Campaign seeks Australia's most expensive bottled water

Paying through the nose - how money runs through your hands like water

from an article in couriermail:

ACTION group Do Something has found that people are buying bottled water at up to 10 times the price of petrol.

David Jones' Voss brand water costs $10.95 for 800ml, while bottled water at a BP garage at $3.59 was nearly three times the price of the station's petrol.

Group founder Jon Dee has launched a campaign to find the nation's most expensive bottled water.

Yesterday, Mr Dee said Australians spent more than half a billion dollars on bottled water every year, despite high quality drinking water being available for next to nothing out of the tap.

The price of main-stream bottled water in hotels, restaurants and convenience stores was exorbitant, he said.

Examples included $7 for a litre of Mt Franklin water at Mirvac Hotels.

Tap water in Brisbane cost around $2.01 for 1000 litres and most leading bottled water brands charged more than that for just one litre.

Related Coverage

• Crazy Sydney: Diners hit up to $14 ... for water
• NSW: State government bans bottled water
• Bundanoon: Town votes to ban bottled water

"Where bottled water is just filtered tap water, how can they justify the high price?" Mr Dee said.

In 2008, a British study found that a bottle of water had the same impact on the environment as driving a car 1km. Its production generated up to 600 times more carbon dioxide than tap water.

Clean Up Australia chairman Ian Kiernan, also an anti-bottled-water campaigner, said the product is destructive to the environment.

The bottles are becoming a major litter problem, with a Clean Up Australia survey finding plastic beverage and other containers account for about half of the top 10 litter items.

Mr Dee said buying bottled water had to be anti-environment, given the carbon road miles racked up in delivering a useless product.

"All you are doing is paying through the nose to buy a plastic bottle that's damaging," he said.

Mr Dee said testing showed there was no difference in quality between tap and bottled water.

Submit your highest bottled water prices at www.GoTap.com.au

disposable plastic water bottles - not cool

BEAUTY AND THE BOTTLE

 Have you ever noticed how much energy is put into designing bottles? Go into either a liquor store or a perfume store, and take a look at the beautiful shapes, textures and colours that are used to create the bottle. In more than a few instances, the cost of the package is much more than the cost of the contents. This shows that we care about beauty, and how much we care is often a reflection of the value we place on the contents.

 Now take a look at a throw away plastic water bottle. There are two strange things here: first, the fact that it looks like (and is) a piece of garbage would indicate that the quality of the contents is pretty ordinary. Second, and truly weird, is the incongruity of someone who cares enough about how they look to spend large dollars on handbags, shoes, clothes, jewelry, watches, cool phones, sunglasses, cars, ties, haircuts, cosmetics….is also willing to be seen walking around (and if they are a celebrity, photographed) carrying and drinking out of something as ugly, cheap, nasty, low rent and generally trashy as a plastic water bottle.

How does this disconnect happen? Do we all have an inability to see ourselves when we do this? Can you imagine a social convention that had all of us wear garbage bags over our Hugo Boss suits to protect them from the dust? Or making ourselves up perfectly for a formal evening and then using an old plastic shopping bag as a purse? It wouldn’t happen, yet the accessory of the noughties was the water bottle, and its most pervasive expression was the one made to throw away.







 For myself, I can’t imagine buying one of them, or carrying one. It has become such a symbol of the ugly consumer, the loud American or Australian who is completely unaware of where they are and what they are doing.  It is a symbol of something ugly that is also intrinsically ugly, and because I am, potentially, a living sculpture, I am going to match my wonderfully beautiful gear with something wonderfully beautiful – a refillable water bottle.












And then I am going to fill it with the ultimate in chic contents – Great Australian Tap Water.

I invite you to join me.

Tap water -  get something real into you

School bans plastic water bottles

Monte Sant' Angelo Mercy College in Sydney's north has banned the sale of plastic water bottles.

from an article at ABC North Coast

The canteen will no longer stock plastic water bottles and the school also spent $7,500 installing water bubblers for the students to use instead.

