Monday, 1 March 2010
Graphic: Bottled water imports and exports
Graphic: Bottled water imports and exports
June 5, 2008
A new UN map highlights bottled water’s patterns of international trade. With France being the major exporter of bottled water, trade routes in Europe (between France, Germany, and Belgium) often involve intracontinental trade. The United States also imports a large quantity of water from France and Fiji.
The FuseProject : Recycle Cool Water bottles into Toys!
The FuseProject : Recycle Cool Water bottles into Toys!
Article or RSS item submitted by Ty Wenzel • Apr 16th, 2008 • Category: Green Me Baby!, Product & Merch, Style Trend Forcasting |
fuseproject -- Y Water bottle
Bottled-water-drinkers have surely noticed Poland Springs making the switch to lightweight bottles; once empty, the easily-crushed containers remind you that what was a vessel five minutes ago has now become garbage.
Yves Behar's fuseproject and L.A.-based Y Water--targeting vitamin-enriched water at children--are moving in the opposite direction, with a distinctive Y-shaped bottle they're hoping will stick around a while longer.
Behar's innovation was to give the bottle two lives: its first is as a vessel for the product, and when empty, it gains a second life as a toy. The sturdy 9-ouncers "can be linked with other bottles through biodegradable rubber 'Y Knots,' connectors that help to create spaceships, animals, robots, or whatever else a creative child can imagine."
"We look to this repurposing of the Y Water bottle to not only encourage children to be creative, but to encourage children to think about reuse rather than simply discarding these into the trash," says Behar. "We want to create a new paradigm for children's products that encourages unique new behaviors and a productive afterlife for the product."
Bottled Water Sales Slipping
http://www.psfk.com/2008/09/bottled-water-sales-slipping.html
Good news on the reduce-reuse-recycle front. Bottled water sales in the United States, the world’s largest bottled water market, are starting to slow down. Although sales are not declining, the Worldwatch Institute reports that this year’s projected growth is only at 6.7% – the smallest increase in the past 10 years. It may not be a landmark occasion, but it’s a positive sign.
Bottled Water Blues?
Bottled Water Blues?
According to a recent study by the Natural Resources Defense Council, the United States is the leading consumer of bottled water. The sale of bottled water has increased by 500% in the last decade. This significant increase is largely due to the successful marketing tactics of companies like Dasani, Deer Park, Aquafina, etc. Many of these companies promote the idea that bottled water is healthier than tap water. VCU Recycling Coordinator Steve Heintz says he’s noticed the increase in bottled water use.
“I’ve definitely noticed, when I look in the dumpsters outside it is more than half full of bottled water,” said Heintz.
But with this dramatic increase in water consumption there is also a greater need for more recycling. The United States has not been able to meet this need and almost 40 percent of the bottles that were deposited for recycling in 2004 were actually exported to China.
Associate Research Professor for the VCU School of Environmental Studies, Dr. Peter deFur says that the demand for bottled water also increases the demand for energy.
“We’ve seen this dramatic increase in commercial bottle water and what happens is there is the container in which the water is sold and that takes energy,” said deFur. “And even if people do recycle it, it takes energy to recycle.”
VCU students, like Kara Terrell, say that while they do reuse and refill water bottles they purchase on campus, they do not take the initiative to dispose of them properly when they are finished.
“Oftentimes, I don’t really use the recycle bins provided on campus, but I do recycle bottles on my own, I just fill them with water whenever need be,” said Terrell.
In order to conserve energy and plastic resources, it’s important not only to realize the value of recycling itself but the importance of reusing as well. Heintz says one way to boost recycling among Americans is to change their attitudes.
“Recycling is a resource, the materials you recycle whether it be paper, plastic, metal or wood… these are all commodities and to throw them out, put them in a landfill, and just bury them is basically a waste of space.”
Do you care?
The controversy over drinking bottled water rather than tap is something that consumers have been questioning for years. Some people think it’s healthier to buy purified water, but othersworry about the cost to the environment. Take the poll below to let us know what you think.
The facts about bottled water:
1. According to the Beverage Marketing Corporation, Americans bought a total of 31.2 billion liters of water in 2006. The Pacific Institute estimates that producing the bottles for American consumption required more than 17 million barrels of oil, not including the energy for transportation.
2. The Container Recycling Institute reports that 86 percent of plastic water bottles used in the United States become garbage or litter.
3. Beverage Digest estimates Americans spent over $15 billion dollars on bottled water last year.
Wednesday, 24 February 2010
bottled water
"So drinking bottled water is like giving my car a blowjob?"
The question above, posed by copyranter in the title of an article panning Brita's new advertising campaign, got our attention. Brita's approach may be crude, (no pun intended), but such reactions will certainly contribute to achieving Brita's goal. More clicks. More people aware that
"Last year 16 million gallons of oil were consumed to make plastic water bottles."More people visiting Brita's filter for good pledge site, where Brita claims over 74 million plastic water bottles will be avoided by users of the Brita water filter system who have made the pledge to switch from bottles to Brita.
Drawbacks of Water Filters
Water filters like Brita and Pur may get panned for not removing every possible contaminant, or for the disposable filters and appliance waste generated, which is probably not necessary in light of the fact that tap water quality in most developed nations is excellent. And Brita has certainly been beaten up for advertisements which suggest that tap water quality is questionable just because we are foolish enough to flush our toilets with perfectly good drinking water.
Ditch Bottled Water
But many TreeHuggers are committing to ditch bottled water. For some, the taste or quality of their tap water needs a little help. An in-line water filter, installed centrally or at the tap, is considered to be less wasteful due to the infrequent change-outs of the filter media. For apartment dwellers and those who cannot install fixed filter systems, the jug filters like Brita or Pur are a reasonable alternative. It certainly beats buying water in bottles.
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