January 2010 Archives

As part of their effort to become the most sustainable city in the world, the City of Vancouver, BC has made a pledge to work towards ridding the city of bottled water.

In April of last year the City Council voted to do everything they could to discourage it's bottled water consumption. The city actually phased out sales of bottled water in it's sports facilities that would be used for Winter Olympic events.

Unfortunately, the Vancouver Olympic Organizing Committee has control over the city facilities during the Olympics. The committee also has a relationship with Coca-Cola, purveyor of brands such as Dasani and Vitamin Water. So the rules have changed and Coca-Cola will sell an estimated 7 million drinks at the games.

While Coca-Cola insists they do their part for the environment, the effect of this many plastic bottles in one city will be enormous. An multi-national event like the Olympics needs to have higher standards when it comes to waste. This is especially true right after Copenhagen, where it was widely acknowledged that big environmental actions need to be taken as soon as possible. 

photo credit: Uncleweed via flickr

Nothing wrong with a little friendly competition, right? The organizers of RecycleMania think so. They have organized a competition among more than 500 colleges across the country to see who can recycle the most and reduce the most waste per student.

Schools compete in various categories including who can collect the most recyclables and increase the overall recycle rate per student. The competition now also includes a waste reduction category so there is incentive to not just to recycle but also to use less.

The school to recycle most and to reduce the most waste generated per student becomes the Grand Champion.

Last year, Recyclemania helped recycle 69.4 Million pounds of garbage. Last years Grand Champion? California State University San Marcos, who has won 5 years in a row, which is  impressive to say the least.

Starting on Friday, results will start coming in each week for the 2010 leaders. You can track those results here. Can anyone beat CSU San Marcos? Check to see if your school is participating here.

If you're an avid tap water drinker, but like it filtered so you know your H2O is pure, the WaterGeeks have a great solution for water on-the-go. Their Filtered Stainless Steel Bottles are made from unlined, food grade stainless steel and come with a filtering cap. You can choose between two different filter types that last for up to 800 refills. One removes chlorine, bad taste, smells and lead, while the other works even harder to also filter out any bacteria or ground water contaminants.

Even better than their innovative water bottle designs, the WaterGeeks give back to important water organizations. Now through February 4 they'll donate $5 to Hope for Haiti from every filtered stainless steel bottle purchased online. They already sent 500 Bio-Filtered Bottles to the charity, which will provide Haiti earthquake victims with over 40,000 gallons of clean water.

In the past, WaterGeeks supported the Tap Project, and from November 2008 through June 2009 they donated at least 20% of the price of their premium water products, including the filtered sport water bottles, to the US Fund for UNICEF. Plus, they also donated $9 from every sale of the FLOW DVD.

Despite some very contentious public hearings and thousands of public comments against hydraulic fracture gas drilling in the Catskill-Delaware Watershed, the DEC has still not banned the practice, putting more than 9 million New Yorker's water supply at risk.

So yesterday, protesters from all over the state descended on the Capitol of New York to tell their state representatives this is not acceptable.

There were around 1200 protesters in total but somewhere around half of them were for gas drilling while the other half were against it.

The pro gas drilling rally was organized by the Independent Oil and Gas Association of New York State (big surprise) and consisted of land owners who wanted the right to drill on their land. The anti hydra-fracture gas drilling protest was organized by various environmental and community groups and consisted of people from all over the state who were mainly concerned with water supply issues.

What struck me was that the pro gas drilling rally did not address drinking water issues at all but mainly focused on the right of landowners to use their land for whatever they wanted. They argued that they would be the first to feel the impact of environmental problems, so they would not do something that was not environmentally safe.

The problem with this argument is that landowners are getting paid for the environmental risks that they take. In the mean time, millions of other residents take a huge environmental risk and get next to nothing for it (besides a marginal increase in tax revenue).

Ultimately, damages done to our water supply cannot be taken back. State regulators need to protect public assets over the short term interests of a few land owners. Our water supply needs to be kept safe for generations to come. I hope yesterdays call to protect our water was heard. 

As the U.S. Ski Team and U.S. Snowboard Team gear up for 2010 Vancouver Olympic Games, they'll have a brand new water bottle. New Wave Enviro will provide stainless steel reusable water bottles to the athletes so they can fill up with tap water and stay hydrated during the Games.