The initiative will be launched today by sailor activist David de Rothschild who this week completed a voyage across the Pacific Ocean on the Plastiki, a boat made from recycled bottles.

Year 12 student Claudia Saunders says she hopes the ban will do more than reduce the school's consumption of plastic bottles.

"It's also about promoting it to Monte girls and getting the awareness out there how unnecessary these bottles are and the damage they can cause to the environment, both in their production and then in their disposal," she said.

The school's effort has been hailed as a model that can be rolled out across the country.

Jon Dee, founder of the environment group Do Something, says the campaign will significantly reduce the amount of plastic waste at the school.

"We'll have 1,100 girls at this school who won't have bottled water," he said.

"Now if they can do that at Monte Sant' Angelo there's no reason why other schools couldn't follow this example.

"It will set a great environmental role model for the kids but it will also show kids you can help the environment and you can save money at the same time."

Great review of the award winning movie: 'Tapped'

which exposes the horror of the bottled water scam - get the link for it here too
an article in Blogger News Network

Movie Review: Tapped

Posted on July 23rd, 2010

by Zach Freeman in All News, Coming soon, Environmental News, Movie Reviews,Reviews

“I do spend some of my time on bottled water… but I have other responsibilities as well,” says Lauren Robin, the one employee at the FDA in charge of ensuring that the bottled water industry meets federal safety guidelines. But since 60-70% of bottled water is produced and sold within state lines, the FDA has no jurisdiction to regulate the safety of bottled water anyway. This snippet of information alone is enough to make viewers stop and think about the safety of bottled water. And considering that this section of Tapped (a new documentary from the producers of Who Killed the Electric Car?)  comprises only about 60 seconds of the entire 76-minute film, it’s fairly clear that it makes a strong case against the bottled water industry. And lest conservatives protest, this is no “liberal” screed. Filmmaker Stephanie Soechtig cut her teeth working on “The O’Reilly Factor”, Bill O’Reilly’s nightly conservative platform. Whether that makes her a more reliable story-teller or not is up to viewers, but she certainly learned a thing or two about framing questions to cause a stir.
“If I had known you were going to talk about that… probably wouldn’t have given you the interview,” says FDA Press Officer Mike Herndon, when asked about BPA. Among other topics, the trouble with BPA is covered extensively.  In fact, Soechtig’s film takes on the bottled water industry from all angles - poor government regulation, lack of safety measures, corporate greed, environmental destruction, human illness… the list goes on. But if nothing else affects those watching, a visit to Kamilo Beach - a polluted beach on the southeast coast of the island of Hawaii - should be enough to turn people off of plastic containers. One activist describes how this beach is where plastic eventually ends up when it’s thrown in a landfill and it’s easy to believe him when looking at the amount of plastic in the water and washed up on the beach. Unfortunately, the immediate follow-up is a discussion of the Eastern Garbage Patch (a collection of garbage twice the size of Texas). While this should be an even more devastating moment in the film, Soechtig takes away the impact by choosing to repeat a less than impressive shot - an underwhelming clip of a single water bottle on the bottom of the ocean. It’s an unfortunate choice and detracts from the strong evidence for plastic waste polluting the ocean that the interviewee is presenting.
The film wraps up on a positive note with MGMT’s “Kids”  and Flaming Lips’ “The W.A.N.D” providing energetic and powerful back-up to a montage of citizens taking action against bottled water. As Wayne Coyne proclaims “We’ve got the power now mother-fuckers, that’s where it belongs” it’s more than evident that this is an issue that can (and should) be addressed at the individual level. Whether Tapped truly gives all viewers enough information as it could is a question that’s left a bit open in the closing credits. In the same way that the book Fast Food Nation stopped my fast food consumption immediately, Tapped has made enough of an impression on me to stop me from buying bottled water in the future.
Zach’s Rating: B
Perfect For: Those willing to change their consumption habits
Stay Away if: You’d like to be able to continue drinking bottled water

bottled water making a comeback

Bottled water is a true scam, but don't expect that to stop the industry claiming its 'rightful place in the market.'

from an article in the
ATLANTA BUSINESS NEWS 4:41 p.m. Friday, July 23, 2010

By Jeremiah McWilliams 

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

The bottled water industry, battered by recession and environmental concerns, is applauding the demise of several initiatives that aimed to stop cities and states from buying the product.

