Aussie Web Directory

Bear a plastic water bottle at your own demise; the pressure of public belief is forming away from you. From high rating documentaries, to the written word and campaigns, the biggest news in town is the problem that is bottled water and the waste of resources the industry creates.

The production, transporting and waste of water in petrochemical plastic bottles consumes big use of water alongside energy, and generates huge quantities of greenhouse gases and waste.

Director of the hot new documentary ‘Tapped: get off the bottle’ Stephanie Soechtig claims “1500 water bottles end up in landfill every second – that’s 30 million water bottles a day! We wanted to show people just how much waste is generated by bottled water.” The team of Tapped are promoting the documentary with an across-America roadshow, asking money from donors to take down their water bottle abuse and exchanging their old plastic water bottle in exchange for a reusable stainless steel bottle. Download Tapped from Amazon or iTunes.

Another such film ‘The Story of Bottled Water’ was released on World Water Day in March. From the pen of Annie Leonard of the well-received ‘The Story of Stuff’, this short film delves into the methodology that is used to convincing Americans into wasting more than half a billion bottles of water every week, compared with a few cents cost for water from the tap. See this new film on You Tube.

Through her book ‘Bottlemania’, writer Elizabeth Royte explores one of the monumental marketing heists of the last century and gives a super environmental alarm bell. She details the situations we must at some point answer to. Who owns the water supply? What will happen when a bottled-water corporation possesses your town’s water source? Is the water coming from a tap absolutely safe? What is really the environmental factor of producing, transporting and disposing of one plastic water bottle?

Politicians all around the globe are beginning to realise that they need to take action – notably when the buildings at which they debate are high consumers of bottled water. How often do we view a politician at a government function drinking from a water bottle. Surely they must be able to locate a water glass in Parliament House.

Leslie Samuelrich of Corporate Accountability International, stated “Cities and states are spending hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars on bottled water, and that’s not to mention what’s spent to deal with all the plastic bottles that are thrown out.”

In July 2009, the NSW rural town of Bundanoon became the first place in Australia to prevent the retailing of bottled water. About 60 towns in the US and some places in Canada and the UK have now stopped the spending of taxpayer holdings on bottled water.

Surely this issue will be tabled at World Water Week 2010 from September 5 to 11 in Stockholm, Sweden, the annual meeting for the globe’s most problematic water-related issues.

Article written by Tracey Bailey, founder of Biome Eco Stores.

You are doing the right thing for the planet by filling up at home and carrying a reusable water bottle and you’ve chosen a safe, non-toxic bottle-but if it’s not kept clean then it may not be healthy.

Whether your drink bottle is a stainless steel bottle, SIGG bottle or a BPA free plastic water bottle, it is important to stop mould and other deposits forming in the bottle.

Wash your drink bottles with warm, soapy water at the end of every day and let the bottle air dry upside down with the top off every day where possible.

Should any mineral deposits or lime scale form inside, fill your clean water bottle with Distilled White Vinegar and let it soak for 24 hours. Then rinse with warm water mixed with one tablespoon of bicarbonate of soda (baking soda), rinse out and let dry. Spots inside the bottle that look like “corrosion” are most likely a mineral deposit.

Fill your bottle with filtered water wherever possible. It tastes so much better, but also because water contains different minerals in every area this may affect what happens inside your bottle.

Do not allow liquids such as fruit juice to ferment inside the bottle.

With all reusable water bottles you can also try SIGG cleaning tablets and a specially-designed SIGG bottle cleaning brush, or simply a baby bottle brush. Only ever use a soft brush on aluminium bottles with lining like SIGG so as not to damage the lining. Stainless steel water bottles like Klean Kanteen and Nathan can handle a hard brush.

While all bottles are technically dishwasher-safe, it is recommended to not put them in a dishwasher. Most dishwasher powders are caustic, so they will eat into the metal of your bottle and damage the exterior pattern. Bottle tops should also not be put in the dishwasher because extreme heat expands and deteriorates the plastic.

Never freeze metal bottles as metal can split even with only a little water inside. Water does not always expand in a predictable direction! Freezing plastic water bottles is also not advisable because it may cause the plastic to breakdown and toxins to leach. It is fine to place your bottle in the refrigerator.

Tips on cleaning your water bottle brought to you by Biome Eco Stores Australia.