08.20.09
Posted in Green Ideas, Plastic Water Bottles at 1:53 am by Administrator
I have a small confession to make. There are times when I fool my children by filling up name brand ketchup bottles with the grocery store brand. They never notice the difference. I have even held a “taste test” type contest where they sample both the grocery brand and the name brand. The name brand always seems to win out. Must be the packaging.
Our good friends at www.smart2begreen.com offered up some info this week on spring water and have brought some interesting facts to light. For example, the FDA permits bottlers to label their product “spring water” even though it may be brought to the surface using a pumped well and may have been treated with chemicals. Additionally, on the national level, the FDA is solely responsible for bottled water purity and safety, but the FDA’s rules exempt waters that are packaged and sold within the same state, which account for between 60 and 70 percent of all bottled water sold in the U.S..
This of course leads me to yet another experiment with my children relating to bottled water. I have, in a pinch, reused water bottles and added tap water, screwed the lid on tight like it was new and refrigerated. This typically happens on vacations when we are away from home and have to think creatively. Again, they didn’t know the difference. At home of course we use a multipure water filter system so the water is much more pure than regular tap water and of course, bottle our own in our “H2O on the go” stainless steel water bottles. Away from home we have to think creatively.
While I have heard, and hard to validate, that reusing plastic bottles causes some chemical leaching to occur, I don’t think its a big problem in a pinch. So for you green savvy shoppers, try this experiment at home. Buy a brand name product, say cereal for example and also buy the store brand. Swap out the contents and see what happens. Chances are, as adults, we will notice the subtle differences, but children, maybe not. At a minimum you are out the cost of the store brand which is typically cheaper. It makes a great lesson for our future leaders. Packaging isn’t everything. I am curious at what results you get and look forward to hearing from you.
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08.11.09
Posted in Plastic Water Bottles, Recycling at 2:52 pm by Administrator
As a mother of two young daughters, my life seems an endless duty of taxi service. Driving yesterday to pickup and drop off, I noticed it was recycling day in one of the neighborhoods and was both impressed and depressed by the curbside contributions. At one home, there were 2 recycling bins full of empty plastic water bottles, probably 2 cases worth. Hard to imagine that volume of bottled water being consumed by one household but perhaps there was a party of some sort that generated that volume. So this month, I want to praise the City of Fort Lauderdale for their recycling program. First some details from the city:
- Recycling one aluminum can saves enough energy to power a TV or computer monitor for three hours;
- Every glass bottle recycled saves enough energy to light a 100 watt light bulb for four hours;
- The recycled sector of the global paper industry is the industry’s most modern, efficient and least polluting sector.
- Every ton of trash diverted through recycling programs saves the City of Fort Lauderdale $94.
- In 2008, the City of Fort Lauderdale recycled more than 8,310 tons of recyclables through curbside, business, school and event recycling programs.
- Curbside recycling generated $800,000 in revenue and $724,000 in disposal cost savings.
- Business, school, and event recycling programs generated an additional $31,604 in revenue for the City.
Broward County’s Material Recovery Facility (MRF) processes more than 450 tons of recyclables every day. At this facility, plastics, glass, paper, and metals are separated, crushed, and shipped out to various mills for remanufacturing.
Where does all of this material come from? Well Fort Lauderdale and Broward County is a big tourist spot with its beaches, the everglades, and endless sunshine. The airport typically handles 20 million passengers every year generating 1500 tons on an annual basis. Our cruise ships, while not at the same scale as the airport, generate additional volumes and while recycling certainly is a revenue generator for the city and county, wouldn’t it be great to see the volumes decrease for some of these recyclables, specifically plastic water bottles.
One of the hottest products on Amazon and other websites are stainless steel water bottles and there are a bunch to choose from depending on your needs. What is a reusable bottle without a great water filtration system to ensure that you have pure water to drink. The best water filter, indeed the gold standard for carbon block filtration technology is the Multipure Water Filter. Back to the beginning.
Broward County’s MRF opened in 1993 and has been sustainable based on the citizens of the county and the county’s endless efforts to promote recycling. While the huge curbside contribution of plastic bottles I saw maybe an anomoly, it is a testament the city and county efforts to promote recycling and yes, it is working. Can volumes decrease? Absolutely! At the same time, we can take steps to reduce by not just relying on our government to dispose, but by also looking at how we consume. Congrats Fort Lauderdale and Broward County on a job well done.
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08.03.09
Posted in Green Ideas at 1:04 am by Administrator
I meant to write on this earlier in the Summer, but Summer is, well Summer and that means busy time and vacation time. My sister Rena, the 2nd oldest of my parents children is the official Matriarch of the family since my parents have passed on and Aunt Louise, the first person I ever considered in this role, was an excellent teacher and family leader. Unfortunately, she has left us as well but certainly my sister Rena, learned a great many things from her probably without even realizing it at the time.
I went to Melbourne earlier in the year to visit my family and my sister Rena lives right in the midst of old neighborhood. Her house was originally built by my mothers parents and takes up 3 lots in total with a small drainage creek running through to property and ending up in the Indian River Lagoon. Its a bit swampy there but as a child, I can remember endless days catching turtles, snakes and small fish out of this little creek, this was long before the days of the Disney channel and endless television stations.
I went to see my sister who was playing dual role that day of Aunt and Grandma to a set of my nieces and great nieces and my endless supply of nephews. She had had them for two days and it would be an understatement on the green education those children received. Let me give you an idea of the projects they had completed in those 2 days:
1. Created bamboo wind chimes from the bamboo that she had planted on the property years earlier.
2. Created a new umbrella cover out of old blankets, she found an old outdoor patio umbrella frame and it now works great.
3. She taught the children about composting, she has a compost bin because lets face it, composted materials are great for plants.
4. The planted plants in the ground that she had started as clippings from her yard.
Watching her work with the children, I realized that Aunt Rena had replaced Aunt Louise in the matriarch role. I remember endless Summers with my Aunt Louise as well as my Aunt Nan learning about similiar small things that make a huge difference. When we talk about going green and using biodegradable dog poop bags or the latest green movements, I realize that the best green gift to give a child, is time and wisdom.
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