In San Francisco, discussion of banning bottled water from all city events has resulted in no real action, the San Francisco Chronicle reported last week. And Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell nixed a directive from his predecessor that prohibited state agencies from purchasing single-serve bottled water for most official functions and meetings.The attorney general of Massachusetts, citing procedural errors, voided a decision made last spring at an annual town meeting in Concord that would have banned the sale of bottled water within the town.

"It's been a hard year," said Tom Lauria, spokesman for the International Bottled Water Association. "But there are signs that it's turning around. And it can't happen soon enough."

Bottled water sales fell last year as many shoppers switched to tap water to save money. A handful of states -- Illinois, New York, Colorado and until recently Virginia -- have moved to limit bottled water purchases.

A survey by the U.S. Conference of Mayors showed 72 cities have considered eliminating or reducing bottled water purchases within city facilities, while 44 either have formal bans in place or are actively encouraging city officials and departments to use tap water.

Those were ominous signs for companies such as Coca-Cola, parent of Dasani, and PepsiCo, which markets Aquafina.

Environmentalists say bottled water is environmentally unsound because of the amount of plastic it puts into the waste system, and a waste of taxpayer dollars. Leslie Samuelrich, chief of staff at shareholder activist group Corporate Accountability International, decried the Virginia decision. She said it "sends the wrong message about the state’s high quality public water systems – systems the Governor has been entrusted to support and protect."

Lauria said bottled water companies are "just trying to maintain our rightful place in the marketplace."

Plastic-bottle boat crosses the Pacific

The Plastiki expedition — brainchild of banking heir and ecologist David de Rothschild — is designed to raise awareness of plastic pollution and overfishing in the world's oceans.

from an article in the Toronto Sun

By QMI AGENCY

Last Updated: July 24, 2010 4:02pm

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(Photo courtesy of theplastiki.com)

The Plastiki, a catamaran made of 12,500 reclaimed plastic bottles, is set to complete its 12,000-km voyage across the Pacific from San Francisco to Sydney, Australia, Monday.

The 19-metre vessel with a crew of six aboard was stalled by southerly headwinds just off the Australian coast Sunday afternoon, the Sydney Morning Herald reported.

The final leg of the Plastiki's trans-Pacific voyage would have to be made under tow from a motor vessel because the catamaran — unlike a single-hull sailing vessel — cannot sail into a headwind, the paper said.

The Plastiki expedition — brainchild of banking heir and ecologist David de Rothschild — is designed to raise awareness of plastic pollution and overfishing in the world's oceans.

The Plastiki's name is a play on the Kon-Tiki raft which Norwegian adventurer Thor Heyerdahl sailed across the Pacific in 1947.

The 12,500 recycled plastic bottles forming the vessel's double hull are packed together in a "pomegranate-like" structure and fixed to pontoons and held together with a fully recyclable plastic called Seretex and an organic glue made from cashew nut husks and sugarcane. Its masts are made of reclaimed aluminum irrigation pipes and its sails of recycled plastic fibres.

The Plastiki uses fully renewable energy sources including solar, wind and sea turbines, so the crew are disappointed their entrance into Sydney harbour will not be under their own power, the Sydney Morning Herald said.

"It is a little sad in a way being on a vessel that isn't actually sailing," de Rothschild told the paper in a radio interview. "We were hoping to arrive on Sunday so that more people would be able to come out and join the celebration but it is still exciting — this has been four years in the planning and we have been four months at sea."

The five men and one woman aboard the Plastiki set sail from San Francisco on March 20.

In the next four months they survived winter storms, sailing for weeks through an enormous swirling mass of plastic garbage the size of Texas in the middle of the Pacific, and those final pesky headwinds off Sydney harbour.

"We've spent four months at sea but have seen very little fish stock and only a handful of marine mammals," de Rothschild told AFP Friday. "That is a real sign that the oceans are in desperate need of our help."

