Bottled Water: Don't Buy It!

[aspawloski4th]

For the general population it is the most expensive alternative. I don’t know what percentage of the population buys their drinking water at the grocery store and hauls it home, but it is significant. We do know that it is a 20 billion dollar industry in this country. There are about 100 million households in the U.S. So how much does that work out to per household per year? I think it is $200. Wow! It works as long as we can afford it. The fuel costs of hauling the water to the retail outlet and hauling it home is huge. I guess in this case the water supply is tied to the fuel supply. Trucking water hundreds of miles is only possible in a society that is very wealthy. In the orphanage in Haiti all the water is hauled by people three miles every day and it is not close to being potable.

Are you sugesting we live like the people in Haiti? Because of economic freedom we have obtained a life style where for most survival isn’t a day to day endeavour anymore, where we can spend our time on more meaningful things than merely surviving. Where we not only obey the multiply commandment of God, but now we can be fruitfull. If our society were to make survival a daily endeavour that takes up the majority of one’s energy, we couldn’t obey the be fruitfull commandment anymore and we would be no different than mere wild animals.

 

[Bill_Cherry]

After reading this thread, if I were rich I’d be buying myself $100 worth of bottld water just to spite these liberal nutjobs. I would likely end up giving most of it away to those who need it.

“liberal nutjobs” nice choice of words there fella.:tsktsk:
But, i agree with your sentiments. There are folks on the street who are thirsty, hot and hungry,…who don’t have the luxury of bickering on the internet. So if it spite that promotes you to charity,… I suppose its better than no charity at all.

 

[Drawmack]

This might seem a little off topic,…But are you aware that there is a thousand square mile island of plastic floating in the pacific ocean?

news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090804/ts_nm/us_ocean_plastics;_ylt=Ak38feZ8KqAR17piw_DmfaR0fNdF

That’s not real. There is a Conspiracy Skeptic episode about it.

 

[Marsha_Adams]

This is true and why is it that no one in the mainstream media is freaked out about it?

More significantly, why isn’t the U.S. EPA publically addressing the issue? I first found out about it through the news. It was one of those 15 second “isn’t that interesting” stories they do. I couldn’t believe it so I went to the office and did some research on it and found that there had been several reports on the female fish only rivers.

 

[Bill_Cherry]

That’s not real. There is a Conspiracy Skeptic episode about it.

Please enlighten me.

 

[redhen]

That’s not real. There is a Conspiracy Skeptic episode about it.

What your sources? Mine is from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

swfsc.noaa.gov/publications/TM/SWFSC/NOAA-TM-NMFS-SWFSC-154_P247.PDF

Scientists warned us about this 20 years ago. This pile of plastic garbage is now twice the size of Texas.

ted.com/index.php/talks/capt_charles_moore_on_the_seas_of_plastic.html

 

[grandfather]

Are you sugesting we live like the people in Haiti? Because of economic freedom we have obtained a life style where for most survival isn’t a day to day endeavour anymore, where we can spend our time on more meaningful things than merely surviving. Where we not only obey the multiply commandment of God, but now we can be fruitfull. If our society were to make survival a daily endeavour that takes up the majority of one’s energy, we couldn’t obey the be fruitfull commandment anymore and we would be no different than mere wild animals.

I am not suggesting that. How could you infer such a thing. We should however help the orphan. If that means giving something from our excess or need, or refusing to help the poor, then that is the cost. Helping the orphan, or giving a drink of water to the thirsty is quite meaningful. What do you do, spend your valuable time on that is meaningful. Just asking!

I don’t know what you mean when you use the term liberal nutjob. Is that someone who cares for his neighbor?

 

[Drawmack]

Please enlighten me.

No, it’s off topic. You want to talk about it start a new thread.

 

[Bill_Cherry]

No, it’s off topic. You want to talk about it start a new thread.

No need. I think it has been established that it is a real phenomena.

