Water, Water, All Around…

Over the long weekend, New York Times Magazine put out this informative article about bottled water and the 30 billion single-serving bottles that will carry it to the lips of thirsty Americans this year. The piece points out a quirky loophole in most state’s recycling programs: that only carbonated beverages carry deposits that encourage folks to recycle. Of course, recycling PET plastic is problematic anyway, as it always requires virgin material in addition to the scrap being recycled, and PET is derived from petroleum (not the most sustainable resource). And when we consider the vast amounts of energy used to produce bottled water, and the additional petroleum needed to ship it around…let’s just say that tap water is looking better all the time. But leading food activists jumped on that bandwagon awhile back.

Still clinging to that plastic bottle of the clear stuff?

Consider this report put out by Worldwatch Institute, which points out that bottled water standards allow for trace amounts of fecal matter, while the EPA doesn’t stand for even tiny amounts of human waste in city tap water.

Ready to give it up? Food & Water Watch has a bottled water action campaign for you to sign onto, if you’re so inclined…

In other interesting water news, Coca-Cola has announced plans to buy Glaceau (the company that produces Vitaminwater and sounds like it’s from the Alps but is actually based out of Queens), Fort Wayne’s News Sentinal gives great tips on conserving water in the garden, China has sent over 118 tons of bacteria-tainted Evian back to European suppliers, and Jon Kanzius of Sanibel Island, Florida, has unwittingly invented a machine that could solve the energy crisis. The new green fuel? Saltwater.