Canadians are taking a stand on March 11, to Ban the Bottle by hosting a Bottled Water Free Day. They are asking people to take a pledge and promise “not to drink bottled water where public water is available”. A great idea to truly get rid of the nasty, hazardous plastic bottles. Learn more and take the pledge at – http://bottledwaterfreeday.ca/
Here is a GREAT example of student and faculty taking a proactive approach to the Bottled Water issue – EDUCATING! Professors from The College of William and Mary in Virginia presented economical, environmental, historical & philosophical points on the current bottled water situation. In addition, Curtis Etherly, the Vice President for Public Affairs and Communications at Coca-Cola, joined the forum. You know the Coca-Cola Enterprise that owns Dasani water?! Mr. Etherly spoke first and gave examples of how his company is attempting to reduce their carbon footprint by creating bottles that are lighter and using 327 hybrid trucks. Interesting…..
This unique event was actually sponsored by an even cooler campaign “Do One Thing” (DOT). The campaign encourages students to make one sustainability-related change in their lives and to publicly by held responsible by posting their change on their facebook page.
Interesting, quick read – super good points and ideas for other to use!
Brant County in Ontario continues the Canadian trend of banning the bottle! We are so proud of our Northern friends for taking big steps to decrease landfills and waste, hopefully more US cities will take notice and Ban the Bottle!
http://www.brantfordexpositor.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=2453987
Unlike our friends in Washington, landfills in North Carolina seem a little less dense these days.
The mid-Atlantic state recently banned disposing plastic bottles in landfills to help reduce trash and encourage recycling. This has become a practical issue in rural towns where curbside recycling is not offered. Winston-Salem Journal reports on how the problem was solved in one county. The president of Rural Garbage Services Inc. offered to pick them up for free: “In order to recycle their plastics, people in those areas would have to take them to one of the county’s three recycling centers…Parrish came up with a solution for his customers: His company would pick up the bottles from its customers for free.” Nice guy.
Although people could just hide the bottles in their trash, the law does seem to be having a positive effect.
More plastic bottles have been dropped off at the county’s three centers since the landfill bottle ban was imposed, according to the City-County Utilities Division. From a monthly average of around 14,000 pounds of plastic for the period from September 2008 to September 2009, collections have risen to an average of about 19,000 a month for the first three months since the ban went into effect.
[via TreeHugger]
The tug-of-war occurring right now with the City of Vancouver and the Olympics is very interesting. If you remember, Vancouver was one of the first cities to Ban Bottled Water (setting off a fabulous trend, if I do say so myself). And with the Olympics starting in 3-days Vancouver is choosing to hit back against Coca-Cola (a major sponsor of the Olympics) who is selling bottled water during the Olympics thus violating the city-wide ban.
Two of my favorite quotes from this piece:
“We’re supplying the water … free” – Metro Vancouver’s water committee chairman Tim Stevenson
“Our bottled water does not compete with tap water.”- Coca-Cola’s Nicola Kettilz
This is great! Take the time to watch this really interesting, quite funny, video from Penn & Teller about Bottled Water.
It’s not new news that we all need to drink a lot of water each day just to sustain and invigorate our bodies and minds. But there is new ways you can help remind yourself to drink the water this year!
1. Water Aid, a charity from the UK, has created 2 software programs to help remind and alert you to drink more water. One is a screen saver that reminds you to drink water while you are working and the other is an alarm that will alert you when you need to drink water. You can download both programs from their website.
2. In the world of ridiculous iPhone apps, here is one that actually makes you feel better! “Water Your Body” is a water calculator that tells you how much water you need to drink and keeps tabs on how much you have had to drink. The icon shows how many more glasses you need each day to stay fully hydrated.
3. In addition, TapIt has created an iPhone app that will show you where there is free water refills. Right now it is only applicable in New York City, San Francisco and Portland, but good information to have and hopefully they will expand to more cities as more people enter information on the TapIt website.
Almost half of House of Representatives offices have started a green makeover that includes modest steps such as printing on double-sided paper, faxing electronically and using filtered rather than bottled water, a new report says.
Read the full article here:
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