In Canada, the bottled water issue has reached the level of an “uprising.” College students are staging protests — declaring “bottled-water-free” zones on campus. High school activists are raising questions about why their school board members are locking them into a contract with Coke or Pepsi (makers of Aquafina and Dasani bottled water) when they have access to drinking fountains for free.

Some of the students have jokingly started selling bottled air for $1.

Perhaps Richard Girard, a corporate researcher for the Ottawa-based Polaris Institute, says it best. “This movement is gaining momentum because the general public is starting to figure out bottled water is a scam,” he says.

Bottled water is also contributing to huge amounts of waste and energy consumption. It takes 15 million barrels of oil per year to make all of the plastic water bottles in America, according to the Container Recycling Institute. Sending those bottles by air and truck uses even more fossil fuel. Once people drain the bottles, they rarely recycle them because they’re often purchased at big concert venues or airports with no recycling bins. CRI says eight out of 10 water bottles end up in the landfill. The bottles that drift from landfills or end up as litter in streams are washing out to sea to form a huge raft of plastic debris in the center of the Pacific that is estimated to be twice the size of Texas.

It takes 1,000 years for plastic bottles to break down, CRI estimates. States could add deposit bills that would increase recycling efforts, but few have taken the initiative.

Consumers aren’t advised to reuse store-bought bottled water, or even plastic bottles made for refilling due to dangers of leaching chemicals. Research shows that clear bottles made of polycarbonate plastic (such as the original 32-ounce Nalgene) can leach bisphenol-A (BPA), an endocrine disrupting chemical that acts like estrogen in the body. Since BPA has been linked to low sperm counts and an increased risk of breast and prostate cancer, scientists suggest avoiding reusable bottles made from plastic. They also raise serious concerns about the potential for other plastic chemicals to leach out of typical PET bottled water bottles, ­especially if they set in the hot sun.

Some of the best refillable bottle options come from the stainless guaranteed-not-to-leach SIGG bottles made in Switzerland. The trend away from bottled water may also boost sales of home filters.

Water quality experts say most tap water is fine to drink straight from the faucet, especially in cities such as San Francisco, Seattle, New York City and Denver, where water comes from pristine mountain reservoirs.

It makes sense for anyone turning back to tap to become educated about the local public water supply. Since the Environmental Protection Agency requires frequent water quality reports, the data are easy to find. The Environmental Working Group makes it easy with its Tap Water Database. You can plug in your ZIP code and find out whether your local water system is up to par.

Now that more people are trying kick the bottled water habit, groups such as the Natural Resources Defense Council and EWG hope this new awareness will translate into more support for public water supplies, and for water conservation in general.

The Environmental Magazine distributes 50,000 copies six times per year to subscribers and bookstores.

From the editors of E/The Environmental Magazine

First Published: May 2008

From the Toronto Sun - The next time you throw away your empty water bottle, you might want to shoot for the blue bin.

As few as 50% of water bottles Torontonians consume everyday are actually being recycled.

That means as many as 65 million empty plastic water bottles per year end up as garbage in a landfill waste site in Michigan.

These millions — and potentially billions — of plastic water bottles sit there swallowing up landfills with mounds of rubbish for thousands of years because that’s how long it takes to break down plastic water bottles.

Waste Bags 


“Anything that doesn’t go into yard waste bags, blue or green bins ends up in the landfill in Michigan,” said Geoff Rathbone, general manager of solid waste for the City of Toronto.

Statistics Canada says nearly one-third of all Canadian households are choosing to drink bottled water over tap water.

“We believe we recycled about 1,000 tonnes of plastic water bottles last year. There’s 65,000 bottles per tonne, so therefore we recycled 65 million water bottles in Toronto,” Rathbone said.

“We believe there are 100 to 125 million water bottles out there each year; we captured of the available water bottles out there an average of 50 to 65%,” he said.

“Water bottles make up half of 1% of everything we recycle,” Rathbone said. “We recycle 200,000 tonnes of materials each year including glass, cans, newsprint and plastic.”

The Sierra Club of Canada says the average energy cost to produce and ship one plastic bottle of water equals one-quarter bottle of oil, plus it creates greenhouse gas emissions and destroys the ozone layer.

“One of the reasons for the low recycling rate of water bottles is because a lot of water bottle consumption is done away from the home,” said Rod Muir, waste diversion campaigner for the Sierra Club of Canada.

Garbage Program

Rathbone said the single family homes are recycling 80% of water bottles, while multi-family homes like condos and apartment buildings and public space are recycling 30% of water bottles they consume.

The new “pay as you throw” garbage program beginning July 1, Rathbone says, will slash the amount of garbage thrown out by multi-family dwellings.

“Part of our job is to ensure everyone has access to recycling, Rathbone said, noting Toronto is the only major North American city to have litter bin access to recycling on the street.

This new policy will eliminate the waste of disposable plastic bottles, along with the energy required to manufacture and transport the single-use bottles across the country. In addition, the Manifesto commits to local water, extreme reuse, carbon neutrality, increased compost, and sourcing 75% of the backstage food from organic suppliers.



