Bottled water - pure drink or pure hype?

Bottled water - pure drink or pure hype?   
 
I don't consider my self to be the greenest of greenies but I'll do what I can where I can and on the waterfront my biggest bug bare has been bottled water. Not so much the water (though the article below would suggest I should) itself but the plastic containers it comes in. So it was with in mind that I recently purchased a 1l. stainless steel water container that I take everywhere with me and refill whenever I can.
Apart from saving anywhere between 20 and 30 dollars a week I'm now not contributing any extra plastic to land fill or energy  intensive recycling programs.


I also figure I'm preaching to the already converted here but just in case your not then here is some argument for giving up bottled water supplied from the Warm Earth magazine e-newsletter (www.warmearth.com.au) SNIPS & TIPS - OCTOBER 2010 


Despite research showing that bottled water is no better than tap water, Australians spend more than half a billion dollars a year on the bottled product. Producing and delivering a litre of bottled water emits hundreds of times more greenhouse gases than a litre of tap water. Australia's annual use of bottled water produces more than 60,000 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions - the same amount that 13,000 cars generate over the course of a year. For many brands, a litre of bottled water costs more than a litre of petrol.


The Department of Environment and Climate Change estimates that 200 ml of oil is used to produce, package, transport and refrigerate each 1 litre bottle, so it's like filling a fifth of every bottle with oil. It also takes water to make water. Treehugger.com estimates that bottled water uses 6 times the amount of water actually in the bottle to produce it! Australia recycles only 36% of PET plastic drink bottles and even if bottled water is recycled, it uses a huge amount of water and energy in the process. So, what can we do instead? If you're concerned about the quality of your tap water, invest a little bit of money in a water filter for your home. You can then use one bottle and keep filling it up and re-using it. This is a very eco friendly practice that can help curb the amount of damage being done to our earth as a result of bottled water.

Also if your not too keen on the taste of your town tap water supply then there is a myriad of water filters available and more than affordable with the money you save from not buying bottled water.

So far I have managed to give up my car, take-a-way coffee in paper/plastic cups and now Bottled water. If I can do it anyone with half a will can.

Cheers

Stewart

Rain, rain, rain, nope

Battle gear ready.
The extent we go to for our gardens seems extreme some times, this is me just before I go out to attack the lucerne mulch hay with the mulcher (see post 'This mans best friend #2') just so my lettuce, beans and silverbeet can have a luxurious time growing in my garden.

I'm hoping (they had better) they appreciate the effort I've gone to and grow up into happy and healthy plants so I can extract my revenge by eating them. (insert slightly deranged laughter here).


But slightly serious seriously, when you do anything with a dried mulch product, especially a moldy one, you should make an effort to look after yourself, so on goes the silver breathing mask and hat that makes me look Darth Vader's trendy half brother.

See the resemblance? I can even talk like him after a night on the town.

May the organic force be with you.








We still can't get any rain around here and I've got to say I'm feeling a bit resentful towards the garden for being so needy in the watering department.

Meet my watering strategy. I call them B1 andB2 after Bill and Ben from Bill and Ben the flower pot men. I fill them up from my rain water tank and walk to where ever I have to water, which on a hot day can be up to 3 hours of walking and watering.
It also means there are a lot of other jobs around the place can't be done because all my spare time is taken up with watering.

We haven't had any dam filling rain here in our catchment area since 2001 and our total combined stored capacity in our dams is down to less than 10%. We are currently on level 5 water restrictions which means not being allowed to use the town water supplies for any external use.


Most plants needed watering daily and some (lettuce and silverbeet) twice daily.
It has cooled though, from the plus 30 degree temps of late last week to high twenty's, but talk about your proverbial sponge. It just seemed liked I couldn't put enough water on the garden to keep everything going.
The forecast is for showers from the middle of the week so I'm, once again, hopeful of some respite.

I'd also like some moisture in the soil so as I can continue planting for the up coming Autumn and winter.
Anyhow I'm off to water the garden and mulch the garden and plant in the garden and....