The Ban the Bottle Movement is spreading – this time to the Ivy League.

Cornell University last week passed a resolution to phase out bottled water sales on campus. Cornell joins fellow Ivy Leaguers’ Dartmouth, Brown, and Harvard in passing resolutions to ban some bottled water sales on campus.

Resolution 35 was presented by Take Back the Tap — a campus group devoted to the issue — with support from other student organizations and administrators such as Kyu Whang and Kent Hubbell ’67.

Although several Student Assembly (S.A.) members voiced concerns about logistics, most agreed with Resolution 35’s sentiment and said they admired the current progress.

Some S.A. members expressed fear that the University may charge students to make up for lost revenue from bottled water sales and the costs of structural changes to tap water systems.

Kristen Loria ’11, a member of Take Back the Tap, said that even if the cost per student was as high as $65, buying bottled water would still cost more over time. (more…)

A couple of years back Dr. Timothy Hollingshead experienced firsthand the hydration benefits of coconut water while traveling down a tributary of the Amazon River in a dugout canoe.

The former podiatric surgeon was searching remote areas of Brazil for acai fruit sources to be used in a drink produced by his St. George-based company, Dr. Tim’s Juices. Although he had served a mission for his church in Brazil many years earlier, Hollingshead discovered that he was trying to stay hydrated in the equatorial climate.

Some Brazilians traveling with Hollingshead inspired him to try some coconut water they had with them. He claims the positive results were speedy.

Immediately I felt better, he says. My thirst was gone. I stopped sweating. I got my focus back.

It was then he realized that he could do something commercially with coconut juice.

Upon returning to the U.S., Hollingshead began researching coconut juice, which is present in young coconuts. It isn’t the same substance as coconut milk, which is culled from the fruit of more mature coconuts.

During his research, Hollingshead revealed that coconut juice had been employed as a temporary intravenous drip during World War II because the juice contains lots of the same characteristics as blood plasma. The IV stem would run from the coconut itself through tubes to a needle in the arm of an infantryman. (more…)

Bill would tell state how much of its water goes to bottlers

Does the state have a right to know where its water is going?

Major multinational corporations such as Nestle are allowed to siphon it up for free—only to sell it back to Californians and others in energy-guzzling plastic bottles likely to end up in landfills or floating off our lovely coastlines. Profit margin: Up to 10,000 percent.

Bottled water is increasingly controversial for these reasons. And while you may not believe that the occasional Dasani or Aquafina is a Class A environmental felony, it would certainly make sense to have companies pay the state something for the millions of gallons of water they remove from the public’s groundwater supply.

A state bill sponsored by Felipe Fuentes (D-San Fernando) will soon get a floor vote to eliminate on part of the scandal: It would require water bottlers to report how much water they take from public aquifers. The governor vetoed the bill last year in a skirmish over the budget.

Also last summer, the City of Sacramento made a deal with Nestle that is stricter than most: It charges the company 65 centers per 100 cubic feet of water, instead of giving it up for free. But the city didn’t limit the Nestle’s total draw, even as local residents faced water restrictions. And the 65 cent price is 10 cents lower than the generic commercial rate, although Nestle will make a 10,000 percent profit on the water.

Fuentes’ bill wouldn’t undo sweetheart deals like this one, but it would force water bottlers like Nestle to report their water use to the state — which would empower officials to consider this significant source of commercial use in determining how best to handle California’s contentious water issues.

Ask your representatives to support the bill by signing this petition.

A blogger at Bon Apétit magazine recently complained about restaurants attempting to trick him into buying bottled water when all he wants is some lovely, refreshing tap water with ice in it. Instead, the waiters offer water without offering tap as an option at all. Most customers either didn’t notice the ruse, or didn’t care.

Here’s the scene, at a seafood restaurant in Las Vegas:

Tall Suit: “It looks like you don’t have any water yet. Can I get you flat or sparking?” Me: “Flat is fine, thanks.” Tall Suit: “Okay, I’ll bring you a bottle of flat.”

He starts to walk away. I’ve seen this trick before, so I catch him before he’s out of earshot.

Me: “Actually, we don’t need a bottle. Tap is fine.”
Tall Suit (thrown off): “Oh. Okay. Tap then.”

By not offering tap water as an option, it’s clear that he intended to trick us into buying a bottle of water. Judging from the amount of bottles of water at the tables around us, a lot of people fell for it. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been through this routine at restaurants and, frankly, I’m tired of it.

I haven’t been through this routine, at least in the US, but maybe I don’t eat in nice enough restaurants. Have you experienced it?

I’m Sick of Restaurants Trying to Trick Me Into Buying Water [Bon Apétit]

Are people beginning to realize that carrying bottled water is almost as bad as smoking while pregnant? A recent CNN article discussed how many consumers are beginning a backlash against bottled water companies.

The article noted:

“Carrying bottled water is on its way to being as cool as smoking while pregnant,” claims the video “The Story of Bottled Water,” which debuted on YouTube last month and garnered more than 450,000 views.

Is it true? Are liters of Evian now beyond the pale? Is Dasani déclassé? Has bottled water become the new eco-no-no?

Not quite yet. Though water sales have seen a recent downturn, plenty of folks are still paying for their daily hydration.

In fact, Annie Leonard’s video points out, Americans buy more than 500 million bottles of the stuff every week. It’s second only to soda in popularity, and some industry analysts believe that by next year water will become the most-purchased beverage in the country.

She wants to redirect the flow of water. The bottled water companies, the video insists, are “scaring us, seducing us, misleading us” into buying their products. Leonard, the writer and narrator, gives plenty of reasons why more and more people want to “take back the tap.”

Add the fact that, according to Leonard, the amount of petroleum used to make water bottles every year is “enough to fuel a million cars” and that 80 percent of supposedly recyclable plastic bottles end up in landfills, you have the makings a ecological crusade.

Also, she says, tap water is certainly cheaper — thousands of times cheaper. Not to mention that some of the best-selling bottled waters — Pepsi’s Aquafina and Coca-Cola’s Dasani among them — are, actually, nothing but filtered tap water. The companies have spelled this out on labels after pressure from the consumer watchdog group Corporate Accountability International.

However, Leonard argues that not only does tap water often beat out bottled in blind taste tests, but bottled is often less regulated than tap. Tap water is monitored by the Environmental Protection Agency, whose standards are generally stricter than the Food and Drug Administration, which oversees most bottled-water sales.

Here’s a link to the full article: Bottled Water Faces Backlash

Here’s the YouTube video that’s creating such a stir:

Story of Stuff has put together a great video detailing the story of bottle water. The video is a quick view while being both informative and entertaining.

Check it out here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Se12y9hSOM0

What a great way to start 2010, with a new portable water bottle! And when we say portable, we mean portable! This water bottle can fit and fold into almost any space!

The Vapur bottle is a flexible botte that is
- Reusable
- Foldable
- Attachable
- Identifiable
- Freezable
- Cleanable
You have to check this bottle out!

http://vapur.us/products.php#

A Fashion Trend Meets a Watery Grave – take some to time to read this interesting Wall Street Journal opinion article about the demise of “fancy water” by Eric Felton.  

“For a little while, carrying a bottle of water was the very symbol of fashionable health-consciousness. But fashions change: Now bottled water is the eco-equivalent of last year’s frock. And so none other than the Environmental Working Group was on Capitol Hill last month mounting a full-throated campaign against the stuff. The thrust was that, hey, if you run tap water through a filter, it isn’t really so bad after all—and quite the bargain too!”