USA Water Filter Blog

On November 2nd, as the first Nestlé Pure Life retail store celebrated its two-year anniversary, more than a dozen college campuses, and communities around the country are joining a national initiative led by Corporate Accountability International exposing Nestlé’s manipulative marketing of bottled water and calling on Nestlé to stop its aggressive marketing in Latino communities. The Swiss transnational’s Pure Life brand, marketed on its health benefits, is sourced from public water systems and sold back to consumers at hundreds of times the price.

The action is spurred by a recent study in the Archives of Pediatric Adolescent Medicine that found that Latino and black parents were three times more likely to choose bottled water over the tap for their children, citing safety and health concerns as the primary reason.

And throughout the last 30 years, bottled water corporations like Nestlé, Pepsi and Coke have helped build a $15 billion U.S. bottled water market by casting doubts on public drinking water systems.

Many members of Latino immigrant communities come from countries where many people lack access to clean, safe drinking water from public sources. So now, the very communities who understand first-hand the need for strong public water systems are the ones being targeted for aggressive market expansion of expensive, branded bottled water. Meanwhile, the public water flowing from their taps is held to a higher standard of accountability for its quality and safety.

http://www.hispanicallyspeakingnews.com/notitas-de-noticias/details/group-claims-nestles-pure-life-water-campaign-manipulates-hispanic-communit/11458/

Stop don’t drink that…plastic bottles harm YOUR pocket, YOUR body and YOUR earth. First of all bottled water costs you way more than tap. Second plastic bottles leak chemicals into your beverages. Lastly they guzzle resources and harm the environment.
Buying plastic bottles burns a huge hole in your pocket. According to the Earth Policy Institute bottled water can cost up to ten thousand dollars more than tap water. At ten dollars per gallon they say bottled water is more expensive than gasoline. Data from the Beverage Marketing Corporation (BMC) at the US Department of Agriculture shows that the number of gallons of bottled water consumed per American each year has doubled from 1976 to 2007.  According to a survey done here at Midwood, students spend an average of $30 per month on bottled water and other beverages.
Think of all the money you could be spending on a new phone, or shiny laptop that’s going down the drain because you were thirsty and had to have that Poland Spring.
On top of wasting your money, plastic bottles have been proven to leak chemicals that mimic estrogen and other hormones involved in reproduction. One of these chemicals Bisphenol A (BPA) disrupts the reproductive systems of mice permanently. Tests show that BPA can reduce sperm counts in rats and also can lead to breast cancer cell growth according to The Scientific American’s article “Plastic (not) Fantastic” 2/19/08. Another experiment explained by The Discovery News article “Plastic Water Bottles May Pose Health Hazard” 4/28/09, showed that levels of estrogen-like chemicals were lower in glass bottles and in tap water than in plastic water bottles.

http://my.hsj.org/Schools/Newspaper/tabid/100/view/frontpage/articleid/475444/newspaperid/3348/The_Real_Toll_of_Plastic_on_the_World.aspx

Over the past few semesters, you have probably noticed the revamp of the recycling program at Baruch.

The purpose of removing trash bins from all the classrooms and moving them into the atrium on each floor is to encourage recycling.

It has been a difficult change for some students, but take heart in knowing that we are all contributing to a huge positive impact. Still, we can do even more by attacking the problem at its source. Not purchasing water bottles at all would be even better for the environment.

The simple act of putting your money into a machine and getting a water bottle seems harmless, but the truth is, it has a much greater impact on our world than that.

Even though we have increased recycling here at Baruch, the vast majority, almost 75 percent, of water bottles nationwide is not recycled, according to information available on the environmentalist website Earth911.com.

The U.S. National Park Service shows that Americans use 2.5 million plastic bottles every year, and the number keeps rising.

An online resource available on the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services website shows that plastic takes hundreds of years to decompose. In the process, according to an Aug. 19, 2009 article onScienceDaily.com, plastic decomposition releases toxins into the environment.

