August 2009 Archives

The African Press International had a fascinating article today on cleaning up the olive oil industry in Syria and surrounding countries. 

Processing olive oil involves crushing the olives and mixing them with tap water before separating out the dirty water and solid residue from the oil. Unfortunately, the dirty water is then discarded - often just pumped out or spread onto surrounding land. The waste water contains polythenols which give olives their color, but when spread in large quantities cause a reduction in soil fertility. Polyhenols can also leach into surface water harming aquatic life and making the water unfit for human consumption.

The reasons for contamination are mostly financial and lack of awareness by mill owners. These family run businesses use traditional presses and forgo equipment to clean the waste because they can't afford it. In addition, mill owners are unaware of the environmental impact to their own land, water sources and the wider environment.

But Syria, Jordan and Lebanon have a plan. Funded by the EU and UN, they have recently registered every mill in the region and educated owners about the impacts of spreading the waste onto land. Some mill owners have learned how to treat waste water and store it for collection. Others are storing the dried residue and selling it to factories who use it to make olive oil soap.

In September the program will trial a mobile waste water treatment plant so that owners who can't afford modern machinery to treat their waste water will have access.

Although some of the huge olive oil plants continue to pollute Syria's coast, people are becoming more aware of the problem and demonstrations have begun. All of these actions combined are definitely putting Syria on the path to a more sustainable olive oil industry. That's fantastic!  Who knew... 

The Natura Water System is a truly green choice for cafes and eateries who want to provide chilled, filtered water in both sparkling and still options for their customers. It looks like a beer tap. It filters the water and can also can add carbonation. The system comes with a set of reusable glass carafes for service.

Many restaurants feel that they need to provide water options like filtration and carbonation to their patrons. Unfortunately most of them end up purchasing bottled water from Italy or elsewhere, charging customers a fortune and contributing to our overflowing landfills.

Natura solves that dilemma. Its better for the environment and even when restaurants charge, I bet it doesn't hike up the tab like a bottle of Pellegrino. Yep, all the luxuries of bottled water, without the waste - perfect!

TapIt launched its educational outreach program last week, and with great success! TapIt's first collaboration was with a youth group within New York Restoration Project (NYRP) called Green Teens.

I met up with the teens at Swindler Cove Park, a community garden near the Bronx that the teens helped restore. The week began with a TapIt workshop focusing on bottle water myths, local water facts, and TapIt's mission to make water more accessible throughout New York City's five boroughs. Johari Jenkins, the outreach coordinator at the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), even came! Following my presentation, Johari explained local water issues in greater detail, and answered questions like, "Why does tap water sometimes appear cloudy?" (The answer is because of air bubbles from water pressure, and yes, it's safe to drink.)  

We met again the next day to do field work. Having helped sign up over 270 TapIt Partner locations throughout New York City, I shared with the teens tips for signing up partners via grassroots marketing. In groups of three, the teens eagerly joined me to signed up new TapIt Partners in their community. After visiting several bakeries and cafes, and, of course, stopping for snow cones to cool down, the Green Teens signed up five new TapIt Partners in upper Manhattan and the Bronx. Before the Green Teen collaboration, TapIt had yet to partner with any cafes in the Bronx, and the teens were an integral part of TapIt's expansion into the borough.

It's heart-warming to see the initiative of the Green Teens, most of whom are students from the High School for Environmental Science. The teens are constantly reaching out to other urban teenagers to collaborate on gardening, creating new green spaces, and preserving existing green spaces in NYC. I look forward to future TapIt collaborations with NYRP and the Green Teens!

Pictured above is a Green Teen member in Swindler Cove Park.

Xogen Technologies, a Canadian company, has developed a small purification system that purifies wastewater while, at the same time, creating energy.

The technology uses a digital electronic signal that fractures wastewater, seperating waste particles from clean water and leaves a gas consisting of hydrogen and oxygen. The gas created by this purification process can be used by a fuel cell to create power. The power can be sold back into the grid.

This technology has the opportunity to lower costs for municipalities, allowing purification of wastewater to be far more economical than it currently is. This is truly a green technology as it creates emissions-free energy and clean water at the same time.

The company has support from the Canadian Government, the University of Toronto and other Investors. They will pilot the system in Orangeville, Ontario.

Now that Florida has a number of TapIt locations (thanks to our good friend Bryan OHalloran of Cuhaci & Peterson Architects who took it upon himself to sign up cafes in Orlando) you're water happenings are on my radar. So, you can expect to be bullied and scolded regarding your bottled water purchases / granting of water extraction permits, for the rest of your lives - but its really a sign of love, trust me!