But, to stay on topic with the Bottled Water thing…
I agree with whoever it was that says to get a britta filter or PUR or something and use reusable containers. unless of course it is absolutely necessary.

 

[Drawmack]

What your sources? Mine is from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Okay, and you’re claiming that this is a floating island of plastic. Let me ask you two things.

1. If it were a floating island of plastic would there be a need to drag nets through the ocean water to prove its existence?
2. Would you expect that the highest density of plastic in the studied area would be this floating island or some other place?

swfsc.noaa.gov/publications/TM/SWFSC/NOAA-TM-NMFS-SWFSC-154_P247.PDF

From this piece:

The most polluted water in this area were Tokyo Bay (which had far more plastic than Day has ever seen elsewhere in the Pacific–he was unable to sample there) and localized areas in the Japan Sea.

If there is a floating island the size of Texas than, according to this quote, that island should be residing in Tokyo Bay, not in the middle of the Pacific.

Okay, I read the entire piece and it does not once mention a floating island of plastic and garbage. It is a study of the density of plastic in the Ocean. I never said that man hasn’t polluted the ocean with plastic. I said there was no floating island of plastic in the middle of the Pacific, which this study actually seems to support. First, it doesn’t talk of any such floating island. Second, the plastic was collected with dredging nets which would be unnecessary with such a floating island. Third, the highest concentrations are in the near land waters of Japan not the center of the ocean. So, this study does nothing to further the idea that there is a floating island of plastic somewhere in the Pacific.

On top of all that this is a very old study. I would like to see a more recent one because laws have been enacted since this time which should, if they do their jobs, have reduced the amount of plastic in the oceans.

Scientists warned us about this 20 years ago. This pile of plastic garbage is now twice the size of Texas.

ted.com/index.php/talks/capt_charles_moore_on_the_seas_of_plastic.html

Again, I did not say that man has not polluted the oceans with plastic. I said that there is no floating island of plastic the size of Texas in the Pacific ocean. If there were such a floating island of plastic don’t you think there would have been a picture of it in this piece? Was there a picture of it in this piece? What does that tell you?

There is no floating island of plastic in the center of the Pacific. Is there plastic there, yes. Have we polluted the oceans with plastic, yes. But, there is no floating island of plastic and making such false claims only stands to weaken your case as it demonstrates dishonesty on your part.

Now, this is off topic so I’d really like to drop it and talk about the topic at hand.

 

[Cracker_Mom]

With Americans spending around $20 billion a year on bottled water, this industry has undoubtedly succeeded in creating a false sense of superiority for its product. Not only is bottled water 100s to 1000s of times more expensive than equivalent quantities of tap water, but it’s also not necessarily safer to drink. The EPA has much tougher regulations for tap water than the FDA has for bottled–the NRDC found that the FDA allows some contamination of E. coli and doesn’t require testing for parasites such as cryptosporidium or giardia. The EPA, unlike the FDA, also requires annual public reports identifying the contaminants in tap water. About 45% of bottled water simply comes from a municipal water source, yet you obviously pay significantly more for it. Finally, bottled water production consumes more than 47 millions gallons of oil each year (equivalent to 100,000 cars’ use) and discarded plastic bottles require 1,000 years to biodegrade.

So protect your wallet, health, and the planet by not purchasing bottled water!

webmd.com/food-recipes/news/20081107/bottled-water-faq-on-safety-and-purity
commondreams.org/views07/0218-05.htm

Definitely a waste of hard earned money unless you are on the road or really need it for some reason-like having stored up water for hurricane season or other emergencies.In those cases it’s pretty important to have on hand.

 

[Mimi]

More significantly, why isn’t the U.S. EPA publically addressing the issue? I first found out about it through the news. It was one of those 15 second “isn’t that interesting” stories they do. I couldn’t believe it so I went to the office and did some research on it and found that there had been several reports on the female fish only rivers.