That is why it is commonly known not to drink from a bottle that has been sitting in a hot car – the plastics can chemically leak into the water you drink.

http://www.theticker.org/about/2.8217/think-before-you-buy-your-water-1.2674929#.TtYJ4GOVrUA

Our body is composed of up to two-thirds water. The human brain is composed of 95 per cent water. Water, also helps regulate metabolism and body temperature. Dehydration can have a variety of effects on individuals including fatigue, short-term memory loss, trouble focusing on fine print, and even basic math abilities. Water plays a key role in maintaining normal body functions and in preventing disease.

Considering that water is essential in so many bodily functions, constant rehydration is crucial. For a fortunate few – most of us reading this included – water is always readily available. In fact, for these lucky few, the abundance of water around them can be disillusioning. Many misconceptions arise: the idea that we have plenty of water to spare, the thought that some forms of water are not drinkable, and the general feeling that this crucial source of life can be taken for granted. Two common water myths will be examined: the claim that we should all drink eight glasses of water a day, and the stigma of tap water.

http://www.mcgilldaily.com/2011/11/droplets-of-truth/

Bottled water sold in markets and convenience stores may be no more free of pollutants than the water that pours from the kitchen tap at a fraction of the cost, said an environmental group that tested samples.

Ten top-selling brands of bottled water contained a total of 38 pollutants including fertilizer, industrial chemicals, bacteria and the residue of drugs such as Tylenol, according to a report by the Environmental Working Group based in Washington, D.C. The bottled water showed an average of eight pollutants in each sample.

Americans drank more than twice as much bottled water in 2007 as they did in 1997, guzzling 8.8 billion gallons at a cost of $10.3 billion in 2007, according to the Beverage Marketing Corp., a research and consulting firm based in New York. Although commercials often show pristine mountain springs, the reality is that bottled water often comes from city water supplies, said Renee Sharp, an Environmental Working Group senior scientist.

“If you’re going to pay 1,500 times more for bottled water than for tap you’d expect that you’d be getting a cleaner, better product,” said Sharp. “And that’s not necessarily true.”

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=a4gqSuLAeFYU&refer=home

“Why would we have to buy bottled water if it wasn’t better than tap water?” he said.

LIke many others, Pirolozzi said he thought botted water was healthier than tap water because it costs more. The bottled water industry has yearly sales ranging between $50 billion to $100 billion worldwide, according to mnn.com.

Advertisements represent it as being a healthy alternative to tap water. It is bottled to be aesthetically pleasing, with one brand’s bottle shaped like a drop of water with a gold cap.

But Michelle Van Dyke, a community relations coordinator for the Hillsborough County Public Utilities Department, said bottled water is “one of the biggest marketing scams of this past century.”

“Our water costs half a penny a gallon,” said Van Dyke of Hillsborough County tap water. “When I was out with my family the other weekend, I had to buy a 16 ounce bottle of water and it cost me $2.50.”

The nationwide average cost of tap water is 0.002 cents per gallon, though consumers spend around 1,900 times as much to drink bottled water, which is about $3.80 per gallon. Those who buy bottled water in 16 ounce containers, which cost an average of $1.50, spend around 6,000 times as much money, according to a report by the Environmental Working Group (EWG).

The price of bottled water could be defendable if consumers gained something from the extra charge. But ConnieMizak, a USF professor in the department of Geography, Environment and Planning, said that has yet to be proven.

“There is no empirical evidence that bottled water is cleaner than tap water … There’s a lot of money being made on a resource that is available to all of us out of our faucets. It is a scheme, essentially,” she said. “The scary part is that, while municipal water is regulated by the EPA and has to meet the Safe Drinking Water Act standards, bottled water is regulated by the FDA and, under these rules, if bottled water is produced in a state and that product never crosses state boundaries to be sold, then it’s exempt from any regulations.”

http://www.usforacle.com/blowing-the-lid-off-bottled-water-1.2670234#.TtNlnWOVrUA

Amid frenzied media reports of “deadly chemicals” in Thanksgiving foods, a new study showing that eating canned soup sharply raises concentrations of bisphenol-A or BPA in the body, and the gnashing of teeth by bloggers worried by the health risks of sous-vide cooking, health-conscious households everywhere are reverberating with the dull “thud-plunk-plop” of plastic kitchenware being flung into garbage pails. Or at least, mine is.