Anyway...those of you living in the Live Oak area, need to get down to the Suwannee River Water Management District headquarters for a public meeting to discuss (and voice opposition to) a water permit for Lilly Springs. The meeting will be held from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 27. Yep, that's next Thursday, so put it in your calendar.

The permit would allow the pumping of more than 200,000 gallons of water per day from Lilly Springs which would then be trucked out of the area in nearly 150 truckloads (loaded 4 at a time over a 16 hours) each day. Yikes!

You can find out more about the Suwannee River Water Management District with a quick visit to their website - which ironically has at the top of its homepage a large water conservation message. When you click on it, it says "On May 8, 2008, the District's Governing Board enacted a Water Shortage Advisory. This Advisory, while not mandatory, requests the public initiate water conservation where possible."

But, what is a water management district to do - Florida adheres to the 'Reasonable Use' rule, which is essentially the rule of absolute ownership for the landowner with exceptions for wasteful and off-site use. Lets hope they view this 'trucking out' as off-site use.

Photo: florida state parks
 

This is not the way I like to start my Sundays...ugh! Today, the New York Times printed its first article in a new series called Toxic Waters which reports on the worsening pollution of American waters and regulators' response. And, of course, it was on the front page.

The first article focuses on Atrazine, which is a weed killer made by Syngenta and mostly used by farmers to protect corn crops and to keep manicured lawns and golf courses looking picture perfect. The EU has banned Atrazine pending further study.

EPA officials say that Americans are not exposed to unsafe levels of Atrazine and that current regulations are adequate to protect us even when concentrations jump in certain seasons. But some health officials disagree citing newer studies. They say that at the very least the EPA should monitor Atrazine more frequently and warn citizens when short term increases in levels occur. 

Anyway, you can read the whole article here. We'll post each one as the NYT releases them. Lets hope this brings new attention to the issues facing America's water supply and that the EPA will feel some pressure to protect us.

Photo: New York Times

The David and Goliath battle between the citizens of Chaffee County Colorado and Nestle Waters North America ended on Wednesday. County commissioners gave Nestle the right to draw 65 million gallons of water per year from a county spring. Nestle intends to sell the water under its Arrowhead brand, and wanted a local water source to reduce current costs associated with trucking bottled water in from California for sale to Coloradans.

Residents are furious that Nestle is going to take water from their spring, bottle it and sell it back to them. Although I'm guessing the idiots will buy it. As some of you know, I spend a lot of time in Maine. Mainers are constantly furious that Nestle bottles their water and sells it back to them, but funnily enough, they're all walking around with bottles of Poland Spring in their hands...duh!

Anyway...residents got a couple of concessions. Nestle will only draw water from one spring instead of two (obviously no-one in Chaffee County saw the movie, 'There will be Blood'), and they'll have to restrict their truck traffic during the busy summer season. It just doesn't seem fair that Nestle won't have to wrangle RV's on mountain passes like the rest of us now does it?

In return for their water, Chaffee County will get a few short term construction jobs, about $80K in annual taxes and donations to local charities. Lets hope drought relief charities are included in the honor roll.

Photo: Chaffeecounty.net 

Nestle has launched a new bottled water brand called re-source Natural Spring Water. The bottles contain 25% recycled materials and includes educational information on the importance of recycling on it's label.

Re-source also encourages it's customers to bring the used bottles back to its exclusive distributors, Whole Foods, for recycling. Every time a bottle is returned, 5 cents is donated to the non-profit Keep American Beautiful . The plastic from the bottles is then up-cycled to make other products such as fleece clothing, reusable shopping bags, Carpet and new water bottles.

It is great to see innovation and education when it comes to bottled water and reducing waste. Re-Source is really a testament to the fact that bottled water companies are realizing there is a growing awareness of the problems of plastic waste from their products. It is a good sign.

Ultimately though, bottled water is unnecessary. A bigger and better leap towards reducing waste and energy use is avoiding the bottle in the beginning. While recycling is a great thing, avoiding creating the waste in the beginning is even better.

Circle of Blue, the Michigan based water awareness group, released the results of a global opinion poll on water issues today. The study interviewed 1,000 people in 15 countries with a focus on India, China, Canada, Russia, Mexico, UK and the US.

The study found that water issues are people's top environmental concern, greater than air pollution, depletion of natural resources, loss of animal habitat and, climate change.