Skiers and snowboarders like Lindsey Vonn, Shaun White, Marco Sullivan, Ted Ligety and Gretchen Bleiler will receive the bottles. They're made from New Wave Enviro's #304 Food Grade Seriously Safe Stainless Steel, without any type of liner or coating inside.

If you're a fan of the games or plan to cheer on the team at the Olympics in Vancouver, you can get a bottle for yourself. They're available in either a 600 ml size with a carabiner clip to attach to your ski jacket or bag, or a 40 oz size that comes with a stainless steel loop cap.

Innovative Water Technologies, a Colorado producer of water filtration systems, has donated 14 solar powered water filter stations to earthquake relief in Haiti.

With the help of the GE foundation, Pentair and private donors, the 14 Sunspring solar powered water filters will be permanently installed to provide drinking water in different areas of the island.

These innovative filters each have capacity to serve up to 5,000 gallons per day, can last up to 10 years and require no power source except the sun. They can be installed by rivers, streams, wells, lakes or any fresh body of water and remove all harmful bacteria to create safe drinking water.

Each unit runs about $25,000. Many more are needed in Haiti to make sure there is clean water without shipping water more in. I can't really afford it, but anyone that is interested in buying one to be sent to Haiti can do so at the company website.

Bisphenol-A (BPA), the industrial chemical found in many plastic water bottles, some reusable water bottles, plastic forks and the linings of canned goods, is being revisited by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as a possible hazardous substance for humans.

In the past, the FDA had concluded that BPA shows little health risk to humans in small doses. This conclusion happened to come from two industry funded studies.

More recently, scientists within and outside of the FDA have been speaking out, pointing to the numerous other studies that did show that BPA poses a risks to human health. There had been literally hundreds of such studies, apparently ignored by the FDA, that indicated various health risks for small dosages of BPA in humans. Canada banned the use of BPA from all products sold in the country as a response.

While the FDA may start asking manufacturers to label containers that contain BPA, there is no signal of a ban yet. Right now, many containers that we often use, contain BPA. Beyond water bottles, BPA is found in the lining of many food cans including some baby formulas.

To make sure the products you buy on a regular basis that contain BPA, visit the Environmental Working Group's guide to avoiding BPA products.

Also, you can tell Congress to pass legislation to ban BPA here.

photo credit: stevendepolo via Flickr.com

Many city governments still buy hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of bottled water for their employees, even though they often offer an equivalent product of their own.

As you can imagine, city governments that don't use their own water, often do a poor job promoting to everyone else.

Faucet Face, a Los Angeles based water bottle start-up company, has made it's mission to promote tap water where the city has not.

Founder Mason Gentry feels that the city government's marketing of tap water has not been effective and that "they don't have the resources to create a campaign that rivals the sophistication of the private bottlers."

So what is Faucet Face bringing to the tap marketing movement? Super cute glass water bottles with artwork on them. Right now there are three designs available for pre-order at $14.99. My favorite is the one with a bird sipping nector but the 'Tap is Terrific' bottle is pretty cool too. 

We at TapIt missed an impressive event in social media last month. Using only her Twitter page, Alyssa Milano was able to raise $92,568 for her campaign at Charity: Water, an organization that provides access to clean water for communities in Africa.

She started with a goal of raising just $25,000 in celebration of her 37th birthday. After that goal was quickly reached, she began upping the goal until the final number of nearly $100K was reached.

This is a great achievement as she was able to provide water infrastructure for over 4,600 people in Africa. It is also impressive she was able to do this all with Twitter. Granted, Alyssa has over 600,000 Twitter followers, but it shows the potential.

What if all of her followers were able to fundraise on their Twitter pages too? And their followers? The possibilities are endless.

It is always a good reminder to look at the health benefits of drinking enough water everyday. When I look at all the upsides, I can't believe I ever forget my water bottle when I leave the house.

To start with, drinking water throughout the day keeps us alert gives us more energy. Water is essential to the body's circulation. If you are a little dehydrated, your blood becomes more viscous and moves slower in the body, making you feel sluggish and tired. Some say that water is better than coffee in the long run to keep you alert and productive throughout the day.

Two, drinking water helps keep the extra pounds off. If you are dehydrated, your liver cannot process your excess fat into energy and therefore the fat is stored in body. An ample water supply for your body helps you metabolize fat more efficiently.

