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News Flash!
News Flash!
Certified EcoBroker® & Green Living Expert
This is my favorite time of the year here on Lake Wallenpaupack. The summer vacationers all leave and suddenly, almost immediately after Labor Day, the big lake is calm again. Most of the waves and turbulence we experience on the lake during the summer are due to all the boat activity. As if someone waved a magic wand, the lake becomes peaceful and quiet again, and the weather is still warm enough to enjoy the water.
Spring and fall are the only times I venture to take my kayak out on the lake without fear of speeding boats and PWC's. So I took my kayak out on the lake for the first time in months this September. The stillness of the lake and the small size of the kayak lets me get right into the shore line where power boats may have trouble getting to.
As I gazed upon the beautiful shoreline, I was disappointed to see a few empty water bottles that washed up on the beach. Remnants of the summer activities.
We live on a blue planet. Water is the most important substance on earth. Without it we couldn't survive. It is important to our bodies and atmosphere, providing growth for the plants that feed us and clean our air. Water is important to the industry and commerce that supports our economy. Seventy-five percent of the earth is covered in water, but sadly only 3% of that is fresh potable water, and of that 3%, 2.5 % is frozen under the ice caps. Now I know what you're thinking..."Let global warming melt the ice and we'll have more wateR". Wrong! When that fresh water ice melts, it melts into the ocean and is lost to the salty sea. So that leaves the whole world with just .5% of fresh water, and of that small amount, 70% of it goes to agriculture for livestock and for irrigation of crops that feeds them and us. That doesn't leave much left for all the water the commercial industry uses and the 400 gallons a day each and every average US household goes through. Most of that daily household use is for flushing toilets and washing clothes, dishes and ourselves.
In our bodies, water makes up 82% of our blood, 75% of our muscle, 25% of bone, 76% of brain tissue, and 90% of lung tissue. Water keeps all of our vital organs functioning, as they should. It hydrates your skin, lubricate your joints, boost your energy and helps make you feel full so you eat less.
Bottom line: fresh water is a precious resource that should be thoughtfully and mindfully used and conserved. Bottled water is convenient, but you can't assume it's any safer than regular tap water. We are very fortunate to live in a country with some of the highest standards for public water in the world. Bottled water manufacturers have relied on marketing campaigns that sensationalized a few isolated reports of contaminated water to put fear into consumers that their tap water is not good and they should pay money for bottled water.
The truth of it is that municipal water supplies are held to more stringent quality standards than bottled water. Municipal water supplies must adhere to regular rigorous testing and standards set by the EPA, Environmental Protection Agency, which the bottled water industry does not have to comply with. Bottled water does have to meet FDA, Food & Drug Administration, standards, which are far less stringent than the EPA's. Bottled water companies also don't have to disclose as much information to the public as municipal water suppliers do. In many cases, the bottled water that you pay premium dollars for actually comes straight from the municipal water supply so you're paying twice for the same water. On top of that most bottled water companies add chemicals to bottled water to improve the taste.
The Natural Resource Defense Council (www.NRDC.org) conducted a four-year study comparing the quality of bottled water vs. tap water. The NRDC stated, 'There is no assurance that just because water comes out of a bottle it is not any cleaner or safer than tap water".
At the 75th annual U.S. Conference of Mayors, San Francisco's mayor, Gavin Newsom, announced a ban on bottle water. "In San Francisco, for the price of one gallon of bottled water, local residents can purchase 1,000 gallons of tap water," according to the mayor. Newsom cited research that said the city could save as much as $500,000 per year by serving tap water instead of bottled water, as well as reducing the waste that ends up in landfills and recycling facilities. "All of this waste and pollution is generated by a product that by objective standards is often inferior to the quality of San Francisco's pristine tap water," said Newsom.