Out of all all water issues, water pollution was shown to be the greatest concern. The survey also showed that people were willing to pay higher prices for water if it was clean. They also expected governments to play a large role in ensuring clean water but thought there needed to be collaboration with private companies to accomplish this.

This study is surprising because global environmental debates of the past few years have been centered around climate change. While climate change is an extremely important issue, water concerns are often overshadowed in public discourse. It is encouraging to see the extent to which people are becoming aware of water and its importance to us.  

There has been a theory for many years that New York's high quality tap water is responsible for the city's famous bagels and pizza. One man in Florida is using new technology to put the theory to the test.

Steve Fassberg, a native New Yorker living in Delray Beach, Florida, just opened the Original Brooklyn Water Bagel Co. Fassberg is recreating New York tap water, then using this "tap water" in his bagels to hopefully make the finest bagels in the area.

By using a water filtration system from a company called Aquathin, Fassberg has been able to reproduce the taste and attributes of New York tap. The filter uses a 14 step process, including ionization, ozonation and mineral infusion. Apparently the outcome is a near perfect replica. Honestly, I had no idea this was even possible.

There still is however, a debate as to whether New York tap is actually the key to good bagels (or pizza). But one thing is for sure: New Yorkers believe in their tap water, no matter where they may be.

photo credit: colliding light on flickr

The League of Women Voters of Oak Park/River Forest decided to make a scene with rain barrels in their Chicago neighborhood. They had artists paint 100, 55-gallon kegs in eye-catching designs to draw attention to the water conservation method. They now line the city's streets and each one is tagged with 40 water-saving tips so passers-by can learn more.

Put a rain barrel on your roof, in your yard or attach one to a gutter and after the next rainfall, you'll have plenty of water collected for outdoor use. Just like drinking tap water is a bargain compared to bottled water, rain water is a budget- and eco-friendly way to water your lawn and garden and to wash your car. And since the barrels are equipped with spigots it's easy to do. Water conservationists have been applauding the environmental benefits of rain barrels all along, but they aren't in mainstream use yet.

If you're planning a trip to Chicago, check out the eco-chic rain barrels when you go. And if you have a bit of outdoor space in the city or if you have a beach or country house, consider buying one. Or, you could wait until next summer when the NYC DEP will likely resume their rain barrel giveaway program.

I never thought I would use the words 'chandelier' and 'i want one' in the same sentence, but after stumbling upon UK designer Michelle Brand's beautiful website today I feel like I've been missing out.

Michelle makes gorgeous light fixtures out of - you guessed it - old plastic water bottles. She cuts the bottom off each bottle so that she has a plastic 'flower' and then tags them together in a 'cascade' that flows from floor to ceiling. And she's won green design awards for her efforts.

Her beautiful window covering 'flowerfall' might just be the perfect solution for those of us who live a little too close to our neighbors. And it won't obstruct that sliver of light you get for an hour a day!

The water war between the city of Groveland (in Lake County, Florida) and California bottler Niagara has come to an end. An administrative-law judge put aside the city's objections Friday and recommended that a permit be given to extract 484,000 gallons per day from a local aquifer.

The recommendation is not the final say. That goes to St. Johns River Water Management District who must approve or deny the Niagara permit by September 21. But, they have little power to modify the permit and are likely to grant Niagara the right to extract water.

The fight has gone on for some time. City officials claimed that pumping so much water from the aquifer would damage the environment, and launched a sophisticated public relations campaign against Niagara which included a website. Townspeople who agreed with the city didn't think it was fair to allow bulk water extraction for profit when water-management officials were tightening regional watering restrictions and directing communities to seek out alternative water resources. Some people didn't think Niagara was creating enough jobs (100) for the amount of water they proposed to take and others were opposed to the water being shipped out of the state. 

But the judge disagreed with critics saying that Niagara had cited much evidence that it was entitled to the permit it and that its extraction was unlikely to cause harm to wetlands and lakes.

Groveland has spent around $300,000 to stop Niagara from getting a permit. Before Lake County backed out of the legal fight, their total was around $200,000. Niagara has not made its legal costs public, but has indicated that if a judge ruled in their favor it may look to claw back legal costs from the city and county. What a nightmare!

Photo: City of Groveland 

Air to water conversion technology is really amazing. It enables people in very dry climates to extract small amounts of humidity from the atmosphere to be used for drinking and other purposes.

 As reported in our earlier post, this technology is being developed by EWA Tech in Israel and will allow those in remote areas of the Middle East and Africa access to fresh water.