Three, drinking water helps you absorb nutrients more effectively. Water increases the absorption of electrolytes, vitamins and minerals into your body from food. This in turn will give you mor esustainaned energy as well as general health long term health.

If you want to find out how much daily water intake is right you, use this simple water calculator.

When winter storms hit and snow covers the roadways, runways and sidewalks, the salt comes out. While sodium chloride works wonders for de-icing, concern is growing over its harmful environmental effects. Once the job is done road salt has to go somewhere and most of it ends up in our waterways.

A 2009 University of Minnesota study found that about 70 percent of the 350,000 tons of road salt used annually in the Minneapolis metro area is retained in the watershed of area lakes, rivers, wells and tributaries, which could affect drinking water and aquatic life.

That's why this year, many public works officials in Minnesota are changing their de-icing formulas. The trick is to make the salt stick to roads better so less salt can be used overall, maintaining the same level of safety. Pre-wetting the salt with brine before applying it to the road has helped many crews go from using 500 pounds of salt per mile to 200 pounds per mile. One city, Prior Lake, created a road salt "supermix" of brine, magnesium chloride and a sugar beet byproduct, which has reduced salt use there by about 60 percent. Even food-grade molasses can help salt stick to roads--but it doesn't work so well in frigid temperatures!

Airports are beginning to look for eco-friendly salt alternatives, too. Frankfurt's airport in Germany uses a biodegradable antacid to battle snow and ice, which is non-toxic and doesn't affect groundwater. It's good to see more cities taking the initiative to find alternatives that are safe for travel and safe for drinking water.  

Photo by bradjward via flickr under a Creative Commons license.

Forbes site Investopedia predicts that bottled water may be back in 2010. They say it could be a good investment as more and more drinking water quality studies reveal the dark side of tap water. The New York Times and EWG both put out reports last year showing that what comes out of our tap may not always be in line with what the Safe Drinking Water Act calls for.

But at the same time, more Americans are seeing the wastefulness of bottled water and the adverse impact the industry and every bottle has on our planet. So from where we're standing, we have a hard time believing bottled water consumption, which has been declining, is about to go back up.

Beyond betting on Pepsi and Coca Cola for their bottled-water brands, Investopedia suggests investors consider companies that sell infrastructure products and services because drinking water plants stateside and internationally are in need of efficiency updates. The article names Mueller Water Products and Veolia Environment as two to watch, and we think this is a better choice than betting money on bottled water.

Photo by PocketAces via Stock.xchng.

While last summer's Cash for Clunkers program that got gas-guzzlers off the road is long gone, a new Cash for Appliances trade-in deal is here. The new eco-friendly deal is an especially sweet sounding one for water conservationists because beyond energy-saving attributes, it rewards consumers for water-saving features, too. Swapping out an old top loading clothing washer for an Energy-Star rated model could save an astonishing 40 to 45 gallons of water...per load!

The program is dishing out $300 million dollars in the form of rebates ranging between $50 and $200. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) deals differ from state to state, so before you run out and replace your old washer, dryer, dishwasher, air conditioner, water heater, refrigerator or other appliance, check the rules for your location.

In New York the Great Appliance Swap-Out, starting in February, will hand out over 170,000 rebates, including impressive $500 rebates for consumers who scoop up a three-appliance package of a refrigerator, dishwasher and clothes washer. California's program is scheduled to begin in March with $50 to $100 rebates. Illinois plans a two part program with one phase for large appliances including heaters, furnaces and air conditioners in January and another for smaller appliances like dishwashers, refrigerators and clothes washers scheduled to begin on Earth Day. We also love that some states are giving extra bucks to recyclers. Florida, for example, is giving an additional $75 to participants who present a receipt showing they recycled their clunker appliances.

Sounds like the perfect excuse to go get that Energy Star rated refrigerator with a filtered tap water dispenser in the door that you've always wanted!

Photo by Chris Corwin on flickr under a Creative Commons license.

Every dollar you spend on green consumer products encourages the production and distribution of more green products. Woman in particular are responsible for 85 cents of every dollar spent on consumer goods. If every woman could commit even a small amount of their budget to environmentally friendly goods, it could change the world.

This is the premise of the book and project Big Green Purse by Diane MacEachern. The ultimate goal is to shift $1000 of the yearly budget of 1 million woman over to green products. Theoretically, this could shift $1 Billion towards green companies and ultimately change the marketplace for consumer items.