It’s not reported in the MSM (Main Stream Media) because they would be reporting that artificial birth control users are at least partly (if not mainly) to blame for the pollution. So, finger-pointing Pill users would go against the bias the liberal media has acquiesed to. To them the Cardinal Sin is criticizing those who cannot be told to stop using chemical contraceptives.

I did some research on this a few months ago. It was reported on Physicians for Life site:
physiciansforlife.org/content/view/1547/2/

From Judie Brown at American Life League:
all.org/newsroom_judieblog.php?id=1962
An article also appeared in the print version of the magazine.

Here’s another article not from a pro-life source:
bu.edu/sjmag/scimag2005/features/drugsinwater.htm

So, you see, it’s all political (sadly). So many people will not get to know the facts about how our selfish attitudes toward reproduction & birth control greatly affects our natural environment as well as our souls.

Mimi

 

[redhen]

There is no floating island of plastic in the center of the Pacific. Is there plastic there, yes. Have we polluted the oceans with plastic, yes. But, there is no floating island of plastic and making such false claims only stands to weaken your case as it demonstrates dishonesty on your part.

Now, this is off topic so I’d really like to drop it and talk about the topic at hand.

Sorry, if you are calling me dishonest, then I can’t just drop it. I didn’t say there was a floating island of garbage that you could walk on.

“A majority of the debris observed in the STCZ is small plastic pieces. Small debris pieces are difficult to see due to their size, and a majority of these pieces are suspended at or just below the surface of the water, thus making it difficult to observe. For these reasons, the debris, or “patch” of debris is not visible using satellite photos.”

marinedebris.noaa.gov/info/patch.html#2

You’re the one who claimed this was a conspiracy, so where’s your source?

 

[Bill_Cherry]

I apologize for derailing this thread.

 

[nilofc]

Nobody is forcing anyone to buy anything.

If you like bottled water…then good. Just dispose of the plastic properly.

 

[Drawmack]

Sorry, if you are calling me dishonest, then I can’t just drop it. I didn’t say there was a floating island of garbage that you could walk on.

Being misinformed and being dishonest are not the same thing.

“A majority of the debris observed in the STCZ is small plastic pieces. Small debris pieces are difficult to see due to their size, and a majority of these pieces are suspended at or just below the surface of the water, thus making it difficult to observe. For these reasons, the debris, or “patch” of debris is not visible using satellite photos.”

marinedebris.noaa.gov/info/patch.html#2

You’re the one who claimed this was a conspiracy, so where’s your source?

That does not say that it is an island. You claim it is a floating island – the burden of proof is on you. I told you to check out the relevant episode of Conspiracy Skeptic – it is not my fault that you refuse to do this.

 

[Scottgun]

I generally don’t buy bottled water. Most of it tastes funny to me. Miraculously it seems, this choice hasn’t turned me into some smug St. Paul of the recycling bin.

 

[Cracker_Mom]

I generally don’t buy bottled water. Most of it tastes funny to me. Miraculously it seems, this choice hasn’t turned me into some smug St. Paul of the recycling bin.

Recycling plastic’s supposed to be a bad idea anyway.
With all the taxes we pay for water treatment why pay more to buy the same stuff in bottles? I’d rather use the $$ & buy a coke.Or Cheerwine.Or anything that tastes like something.

 

[grandfather]

It’s not reported in the MSM (Main Stream Media) because they would be reporting that artificial birth control users are at least partly (if not mainly) to blame for the pollution. Mimi

This is interesting. The population controlers are concerned about the environment so they want to limit population. In doing so they do major damage to the environment, but cover it up.

 

[Cracker_Mom]

This is interesting. The population controlers are concerned about the environment so they want to limit population. In doing so they do major damage to the environment, but cover it up.

Supposedly plastic releases something that acts like estrogen, but yeah, you’d imagine all those hormones from birth control going through the water supply have to have an effect.
What’s the public water treatment folks take on it? And what about other pharmaceuticals that go in the water supply? I wonder how much you can filter out?