H2O, Water Bottles & Recycling...Thoughts for Today
Posted Jan 10 2011 12:00am
So for Christmas I bought my mother a filtered water pitcher for her fridge-- a Brita Pitcher . I asked her today how she liked it and if she was using it. Her response was: "I love it! It tastes like clean mountain water and it's absolutely delicious! I'm never going back to bottles!" THANK GOODNESS I thought. My mother, my best friend, the wonderful woman that she is---she's a Vegetarian, she recycles, she is health conscious, she cares about her mind, her body and the planet--WAS STILL BUYING BOTTLED WATER! AHHHHHHHHH! My mother, the one who convinced ME that storing my food in plastic was bad for me and brought a huge bag of mason jars to my house one day so I could get the "wretched plastic" away from my food---WAS STILL BUYING BOTTLED WATER!!! Okay so hopefully mom won't read this post, because I don't want to hurt her feelings, but what was she thinking!?
Let me start off by defending her (not really but at least it is an explanation). Tap water in Florida is gross. I mean GROSS. If you don't have a soft water filter in your house, or your own well, the average household's tap water has a very nasty Chlorine taste to it. That is why if you ever dine out in Florida there is always a luscious ripe lemon slice to accompany your glass of complimentary water--to DISGUISE the chlorine taste. And trust me--you'll be needing that lemon! So when the filter on my mother's refrigerator broke, she switched to bottled water. Bottled water is bad for the planet. I don't agree with it. If I find myself in a rare situation where I have to buy a bottled beverage I try to buy glass, which is more eco-friendly. If that doesn't happen than I ALWAYS recycle my plastic water bottles. But even then, the millions of plastic beverage bottles that fill the landfills and the oceans on our beautiful planet is disgusting. Although the amount of plastic bottles recycled in the U.S. has grown every year since 1990, the actual rate of recycling remains steady at a mere 27%. (source: earth911.com) That means out of every 24 pack of water bottles you buy, only about 7 of those bottles will end up recycled. That's sad :(
Most Americans are now aware of BPA (bisphenol A) and other harmful chemicals contained in many plastics. Research has shown that some of these chemicals can leak from the plastic into the food or beverage source over time, and especially with an added heat source (think water bottles sitting in a hot car for hours on end). BPA has specifically been linked to increased rates in diabetes and heart disease. There are 8 states in the U.S. that have banned the use of BPA in baby products. The best thing you can do is watch which types of plastics you are using to hold foods and beverages and use glass containers when possible.
Brita filters are 100% BPA free! That's the good news. :)
Let me start off by defending her (not really but at least it is an explanation). Tap water in Florida is gross. I mean GROSS. If you don't have a soft water filter in your house, or your own well, the average household's tap water has a very nasty Chlorine taste to it. That is why if you ever dine out in Florida there is always a luscious ripe lemon slice to accompany your glass of complimentary water--to DISGUISE the chlorine taste. And trust me--you'll be needing that lemon! So when the filter on my mother's refrigerator broke, she switched to bottled water. Bottled water is bad for the planet. I don't agree with it. If I find myself in a rare situation where I have to buy a bottled beverage I try to buy glass, which is more eco-friendly. If that doesn't happen than I ALWAYS recycle my plastic water bottles. But even then, the millions of plastic beverage bottles that fill the landfills and the oceans on our beautiful planet is disgusting. Although the amount of plastic bottles recycled in the U.S. has grown every year since 1990, the actual rate of recycling remains steady at a mere 27%. (source: earth911.com) That means out of every 24 pack of water bottles you buy, only about 7 of those bottles will end up recycled. That's sad :(
Most Americans are now aware of BPA (bisphenol A) and other harmful chemicals contained in many plastics. Research has shown that some of these chemicals can leak from the plastic into the food or beverage source over time, and especially with an added heat source (think water bottles sitting in a hot car for hours on end). BPA has specifically been linked to increased rates in diabetes and heart disease. There are 8 states in the U.S. that have banned the use of BPA in baby products. The best thing you can do is watch which types of plastics you are using to hold foods and beverages and use glass containers when possible.
Brita filters are 100% BPA free! That's the good news. :)