obtain water.
Then again, I suppose the ultimate ecological act would be suicide - then there is no need to be concerned with environmental impact.
Posted by aethera at 08/09/2009 @ 04:39am
All bottled and tap water are acidic and increase the acidity of the body. Alkaline Antioxidant water is the next wave. Vast amount of research have proven the benefits of alkaline water. You can go to http://bit.ly/MsxAn to find out more.
Posted by truth4now at 08/09/2009 @ 11:32am
"They describe and offer literature that purports to explain the "benefits" of Kangen-water that come from ionization of the filtered-water and raising the pH of the water, which they claim their machine does. An excellent examination of the claims for Kangen-water can be found at
http://www.chem1.com/CQ/ionbunk.html
Read it and beware!"
Posted by goedel at 08/08/2009 @ 11:54am
"Antioxidant water is the next wave. Vast amount of research have proven the benefits of alkaline water. You can go to http://bit.ly/MsxAn to find out more."
Posted by truth4now at 08/09/2009 @ 11:32am
Uh...truth4now, you might want to read the threads you spam, so as not to look like such a dumb-ass.
Posted by Malcontent at 08/09/2009 @ 2:25pm
DING DING DING! thats my BS alarm going off when I began to read the article and began choking on this sentence " full of harmful toxins like BPA, and far less safe for drinking than free tap water ".
Since when is water free. We pay either by tax formulated for the public bubbler or a bill sent by municipal water. Either way, we are bombarded with chemically treated water that may or may not be recycled from sewage water.
I drink only bottled water because the tap water, which I pay to have pumped to all my facets, is loaded with shit like chlorine and other chemicals to make the water safe as shoved down our throats by big corporate swindlers poisining the earths population.
This is just a power struggle to gain consumption, thus raise water usage and increase your bill in favor of the coprorate water boys over the ever increasing bottlers option for drinking water.
Posted by Gigas at 08/09/2009 @ 3:28pm
Gigas here again, I forgot to mention, my dog has cancer from drinking the water, my ma died from cancer and she drank the water, my sister died from cancer and she drank the water all from the facet. When I fill my dogs dich with clean cold water from the tap, it is always cloudy and we had problems with sand entering the system so the tap water was contaminated by that. AT least bottled water has the open appeal to see a clear liquid before drinking and does not smell of chemical. Also some bottle drinking by osmosis so the water is treated for inpurities.
Posted by Gigas at 08/09/2009 @ 3:34pm
Ya, its me, Gigas again. Back in the 90s milwaukee had a crypto sporidium in the water. Seems some sewage got into the fresh water supply from a sewer dump in the same water they pull in for fresh water treatment. My son got the crypto bug and was so damn sick he almost departed the earth. Many people did die. So I live by bottled water and do not trust water treatment plants feeding the tap for consumtion.
Posted by Gigas at 08/09/2009 @ 3:40pm
So if your tap water tastes like crap, or has a chlorine taste, then maybe it's OK to drink bottled water since you may have no choice.
Can't afford home filtration systems? Maybe bottled water is OK for you too.
It's all a matter of using common sense and applying it.
If your home water tastes great, then by all means drink it if the local testing says that it's good.
Everyone has an option all their own based on what is happening locally.
There is concern about bottled water that sits in the sun while it is being stored. This causes leaching of some chemicals into the water. Education about all of these things is the key.
I personally have access to an artesian spring where I fill up 5 gallon jugs. The city tests this water and says that it's good to drink. My city tap water tastes like band-aids.
Where the plastic goes is another matter for later debate.
Posted by ficheye at 08/09/2009 @ 7:56pm
First it was ghastly, nausea-inducing CFLs that everyone was supposed to be forced to use because tungsten bulbs are so evil Now it is bottled water - so instead of nausea-inducing light we are supposed to endure toxin-laced tap water for the sake of being enlightened liberals.
Water fluoridation is forced medication. Carbon filters do not remove most of fluoride from water. Fluoride is a highly potent toxin - highly toxic to plants - and even small quantities in humans inhibits the motility of phages - immune system cells.
Interesting that they are not campaigning for pure water as in Germany. In Germany, tap water is by law more pure than bottled water, and it is not fluoridated. Instead, they want to force us to all induce toxins in the name of enlightenment. Totally sick.
Posted by aethera at 08/09/2009 @ 10:48pm
By the way, if fluoride is so great, then why not fluoridate the water supply to California's Central Valley before it reaches the many aqueducts and canals which irrigate the state's vast farmland? Why? Because if that water had been fluoridated, the entire Central Valley would now be a dead wasteland in which absolutely nothing would grow.
Posted by aethera at 08/09/2009 @ 10:52pm
If only tap water were that good. Come to Central New Jersey. The water stinks of chlorine and metal. They are forever issuing warnings about unsafe water after one mishap or another occurs at a pumping station. I get water delivered in refillable 5-gallon bottles.
Posted by kkuchenb at 08/10/2009 @ 12:54pm
I should add for the record that I obtain the vast majority of my water by bicycling to my local health food store, using their reverse-osmosis filters, and transporting it back in my sturdy rear bike basket (same kind that are almost ubiquitous in Germany). Its about $0.45 per gallon. Its sort of like going to the village well every couple of days.
Also, the tap water where I live is recycled waste water. I actually don't mind that it is - what bothers me the most is of course the fluoride. I did write a long letter right when the city had sent out notification that they were going to start fluoridating. Sadly, what I recieved back was the standard barrage of ADA pro-fluoride propaganda. Fluoride is one of those lies that is so big and so entrenched that it is basically useless to even try to change minds about it.
Suffice it to say that the whole concept of fluoridating tap water was dreamt up by a researcher working covertly for the Department of Defense as a method for greenwashing fluoride - contamination of which is produced in copious quantities in the process of purifying uranium to make atomic bombs. He is also the same notorious researcher who was responsible for injecting people with plutonium without their knowledge in order to investigate its effects.
Sad that our pontificating do-good liberal author missed all this.
Posted by aethera at 08/10/2009 @ 1:07pm
Lets be happy.The solution is to BLEND all the water by collecting samples from the 4 corners of the US and drinking the new collection heartily-we must share .We shall thereby have some pharmaceuticals,some bSa,some herbicides,some elite Hollywood spring water,some unexpected ingredients and a host of other community refuse.Some of this will be shipped in glass and some in wood and some in plastic.Noone shall know the container they shall recieve until after their purchase.The result? Everyone will be equal and jealosy vanquished.Peace will rein supreme.
Posted by MixUpped at 08/10/2009 @ 5:33pm
Even when I want to agree with Rothberg, I can't.
Of course bottled water is largely a scam. Most American cities have perfectly good water coming out of the faucets. The success of those empty bottles exemplifies the magic power of marketing and the public's pitiful lack of brain power. There hasn't been such a swindle since the Church sold indulgences and splinters from the true Cross.
But old Pete can't stop there. He destroys his case by faulting that water racket with climate change, environmental pollution and a threat to public health.
That is nonsense. It is the ideologue who is not happy unless he can charge the capitalist world with murder and mayhem.
Posted by Hugo_Pirovano at 08/11/2009 @ 02:09am
The only way we can be sure of what we are drinking is if we purify it ourself! We cant trust the bottled water companies and the counties are adding so many chemicals to the water coming out of our faucet its a mystery!! I drink alkaline ionized oxygenated water and so do all my friends! We get healthier every day, there has to be something in the water eh? I have a great booklist if any one wants it email me at alkalinewaterangel@gmail.com Karen, The Water Angel
Posted by Alkalinewaterangel at 08/11/2009 @ 8:56pm