That bottled water you’re drinking could have come from a faucet the next town over or from a company with a history of bacterial contamination.

But you wouldn’t know that from the label, according to an environmental group that examined 173 different brands of bottled water on the market.

Last week, the Environmental Working Group, a Washington, D.C., advocacy outfit, released its Bottled Water Scorecard, a rundown of the data displayed or not on the containers of one of the nation’s most popular retail beverages.

The group found that only three water bottles had three key pieces of data the water’s source, how it’s purified and the results of any tests for contaminants. The brands were: Gerber Pure Purified Water, Nestle Pure Life Purified Water and Penta Ultra Purified Water.

The 170 others lacked at least one of the three pieces of information; but many had none. In contrast, municipal water purveyors must provide data on where their supplies originate, treatment methods and any violations of drinking water standards under federal law.

Read the whole story at SFGate.com

The University of Canberra will become the first Australian campus to ban the sale of bottled water.

Assuming it is successful in encouraging students to use refillable bottles, the ban – starting on March 22 – could reduce bottled water sales by 140,000 a year.

Bottled water will be replaced in campus cafes and shops by water vending machines that refill a 600-ML container with chilled water for $1 or sparkling water for $1.50 – cheaper than for sealed bottles.

Refillable plastic and aluminum bottles will be sold on campus. Backed by funding from the ACT government, the university has also installed six new water bubbler and bottle refill stations on the campus. Read the rest of this entry »

We recently became aware of Jack Johnson’s social action network called All At Once. It’s basically a forum for green groups and people to  collaborate with other groups and people. But the part we love the most is their tag line “An individual action, multiplied by millions, creates global change.” So true! As we always say – every little bit helps.

Visit TapIt - Street Talk to  see real people and what they are doing every day to help eliminate bottled water and help our world.

As 2010 comes to an end, many people take on the notoriously unsuccessful act of making resolutions for the coming year. Everyone is guilty of making lofty resolutions that don’t come to fruition and then when the next New Year comes around…. they choose the same resolution that they didn’t complete from the year before.

An extremely common resolution is choosing to be healthier – whether it be losing weight, eating better, drinking less alcoholic beverages, joining a gym or just going to the gym more. It’s easy to forget these attempts at being healthier as the year progresses and you quickly go back into your old routine. So instead of forcing yourself to stick to a strict celery-eating-stair-master-for-45 minutes-a-day diet (that you know won’t last after the first pizza commercial you see), tackle a resolution that will  not only benefit you but those around you  - BAN PLASTIC BOTTLES FROM YOUR EVERYDAY LIFE!

Eliminating plastic bottles from your day is actually a lot easier than you would imagine – it is a simple mind-flip. Change the way you think, change your routine and sooner than later using multi-use bottles will be second nature. My mother always said that it takes 2-weeks to change your routine completely, so starting January 1 stop using plastic water bottles with these easy tips and tricks and by Jan 15 you will be bottled water free!

1. Buy 3 – 4 multi-use bottles: Buying just one is never enough. It gets left in the car, in the dishwasher or at a work. If you have several bottles stocked up you won’t resort back to using single-use bottles.

2. Buy a bottle that you don’t mind carrying with you: If you are a woman buy a bottle that can fit in your purse, if you are a man (and chose to not wear a purse) grab one of those handy collapsible bottles that can fit in your pocket. The bottle doesn’t need to big, just big enough to give you a good gulp of water.

3. Fill up your reusable bottle at home: The tap is the easiest and quickest way to water. Grab yourself a Brita pitcher or faucet mounted filter and you have yummy, filtered water available at your finger tips at all times. No need to purchase a case of bottled water when you have a great mechanism that provides you with water without the plastic bottle waste. (Plus Brita recycles their filters so you can feel good about not wasting those either!)

