Bottled Water Is Not Good For Anything ...
Following extensive research, Dr William Shotyk recently published his findings in the Royal Society of Chemistry's journal, where he revealed that traces of a chemical called antimony, which is used in the making of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles, is leaking into the water within the bottle itself.
Shocking indeed and Shotyk has vowed never to drink bottled water again!
The journal records that small doses of antimony can make you feel ill and depressed. Larger quantities chemists say, can cause violent vomiting and even death. The study went on to stress that the amounts of antimony they found were well below official recommended levels... but Shotyk’s study also disclosed, '...that the levels of antimony almost double, when the bottles are stored for three months.'
Scary stuff and it’s costing us the earth too... because according to the most recent report by Ling Li, conducted for the Washington-based Worldwatch Institute, the environmental impact of bottled water is just as horrifying. It starts at the source too, with local streams and underground aquifers now becoming depleted - due to ‘excessive withdrawal’ - caused by insufficient regulation.
A further look at the statistics on the energy costs of producing, bottling, packaging, storing and shipping bottled water; adds millions of tons of oil-derived plastic and transportation, all needed to get the product to the consumer.
In a world that thirsts for safety, cleanliness, taste and social cachet by buying bottled water, one has to wonder at the craze itself, when one billion or so people are left in the world’s poorest countries, without access to any clean drinking water at all?
The statistics on this subject can send anyone concerned about their environment, reeling; because overall, bottled water costs affluent countries somewhere between 240 to 10,000 times more than water taken from the tap and filtered through a course home-filtering system, like charcoal.
In dollars, that means that water sold in bottles, costs roughly $500 to $1,000 per 1 cubic metre (35.3 cu ft), compared with 50 cents to a dollar, for the same water, in either California US or Brisbane, Australia -or similar places - where the quality of tap water is high.
The cost in pollution to Global Warming, is yet to be quantified into metric tons of CO2 and other harmful gasses.
Currently, world consumption of bottled water has more than doubled between 1997 and 2005, with the United States being the largest consumers, drinking nearly 24 billion litres (6.3 billion gallons) in 2005 statistics.
Amongst other developed countries, which also support the bottled water habit, India's consumption nearly tripled for the period and China's more than doubled between 2000 and 2005. Mexico, Brazil, Italy, Germany, France, Indonesia and Spain round out the top 10.
For those wanting to help lower the pollution of this craze, the message is a simple one. Recycle your bottles and filter your tap water... take it with you, from home.
~oOo~
Why People Drink Bottled Water
~oOo~
Mum's Word
Love & stuff
Mrs M
Enviro Warrior
An Extra Ordinary Life
Dream Herald
... absolutely, it ain't rocket science...
loading pics today is though...*scratching my head*
cheers,
Lilla ...
Kalikapsychosis
On last weeks BB friday night games there was a water game. I almost screamed in frustration when Bree announced "that water is pure bottled spring water" NOOO!! It was a POOL full! Please, I hope, it was actually from a hose.....Imagine the amount of bottles!
Climate Forum
Climate Red
randomthoughts
Phil's Wellness Tips
If you vivsit the Australian Bottled Water Institute Website www.bottledwater.org.au you will see the facts on water usage by Australian Bottled water comapanies….they in fact only use 1/100 of a percent or 0.01% of all ground water consumed in this country.
many players practice responsible sourcing and treatment and enviro friendly packaging ....
where the grey area lies is the HUGE commercial coys that treat the water with chemicals and rape and pillage the source...most boutique bottled water coys with a low profile are good, responsible environmental citizens...unfortunately given who owns the big brands they are overshadowed on this issue..... so as far as the stats go they are right on a % basis ie Mt Franklin (coca cola) is a hude % of Oz bottled water BUT there are a lot of good guys who cant sell their water because they dominate cafe's etc.........you need to look at the good guys to find a good brand
My point is chose your brand CAREFULLY...btw i use both bottled and filtered BUT having a father for a naturopath I know that filtered water still has many harmful elements so I balnce my consumption.....
Enviro Warrior
An Extra Ordinary Life
Dream Herald
OMG, what a complete waste... I'm so glad I don't switch the TV on anymore... it just infuriates me... and so many believe everything that comes out of the boob-tube, don't they.
I'm with you... I'm guessing that it was hose-filled, but still what a waste when animals on the land are dying like flies as they play their games.... the lack of balance is... well... sad.
Thanks for the great comment.
Lilla ...
Enviro Warrior
An Extra Ordinary Life
Dream Herald
Welcome to Orble ...