Having written about the dangers of kitchen plastics here, I recently decided to rid myself of plastic bowls, storage tubs and utensils and invest in safer alternatives. Plastic mixing bowls have been replaced with stainless steel; plastic spatulas and chopping boards ceded their place to bamboo substitutes (much more attractive, incidentally); and my plastic electric kettle (deviously posing as a stainless steel kettle which, on closer examination, revealed a plastic inner casing) was replaced by a stainless steel stove-top kettle – complete with whistle for full-blown retro appeal!

Admittedly, plastics probably don’t pose the biggest health risk of them all. Environmental pollutants, dangerous microorganisms, radiation, or getting knocked off your bicycle on your way to work pose greater risks to your health than your plastic lunch box. But unlike these factors — which are virtually impossible for us to influence — there are many other health hazards (in particular with regard to cancer risk) that we can and should avoid: smoking, obesity, a sedentary lifestyle, junk food. And the plastics that come in contact with our food.

Just to recap: the vast majority of plastics currently used in food processing — whether it’s in the linings of cans, plastic food wrap and sandwich bags, disposable water bottles, silicone cake moulds and implements, Tetrapak containers, airtight food storage containers, convenience-food packaging or kitchen appliances (espresso makers, kettles, water filters, etc.) — contain chemical compounds like BPA that leach into the foods we eat, and which, once ingested, can have adverse health effects.

http://www.foodconsumer.org/newsite/Safety/chemical/bisphenol-a-1123110605.html

Over the past few semesters, you have probably noticed the revamp of the recycling program at Baruch.

The purpose of removing trash bins from all the classrooms and moving them into the atrium on each floor is to encourage recycling.

It has been a difficult change for some students, but take heart in knowing that we are all contributing to a huge positive impact. Still, we can do even more by attacking the problem at its source. Not purchasing water bottles at all would be even better for the environment.

The simple act of putting your money into a machine and getting a water bottle seems harmless, but the truth is, it has a much greater impact on our world than that.

Even though we have increased recycling here at Baruch, the vast majority, almost 75 percent, of water bottles nationwide is not recycled, according to information available on the environmentalist website Earth911.com.

The U.S. National Park Service shows that Americans use 2.5 million plastic bottles every year, and the number keeps rising.

An online resource available on the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services website shows that plastic takes hundreds of years to decompose. In the process, according to an Aug. 19,

http://www.theticker.org/about/2.8217/think-before-you-buy-your-water-1.26749

Stop don’t drink that…plastic bottles harm YOUR pocket, YOUR body and YOUR earth. First of all bottled water costs you way more than tap. Second plastic bottles leak chemicals into your beverages. Lastly they guzzle resources and harm the environment.
Buying plastic bottles burns a huge hole in your pocket. According to the Earth Policy Institute bottled water can cost up to ten thousand dollars more than tap water. At ten dollars per gallon they say bottled water is more expensive than gasoline. Data from the Beverage Marketing Corporation (BMC) at the US Department of Agriculture shows that the number of gallons of bottled water consumed per American each year has doubled from 1976 to 2007.  According to a survey done here at Midwood, students spend an average of $30 per month on bottled water and other beverages.
Think of all the money you could be spending on a new phone, or shiny laptop that’s going down the drain because you were thirsty and had to have that Poland Spring.
On top of wasting your money, plastic bottles have been proven to leak chemicals that mimic estrogen and other hormones involved in reproduction. One of these chemicals Bisphenol A (BPA) disrupts the reproductive systems of mice permanently. Tests show that BPA can reduce sperm counts in rats and also can lead to breast cancer cell growth according to The Scientific American’s article “Plastic (not) Fantastic” 2/19/08. Another experiment explained by The Discovery News article “Plastic Water Bottles May Pose Health Hazard” 4/28/09, showed that levels of estrogen-like chemicals were lower in glass bottles and in tap water than in plastic water bottles.

http://my.hsj.org/Schools/Newspaper/tabid/100/view/frontpage/articleid/475444/newspaperid/3348/The_Real_Toll_of_Plastic_on_the_World.aspx