4. When out and about, fill up your reusable water at drinking fountains or hydration stations: Everywhere you go there are drinking fountains and hydration stations are rapidly gaining momentum. It’s actually required that buildings provide access to clean water. Sometimes they aren’t right in front of your face (like the $1.95 bottle of water) but tap into your other resolution of working out more and walk to the free water source.

By eliminating bottled water from your day you are not only encouraging yourself to be take healthy steps but you are helping reduce the millions and millions of bottles that are consumed each year and end up in landfills. Start with these 4 tips and you will soon be helping to the Ban the Bottle in 2011!

Today’s smartphone can play many roles in your life—mobile payment device, gaming gadget, personal trainer, and it can even act as a calling device (imagine that). But could your smartphone soon help quench your thirst as well?

Technology product design and development firm Cambridge Consultants, www.cambridgeconsultants.com, based in England, announced the development of the i-dration water bottle. Working in synch with a smartphone, this water bottle is designed to help athletes maintain optimum levels of hydration by alerting the user when it is time to take a drink of water during an activity.

Read the rest of this entry »

Fiji Water, the most fashionable and popular bottled water brand in the U.S. and the world, has been going through some major turmoil this week and nearly closed down its plants that draw and bottle water from an aquifer in Fiji.

Last week, the military government of Fiji ordered Ratu Epeli Ganilau to deport David Roth, Director of External Affairs at Fiji Water.  Ganilau then actually resigned from his position as Minister of Defense, National Security, and Immigration rather than go through with the order.  Instead, Attorney-General Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum gave the order and deported Roth for behaving “in a manner prejudicial to good governance and public order.”

Following this major blow, the Fijian government imposed an “extraction tax” of 15 cents per liter of water taken from the aquifer–an astronomical increase from the one third of a cent per liter they were paying up until now.  This tax affects companies extracting over 3.5 million liters month in Fiji… which ends up being only Fiji Water.  In response, Fiji Water announced on Monday that it would be closing it plants in it’s namesakes country.

This is the second time this tax has been proposed.  In 2008, the government tried to impose a 20 cent/liter tax and after Fiji Water temporarily closed its plants, the government backed down.  The company ships $150 million of water each year, which adds up to about 20% of Fiji’s exports.  They also spend over a million dollars each year on local projects and employ hundreds of residents.

Fiji Water President John Cochran said just days ago that “[Fiji] is increasingly unstable, and is becoming a very risky place in which to invest.”  However, in a statement issued this evening, the company declares that “Fiji Water will reopen its bottling plant, effective Wednesday morning, Dec. 1… Through our discussions, we have also agreed to comply with Fiji’s new water tax law.” They also added that their company “is committed to working with the Fijian government, and remains dedicated to helping the country’s economy and its people.”

via TapItWater.org

Bottled water is clean and pure, right? Not necessarily. Bottled water can be less pure than municipal tap water in some parts of the United States. In fact, bottled water can actually be municipal tap water.

What is bottled water?

The United State FDA describes bottled water in this way: “Bottled water is water that is intended for human consumption and that is sealed in bottles or other containers with no added ingredients except that it may optionally contain safe and suitable antimicrobial agents. Fluoride may be optionally added within the limitations established.”

Who regulates what bottled water has in it?

The Federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulates bottled drinking water, which is classified as a “food”. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulates tap water. Amazingly, the EPA guidelines for municipal water are stricter than the FDA restrictions for bottled drinking water! You might buy bottled drinking water that is acceptable to the FDA but is not acceptable for use as ordinary bathroom tap water.

The FDA’s specific regulations for bottled water are found in Title 21 of the Code of Federal Regulations (21 CFR).

What are FDA standards?

Under the standard of quality (21 CFR, 165.110[b]), FDA allows certain levels of contaminants in bottled water.

Contaminants bottled water may have in it.

1. Coliform. Coliform are rod-shaped bacteria, such as E. coli, that are normally present in the human intestine. The FDA says that bottled water may have up to 9.2 coliform organisms per 100 milliliters. See 21 CFR 165.110[b]. Read the rest of this entry »