At The Big Green Purse website, you can sign up to pledge your $1000 a year budget for green good. The site also offers easy steps to reducing your environmental footprint and buying green. It also offers buying guides for a range of product categories to help you find genuine green products that offer real eco improvements and not just greenwashing.

Sign up and pledge your $1000 a year for green products here. Let's vote with our dollars and make sure to buy green whenever possible!

photo credit: AMagill from flickr

We all know that drinking water is very important to your health. But sometimes it is hard to remember to drink enough water while you are busy during the day. There are some great ways, however, to keep water on your mind.

The UK charity, Water Aid, has created a software program for your PC that will alert you 6 times a day to drink water. There is also a screen-saver available if you would like to have a constant reminder while working. You can download both programs from their website.

There is also a new iphone app called 'Water Your Body' that is a water consumption tracker. It's water calculator tells you how much water you personally need and allows you to keep tabs from day to day how much you drink. The app icon shows in red how many more glasses of water you need as a reminder each day to stay fully hydrated. The app can be found here.

Lastly, we must plug the TapIt iphone app as a great water reminder. Every time you see it on your phone while on the go, it is a reminder that there are places to get free water refills all around you. Click on the icon and there they are. If you live in New York City, San Francisco or Portland, free and clean water refills are always only blocks away.

With all these ways to stay up on healthy water habits, there should be no excuses for dehydration.

photo credit: Jenny Downing from Flickr

Cleanscapes, a garbage collection company in Seattle, Washington has challenged several neighborhoods in Seattle to reduce waste that normally ends up in landfills.

Instead of trying to pass laws or issue fines or penalties, the company has decided to offer a carrot stick. The neighborhood to most reduce it's overall material going to it's garbage cans or recycle bins by May, will win $50,000 for a community project such as a park or playground.

Many neighborhoods are jumping on board and trying to come up with ideas. Community leaders will need to educate households on how to reduce waste, which is more challenging than simply recycling.

Officials from the City have suggested people use more reusable plates, napkins and cups instead of disposable ones, cancel junk mail and use mulching lawn mowers to keep grass clippings out of the trash. One resident from the Magnolia neighborhood suggested setting up more collection bins for reusable items such as clothes and furniture.

We suggest not buying plastic bottles for beverages, and only drinking local water.

photo credit: bob.b.brown from flickr

A $40,000 prize has recently been awarded to a group of engineering students attending the University of Washington (UW) for their technical advancement regarding a widely practiced means of purifying water: solar water disinfection.

 

Solar water disinfection, also known as SODIS, is a simple and effective way to deactivate the bacteria found in unsafe or untreated water. Utilizing clean PET water bottles, the user simply fills the bottles with the contaminated water and exposes the bottled water to direct sunlight for an extended period of time. After the water has been exposed to this solar radiation, the water can be safely used for drinking and cooking.

 

The SODIS method may seem ineffective, but it has been proven to remove more than 99.9% of the bacteria and viruses from contaminated water. With results comparable to that of the chlorination process. Practiced heavily in parts of the world where the regulation of drinking water is nonexistent, the SODIS method has been recommended by the World Health Organization as a viable method of water treatment at a household level. Unfortunately the global adoption of the SODIS method has been slow, simply because it is impossible to identify when the polluted water has acquired enough solar radiation to become potable. Recognizing this issue, the SODIS foundation, a Bolivia based nonprofit, created a competition through InnoCentive Inc. to help solve this shortcoming.

 

Utilizing "the same components that you'd find inside a dirt-cheap solar calculator," the engineering team at UW created the winning design entry. When a bottle is inserted into the UW indicator (similar in shape to a cup holder) the device recognizes its presence and electronics begin to monitor how much light is passing through the water. The device also considers other factors such as the material of the bottle, and the turbidity of the water needing purification. By analyzing all of these variables, the SODIS indicator is able to alert the user as to when the water is potable. Taking away the uncertainty of the waters safety.

                                                                                   

One of the most appreciated aspects of the UW team's device is its economical price. With the device's estimated parts retailing for $3.40, the SODIS indicator could be  easily manufactured and dispersed to those in need of water distillation systems. Patrons of the SODIS Foundation have already offered the UW student team $16,000 to further develop their SODIS indicator, with the hopes that it could one day save the lives of millions of people who are forced to consume contaminated water.

Photo Credit: EurekAlert