British skipper Jo Royle, 30 — the only woman on board — told the Morning Herald she was anticipating the end of the incredible journey and some non-male companionship for a change: "I am looking forward to a girlie giggle and a glass of wine. Everyone on board has a job to do, we have two filmmakers and a photographer. We all have our roles and we also all have to do a watch. It has been a remarkable voyage."

As for the Plastiki, it will be be moored at Sydney's Maritime Museum for at least a month. After that, David de Rothschild said, "We may just recycle the whole thing."

On Passion, the Heart and Water

Over the weekend I was at a 5Rhythms dance class and the teacher left us with the question: "What are you passionate about?" I was thinking about it this morning. Am  I passionate about water filters? Water bottles? No, not really. I would prefer a world where there were neither; where there was an environment so pristine and water so available that we could simply dip a hand into a lake or a stream to take a drink.

I know that is not here, and that it is never going to happen. So I watch my passion shift a little bit, as it aligns with reality. Not a huge shift. Not even a stretch of the imagination. Simply a world where there is no such thing as disposable plastic. No bags and bottles in great islands in the ocean. No beaches covered in old thongs and screw caps. No storm water drains filled with garbage bags, styrofoam cups and fragments of clear, shiny PET. Not a huge stretch of the imagination, but a shift from our reality. And the sadness of those images mixed with the silliness of its cause -  (convenience mostly; a way of "saving" a few seconds; or a way, teen-like, to unleash some pent up power by not just giving a shit) - that mixture becomes volatile in my belly and ignites the sense of fire, and justice, and fairness, and caring for others that I CAN call passion. It brings the warmth of a broken heart into focus, the way that watching a beloved in pain does.

This earth is my mother, and my beloved. She is all abundant, all suffering, never complaining. But she is like a mother with wayward children who hit her, abuse her, steal from her, knock her down and piss on her. Stopping the use of plastic bottles does not seem like much, in the face of this, but it is a move in the right direction. There is an energy behind it that can carry more than its own weight. It makes a real difference, it makes an idealistic difference. But mostly, it makes a difference in my heart - in my way of being with my world.



This, I realize, is what I am passionate about: my heart's place in relation to my world. So why use plastic bottles to carry this passion? Convenience really - there is simply no more ridiculously easy target, no more invasive, below-the-radar, yet obvious symbol for how to cock up the planet, and through that to lose my connection with my heart and my passion. Not the life I want, just for the "ease" of a throw away bottle.

Great Australian Tap Water - get the real thing.

Dipak Ramsey

photo from 'La Diva de la Telephono Blanco'

Roving water stations help New Yorkers beat the heat

from an article in Ode magazine:

Tuesday is Brooklyn Borough Hall. Wednesday is Times Square. Thursday is West 175th Street.

That's when and where drinking water is disseminated via outdoor drinking water stations, for New Yorkers and tourists.

Each station has six faucets, which can be used for drinking or to fill a water bottle. The portable fountains connect to fire hydrants and also cater to the city's four-legged citizens with separate bowls of water for dogs and other pets.

The Water-on-the-Go program began on July 4 and will continue through Labor Day Weekend. It's part of New York City's attempt to fight the dog days of summer and reduce its carbon footprint.

The program is a partnership between the Department of Environmental Protection, theDepartment of Health and Mental Hygiene, the Department of Parks and Recreation, theDepartment of Transportation and NYC Service.

A longstanding point of pride for New Yorkers, the city's agua comes to the five boroughs from a watershed more than 125 miles north of the Bronx. The whistle-wetting substance comes from 19 reservoirs and three controlled lakes and makes it way to Gotham via some 7,000 miles of water mains, tunnels and aqueducts.

Following a failed bid to introduce a tax on soda sales in New York, Mayor Bloomberg celebrated the city's newfound independence from disposable water bottles last week: "Our water is the healthiest, most affordable and most environmentally friendly way to stay hydrated."

Department of Environmental Protection staff will deliver, set up and disconnect the fountains at the beginning and end of each day and rotate locations according to the summer schedule.