Now, a Vancouver, BC  based company called Element Four, is developing their own product intended for residential use here. It is called the Watermill and uses similar technology to condense water molecules from the humidity in the air.

The Watermill is a small module that is mounted on the outside of your house. The module is connected to a filter and pipe that goes straight to your tap (check out the promo video here). It is able to generate 12 liters per day. It looks pretty darn cool.

I do wonder why Element Four has decided to market this product to the western residential consumer first. It seems that those in greatest need of a product like this would be in developing countries where access to water is a problem. Not only that, but the system will run you a cool $1025. A hefty price even for the U.S. consumer.

Never-the-less, it is great to see development in these technologies as water becomes a scarcer resource in many areas of the world. 

The International Bottled Water Association (IBWA) thinks so. The organization is taking Eco Canteen to court over "false claims" in their advertising campaign. The TV ads for the reusable bottle brand make bold statements like "Plastic water bottles could be poisoning you and your family," and "Some (plastic bottles) even release synthetic estrogen, linked to breast and prostrate cancer."

Of course these statements are referring to the potential dangers of BPA. Studies have linked BPA to breast and uterine cancer, decreased testosterone levels, a bigger miscarriage risk and developmental troubles for children. Just how much BPA you'll be exposed to from drinking from a plastic water bottle is unclear.

Eco Canteen's statements may be a litle harsh and stretching the truth, but let's not forget the truth-stretching marketing ploys of many bottled water manufacturers. Most water bottlers don't disclose where the water comes from or the quality of what's inside the bottle. Instead labels feature glaciers and waterfalls when really you should see a picture of a municipal water system. As we reported on, Tappening's latest project brings light to deceptive advertising with a tongue-in-cheek ads with obvious lies like "bottled water is 98% melted ice caps and 2% polar bear tears." How about a little truth in advertising everyone?

The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee has voted to restore environmental protections for wetlands, streams, lakes and drinking water sources that were eroded by 2001 and 2006 Supreme Court decisions. The vote was strictly along party lines. President Barack Obama has signaled he would sign the bill if Congress passes it.

While Republicans say the bill allows for too much regulation of water ways by the federal government and threatens private property, Democrats and groups like the National Resources Defense Council support it because the earlier supreme court decisions declared thousands of bodies of water outside the realm of the CWA.

After an extended grassroots campaign, Nestle has finally removed 23 bottled water test wells from a wildlife management area in Shapleigh and Newfield, Maine.

Shelly Gobielle and her neighbors first discovered the wells a year and a half ago, three years after Nestle installed them with permission from the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife but without the knowledge of residents. Realizing that Shapleigh had been targeted for bulk water extraction by Nestle for its Poland Spring brand bottled water, residents approached town officials with their concerns about what bottling would do to the local ecosystem. Nestle had already lobbied for and secured the support of the Shapleigh town officials so residents' concerns fell on deaf ears.

Taking matters into their own hands, residents formed the group Protect Our Water and Wildlife Resources (POWWR). Members hit the streets and went door to door educating the public and collecting signatures for their petition to call a town meeting, held four months ago.

After votes in both towns, residents passed ordinances that asserted the right of townspeople to control their own water and to prohibit commercial water extraction. The removal of the test wells, which occurred on 22 - 23 of July ends the year long fight for local water control in the two towns. Congratulations Shapleigh and Newfield!

About one-sixth of the world's population, or 1.1 billion people, don't have access to safe drinking water, a resource we often take for granted. Want to help? Non-profit Blue Planet Run helps get donations into the hands of grassroots rural water projects with lots of fun ways for you to get involved.

Last weekend, Blue Planet Run organized a special fundraising team for the San Francisco Marathon to raise money to provide safe drinking water to arsenic-contaminated rural villages in India.

If you're running in this year's NYC Marathon, Lake George Triathlon or any competitive athletic event, you can raise money for Blue Planet Run at every one. Once you Join Team Blue, you'll have all the tools you need to run a fundraising effort to help bring safe water to the world.

Not so sporty, but want to be supportive? Donate $30 to save a life. After all, women in Africa and Asia walk six kilometers on average to collect water and all you have to do is walk to your tap or the nearest TapIt fill up location. Your money will go to the Peer Water Exchange, which funds low-tech projects that the communities they support can sustain and maintain. This approach helps solve the water crisis with lifelong solutions through education, hygiene, sanitation, reforestation to help the water system and even family planning education.