I enjoyed your comment and agree with you, especially about multinationals... because if pushed to drink bottled water, I will buy Australian bottled rain water, which is collected in Tasmania. It’s good drinking and to my mind, purer than what comes out of the ground these days …
However, all the bottled water, from the sky or not, goes into PET bottles and has antimony leaching into them. Who knows how long they have taken to reach the supermarket shelf?
You cannot possibly argue that using a good quality domestic filter and taking water from home is not better for the environment all around, when weighed against the impact large demand, or your health by bottled substitutes - especially given your fathers occupation.
I say, don’t support those who rubbish the planet your children will inherit, for bottom line profits…in that we agree, find alternatives, particularly to multi-nationals and the corrupt governments that support them ... as well as those who profit from new scams involving the 'catch-call' of environmentalism... they are the big part of the inbalance.
If everyone bought their consumption back down to reasonable domestic levels, well then perhaps a ‘fizzy’ is even nice as a treat, every now and then… but I wonder, do they also contain antimony : to go with the formaldehyde and phenelkenelites?
Thanks for commenting…
Lilla …
Anthroblogogy
excellent post and most informative. it reminds me of a seminar that i went to a few years ago. i can't remember the guys name (it was actually interesting!), but he was pommy and his main argument was about fluoride in our water systems and how we don't really know what it is doing to us. he put forth arguments, that were pretty convincing, but i guess you believe what you want to.
anyway, one of his points was about how we buy bottled water that is contained in something that is a by product of petrol. i can't remember his exact chemical justification, but it made me think then of how much plastic we use to place our food stuffs in.
since then, we don't use plastic film at home anymore (and we don't throw out rolls of it now either), and we are trying to move towards only having glass storage containers at home. it is really hard as some much of our food comes in either tins or plastic containers, and we have had to source alternative suppliers. it is a bit more expensive, but then you conserve more, and i feel it is better all around - both for our health and the environment. thanks for the information.
Enviro Warrior
An Extra Ordinary Life
Dream Herald
Thank you for your complimentary comment. . . I am honoured.
I enjoyed your response very much and again couldn’t agree more on the issue of plastic containers and cling wrap. I loathe the stuff. We also store everything at our place in glass jars… so virtually no plastic waste in our house either.
I learnt a long time ago that people who microwave food in plastic containers, are literally risking their lives each time, because the chemical leaching into the food, from the plastic, can go off the Richter scale, depending on the combination of food and plastic being ‘nuked’…*lol*
*cringe*
As for floride, It is a common fact, that it was first used in the German prison camps to dull down the prisoners. It was found that it made them docile… perhaps it is time to do a little investigative journalistic prodding, to see what I can find on the statistics of long term use… bet I can’t find any?
I sometimes radiate rainwater stored in glass jars, through filters of different coloured celophane, by placing them out in the sun … Drunk regularly, this is one practice that can be used to strengthen certain Chakra and Auric vibrations, especially after surgery on the elderly and Chemo-therapy on cancer patients … I guess it does depend on what you believe, but I have heard some good reports from such practices...
Much warmth,
Lilla …
Poker Addict
Thank-you for this post.
I rarely buy bottled water...instead I save just one plastic bottle, keep refilling it with filtered tap, add a squeeze of lemon, lime or orange juice and off I go!
hugs,
Pegasus
Enviro Warrior
An Extra Ordinary Life
Dream Herald
it is wonderful to see you again!
I like the squeeze of lemon or lime idea... thanks for that, I'll try it in tomorrow's bottle... yep, take it with you... great news!
much warmth,
Lilla ...
Australian Traveller
Flashes of memories
I drink loads of bottled water but only when I am work and only Cloud 9 rainwater. I used to use the big glass Cranberry juice bottles that you get, filling them up at home and taking them in with me, but found that by lunch time I had already finished it so was resorting to bottled water anyways.
I just had a look at their website (Cloud 9) and was quite taken about by how much filtering and adding of this and that went into it. I don`t really pay much attention to where things are made... old habits die hard I guess... but yeah the information is a little alarming when you realise how much you don`t think about these things and what you assume to be a healthy choice can turn out to be no good at all.
More thought provoking information. Thank you.
ash
Fun Facts
Always Eighteen
Would you happen to know which brands of bottled water? After reading Carbon8or and your comments I'm suddenly quite afraid, most my friends and I are heavy drinkers of Mount Franklin water - there's a store we go to that sells it for cheaper than usual.
And also, would you happen to know the side effects of using recycled water? With all the chlorine and that?
If Mount Franklin isn't the way to go, where can I purchase the "smaller" brands of rain water etc. that you were talking about?
Enviro Warrior
An Extra Ordinary Life
Dream Herald
Yes indeed, so much pawn scum being peddled to us as if it actually healthy for us. I find I have to keep a firmly planted foot into the olde worlde – remembering the basics are all we need, nothing more.