• Tuesdays at the Brooklyn Borough Hall Greenmarket
• Wednesdays at the Times Square Public Plaza
• Thursdays at the West 175th Street and Broadway Greenmarket
• Fridays at the Union Square Greenmarket
• Saturdays at events in Staten Island, Queens and the Bronx
• Sundays at rotating locations
  Photo by gfpeck via Flickr.

there is only one water bottle

9 reasons to ditch the plastic water bottles

From an article at ecosalon

Bottled water is everywhere. Supermarkets, gas stations, even vending machines offer it, but there are compelling reasons to kick the bottle habit for good.
9. Cost: A single bottle of water generally runs about one to two dollars. In some cases, such as at concerts or amusement parks, one bottle can cost up to nearly three dollars! Even if bottled water is bought in bulk, the price still averages around .50 to .89 cents per bottle. Filtered tap water is essentially the same product and costs a fraction of the price.

. Space: Many people live in environments where space is at a premium. One reusable bottle takes up much less space than 12 bottles of the same product.

7. Waste: In a perfect world, everyone would recycle their used bottles. All it takes is a quick drive down the highway to realize that we live in a far from perfect world. Old plastic bottles littering the curb are a common sight, unfortunately. Even in a garbage dump, one bottle can take thousands of years to decompose.

6. Environmental impact: Litter aside, bottled water takes a greater toll on our environment. Oil goes into making the plastic. Large trucks need to be fueled up to transport them, emitting extra fumes into the air. The bottles are usually kept cool in the store, using up even more unnecessary energy.

5. Quality: Bottled water has a reputation for being “safe”, but this isn’t necessarily true. Under extreme heat, like that found in a vehicle in summer, chemicals can be leached from the plastic and contaminate the water within.

4. Regulations: Consider this; the EPA holds tap water to much higher standards than the FDA holds bottled water, meaning there is a chance that bottled water is not as safe as filtered tap water.

3. Not So Pure: Bottled water companies claim their water is “purer,” often toted as spring water or more organic. Take a closer look at the label though. If the words “from a municipal/community source” are present, that water is likely to be no more than glorified tap water. Consumers can have the same taste and effect by attaching a filter to their faucets.

2. Community effect: Bottled water is pulled from local sources near the bottling plant, leading to water shortages in the immediate area. Farmers and local residents take the brunt of the impact at first, but everyone feels the crunch in higher food costs and shortages.

1. Redundancy: It takes a ridiculous amount of water to make one bottle of water! Some studies suggest that it takes nearly seven times as much water to make just one consumable bottle!

Doesn’t it make more sense to ditch to bottle?

Tap water to be offered at Jersey's Grassroots festival

A beautiful symmetry - an article about Grassroots 2010 in the UK, where no bottled water will be sold and proceeds from refillable bottle sales will go towards water equity projects around the world.

article from bbc:
Water will be on tap for festival goers at the 2010 Grassroots festival.

The eco-friendly event is held at the Val de La Mar Reservoir, owned by Jersey Water who will be highlighting the islands tap water. There will be no bottle water on sale at the event, taking place on 31 July, instead there will be a water station.

When you arrive you'll be invited to buy a specially designed, reusable water bottle for £1.00 with all proceeds going to charity.

You will then be able to fill up the bottle as often as you like from a special 'water station', providing treated mains water.

Festival Organiser Linzi Wilson said it helped highlight the environment and the impact people have on it.

She said: "Waste from bottled water in terms of carbon emissions from its production and transportation, as well as disposal problems, are equally relevant in Jersey as anywhere else.

"We have therefore decided not to sell bottled water on site, to minimise the environmental impact of the Festival through waste."

Jersey Water's Managing Director & Engineer, Howard Snowden said proceeds from the sale of bottles will go to the Water Aid charity.

Mr Snowden said the charity: "seeks to transform lives by improving access to safe water, hygiene and sanitation in the world's poorest communities."

tap water is the best - so good even a cat will get wet for it...

Enjoy! Anyone who knows cats will laugh and laugh!!