Better bottled water?
Bottled water is one of those odd inventions of the past few decades; I think it was unheard of when I was a child, except for the distilled kind that you poured in the iron. Nowadays, plastic water bottles are everywhere … and that’s a problem for planet Earth. All those plastic bottles make a LOT of trash (or, best case, a lot of recycling). But, short of eliminating bottled water from store shelves entirely (which I doubt will happen anytime soon), some companies are taking leadership in making what difference they can — and isn’t that the first step in improving our planet’s future? Icelandic Glacial Water, a bottled water producer, recently sent me the news that they have become the first “certified carbon neutral” bottled water company. In Icelandic’s case, this goes well beyond purchasing carbon offsets (a questionable solution, if you ask me). In addition to all of their power being sourced from geothermal and hydroelectric sources, they purchase energy from local providers, restrict flights and travel, use low-energy lighting throughout its buildings, recycle where possible, and encourage their customers, suppliers, and employees to do the same. Now, I’ll be the first to admit that I don’t understand all the nuances of what it means to be carbon neutral, but I did look up the certifying agency, The CarbonNeutral Company. It’s a fascinating organization that’s been working for 10 years with companies worldwide to legitimately reduce environmental impact. Check it out, especially the list of companies that care enough to do what they can. And kudos to Icelandic Glacial.
Related Topics: Food, Green Living, From the Editors
February 25th, 2008 at 2:32 pm
Thanks for bringing up one solution, Elisa. I am seeing this topic out there more and more, and even saw a television ad recently, reminding people of other solutions. The best in my opinion, if you are certain that the water from your tap is unacceptable to you (district water tests are always available to the public–check your local health dept. pages), is to purchase a countertop filtration unit for your sink. They are a cinch to install in most cases and many quality models sell for around $100. The replaceable filters must be changed about once/year, depending on usage, for about $40. If you do the math, this is FAR cheaper than buying bottled water over a year’s time, and you will be sure you really are drinking reasonably pure water (Regulations on the bottled variety are not as stringent as everyone believes, so beware). OK, so once you have a good water filter of your own, get busy! Fill your own bottle(s) and store them in your ‘fridge to grab when you need them. We like to reuse small glass bottles for home use and keep a few of the plastic variety ready for toting with us. Use whatever works–no need to buy any new gear, as juice / tea bottles work just fine. The idea is to RE-USE whenever possible! It is not a big time committment when you get into the groove with it.
February 25th, 2008 at 2:45 pm
I agree; it’s actually surprising how easy a habit becomes once you START. What’s the news on filtration systems for tap water? Anyone have solid recommendations, or are they all the same?
February 25th, 2008 at 3:48 pm
We have been using a countertop model for a few years that is sold by New Wave Enviro, and really like it. Not sure of the model number, but they have a limited number of products so it is easy to spot. It is a “Ten-stage” system that just hooks to the faucet and can be turned on and off with a little pin that pulls and pushes from there once the water is turned on.
February 27th, 2008 at 9:33 pm
Filtration systems can be wonderful, however if you’re an apartment dweller such things may not be an option.
I grew up and lived for almost 30 years in part of Pennsylvania, where if you wanted water to make a good cup of tea all you had to do was fill the kettle straight from the tap. I kept a countertop filtration pitcher for drinking water. It was really necessary. I simply preferred the taste.
Now I am living in Indiana. You can filter the tap water out here with any one of the popular filtration units typically sold in supermarkets and drugstores…boil it for tea or make your coffee…and you’ll have a layer of jelly-like scum floating on the top of your beverage, and sediment on the bottom of your cup that looks like a mix of rust and salt…but who knows what it is, really! For those who drink it “black”, it will look cloudy and milky, and have an “off” taste.
This leaves us with nothing but bottled water as a choice where we live right now. I’m not happy with it. I’m afraid of all the xenoestrogens from the plastic bottles. It’s just that as an apartment dweller we’re left with little choice…when the countertop units available can’t filter the stuff out, and you’re not allowed to install anything major by the landlord…you’re just stuck. We take all the bottles to the recycling center, but still it’s ridiculous. Then again, so is the brownish water that occasionally comes out of the taps around here!
Makes wish I could move back to Pennsylvania, and have a decent cup of tea that didn’t come from a plastic jug of water labeled, “Distilled”!
If I had my own house, I’d probably distill my own.
March 3rd, 2008 at 1:01 am
We swear by our water filter systems: home and work! In fact, as part of our company’s new ‘Green Team’, one of the many changes we’re implementing is to eliminate all bottled water for employees, clients, visitors. We have 3-4 high-quality filtered water dispensers, so have no reason to store little Crystal Geysers or whatever.
That said, thank you for posting on The CarbonNeutral Company and Icelandic Glacial Water. It is always great to learn more about alternatives to the mainstream!