My daughter is in an advanced English extension class at senior high school and they are actually learning how to LOOK at advertising for what it is really saying. Can you believe that?
Perhaps it’ll become a university degree in the future in learning to decipher reality from the propaganda and hyperbole …*wince*
Once genetic modification and clining is complete, I can imagine it'll become a real skill?
Lilla …
Enviro Warrior
An Extra Ordinary Life
Dream Herald
I'm with you... never liked the taste of it, although I will select Cloud 9 rainwater when pushed for a drop int he desert... however, now that I have learned about alimony content... perhaps not even that!
I take it from home.
thanks for your comment.
Lilla ...
Enviro Warrior
An Extra Ordinary Life
Dream Herald
Thanks for your complimentary comment. I too apologise for the delay in replying, but my non-virtual life has interrupted quite a bit lately. *lol* it has a way of doing that, doesn’t it?
I do not think any of them are any good Dean. As Carbon8or’s father is a naturopath, a PM to his site may yield you a reasonable list, of those currently considered least affected. (be aware that scientists are also paid to lie too, like in the global warming debate.) However, they were all found to contain Antimony to some degree, by the recent independantly funded tests carried out by Dr Shotyk, for a worldwatch organsation. Shotyk found the contamination was not because the water was always inferior, but because of the PET bottles they are contained in.
So choosing water that comes in a glass bottle makes good sense.
I’m no expert on the top ten most wanted waters, but will dig around a little more when time permits and see what I can find out, okay?
In the meantime, I would advise you to get hold of a cheapo Britta-water-filter jug from the supermarket and filter your tap water. Recycle one plastic bottle and use it to take the filtered tap water with you.
As I’ve said before, everyone should try and use bins to collect their rainwater and filter that, as it is the purest water available these days. There are stories bubbling-up now, of water from springs containing radiation from underground nuclear testing and contamination from poisons, due to seepage from industrialisation, upstream?
Major cities have been recycling water for years with little or no immediately visible side effects, because they do add, lime, chlorine and more recently, fluoride.
From my days in hydraulics I know that sewerage for recycling, is broken down in three stages.
1...the solids are removed.
2...The remaining liquid is fed through a series of holding ‘vats’ or ponds,
3...and natural bacteria is added in stages, which goes to ‘war’ in breaking down the harmful bacteria, in each 'pond.'
In Canberra, some lime is added and the end result is about 98% pure water, which is pumped back into the natural eco system. However, overall, recycled water has a higher ratio of Guardia causing bacteria than non recycled, hence chlorine is added to compensate.
As I said, I would buy a good filter system which can eliminate both the chemicals and the Guardia.
One thing to remember too, that once you have put warm or hot water through your water filter, it will no longer be working. You must chuck it and buy a new one, or you could end up sick. Change your filters regularly...
Happy hydrating...
Lilla ...
Always Eighteen
Thanks so much for the advice. I never knew putting hot water through a filter ruins it... oops. I think we have to change ours then.
Thanks a heap for the advice. I'll be saying bye to Mount Franklin now.
Hope all the non blogging parts of life are good
Enviro Warrior
An Extra Ordinary Life
Dream Herald
..glad I could help with that one... yep, great... really, things are looking up here and I hope they are for you too... will visit you soon, when I have a little more time on my hands...
*hugs*
Lilla ...
Killer Beats
Ramble On
Hipnotherapy
I shared this post with folks that are bottled water addicts...I hope it makes a difference. Thanks for making a difference with your blog :0)
Mis
Enviro Warrior
An Extra Ordinary Life
Dream Herald
I hope they see reason... thanks for the lovely feedback.
Always a pleasure...
Lilla ...
Enviro Warrior
An Extra Ordinary Life
Dream Herald
I don't think I said you will die from drinking it?
*scrolling up*
Nup, not a word about dying...Thank you for not reading my post and commenting. No wonder you didn't want to leave your name.
Do you think Orble pays me enough to waste my time on anonymous comments made by people who haven't even taken the time to read the information provided and use their brains?
Lilla
Celebrity Obsession
I live in melbourne which has fantastic tap water. So I rarely buy bottled water (just don't see the need). But I must say, once I'm out of Melbourne, I can't drink the tap water and will revert to bottled.
But I can't understand why, in Melbourne, where the water is so good, so many people drink so much bottled water???
Kylie
Enviro Warrior
An Extra Ordinary Life
Dream Herald
That's the power of TV and advertising....
Lilla ...
Enviro Warrior
An Extra Ordinary Life
Dream Herald
...people tend ot believe everything they see and hear on TV...
Grrrrr!
I still cannot login and modify my comments and posts... this is so bloody infuriating, I'm off to complain to someone...
Lilla ...