To accomplish this severe reduction of bottled water, the festival is installing several water stations which use local Telluride tap water run through a system of filters. All artists and their crews will receive a stainless steel reusable water bottle as a gift of the festival. The 10,000 audience members, known to each other as “festivarians,” will be encouraged to bring their own reusable bottles from home or purchase reusable bottles at the festival. Food vendors will still be allowed to sell bottled water for this transitional year, but these bottles must be at least 1-liter. 



Beyond the water issue, Planet Bluegrass will again be offsetting the event’s entire carbon footprint. The 35th Telluride Bluegrass will be America’s 2nd 100% carbon neutral festival – behind the 34th Annual Telluride Bluegrass, which was the first. While the festival grounds have been wind-powered since 2003, audits have shown that 95% of the festival’s emissions occur not inside the grounds, but from the air, car, bus, and train travel to Telluride from around the world.

Planet Bluegrass actively encourages carpooling (through an online ride-share forum) and biking to the festival (in conjunction with New Belgium Brewing’s Team Wonderbike). But some travel emissions cannot be reduced, and those are offset using carbon offsets provided by Renewable Choice Energy.

 Creative approaches to sustainability in the campgrounds will be highlighted this year thanks to a daily Green Campsite Challenge, a collaboration with Leave No Trace, where winning campsites receive camping passes for the 2009 festival.

Nearly half of the festival attendees camp at one of the four official campgrounds around Telluride. These elaborate campsites often incorporate solar panels and water turbines to power camp necessities like blenders and rotating disco balls.

In an effort to openly discuss the complicated issues surrounding the festival’s sustainability efforts, Planet Bluegrass has launched a new blog at www.sustainablefestivation.com. In addition, lively discussions about the campsite challenge are taking place at the Festivarian Forum at www.festivarian.com.



Long a leader in the green festival movement, Planet Bluegrass was recognized by Colorado Governor Bill Ritter, jr. last year with the proclamation of Colorado Bluegrass Day for “using renewable energy to help protect our environment while producing a world-class festival.” Planet Bluegrass’s green efforts have been featured on American Public Media’s “Weekend America,” the Rocky Mountain News, Colorado Public Radio’s “Colorado Matters,” and as panelists at the Americana Music Conference and the Denver 2008 Convention Host Committee’s Green Workshop.



The 35th anniversary Telluride Bluegrass Festival welcomes festivarians from around the world to the San Juan Mountains of southwestern Colorado, including headliners Ryan Adams & the Cardinals, Paolo Nutini, The Swell Season (Glen Hansard & Marketa Irglova from the film Once), Ani DiFranco Band, Arlo Guthrie, Yonder Mountain String Band, Ricky Skaggs & Bruce Hornsby, The Frames, and a festival closing set from the Telluride House Band (Sam Bush, Bela Fleck, Jerry Douglas, Edgar Meyer, Bryan Sutton, and Luke Bulla).

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Professional Free Press Release News Wire

The water that was once inside them quenched untold numbers of thirsty mouths. But plastic bottles that remain as refuse to go away. The petroleum-based products often end up as litter and landfill clutter.

Karly Jo Dixon at the Ecology Action of Texas Recycling depot in Downtown Austin says of the plastic bottles, “Most of them aren’t being recycled. They’re ending up in our landfill. They’re never going to bio-degrade in the landfill.”

Now, in an effort to go greener, Austin City Council is taking on the sometimes-vilified vessels.

“We need to set the example,” says Council member Lee Leffingwell, who in sponsoring a measure to be taken up by council May 22. The resolution would stop the purchase of plastic water bottles at City Hall. Leffingwell says the program could eventually expand to other city departments and venues.

Some eco-conscious Austinites who don’t exactly bottle up their resentment of the clear containers are drinking it up.

San Francisco and Seattle have already passed similar plastic water bottle bans.

“I hate ‘em,” exclaims John Hart back at the recycling center.

Proponents of the resolution say in the case of drinking water, going forward means going back to using cups to drink what is now award winning water from the tap.

“We have the second cleanest water in the United States. We should be proud of that,” says Dixon, referring to a Forbes.com report in April that listed Austin’s H2O as second cleanest in the nation.

San Francisco and Seattle have already passed similar bans.

Copyright 2008, Four Points Media Group LLC. All Rights Reserved.

From the Environmental Protection Agency

But eco-bloggers say there is no need for bottles at all. They say the energy that goes into creating and transporting the bottles is wasteful and most recyclable bottles end up in landfills. Taking water can also draw down local water tables. Drink tap water, they urge.

A Nestlé Waters North America spokeswoman said bottled water is healthier than other bottled beverages. The company studied the life cycle of the water bottle and found the best way to reduce carbon emissions was to reduce the amount of plastic, said Jane Lazgin, director of corporate communications.
© Copyright 2008-2010 Globe Newspaper Company.