permaculture

[Harmon Seaver <hseaver@gmail.com>]

yarrow@sfo.com wrote:
> Well, you already have the stainless steel bottle, so obviously it's 
> better to use it until it wears out than to ever use another plastic 
> bottle again.
> 
> I haven't bought one yet, and wonder if it's worth it. I have used 
> glass jars to carry tea to classes, though I still reuse random 
> plastic bottles to carry cold water around.
> 
> 
> Anyway, I see several distinct questions here.
> 
> 1. If you're now buying plastic water bottles by the case, is it 
> better for your health and the environment to stop using plastic?
>

    You would do well to check the true source of water in those plastic
bottles, chances are it's no better than your tap water. There have been
several exposes on the bottled water industry lately, proving some, at
least are just selling water straight from a city water tap.



> 2. If you occasionally pick up a plastic water bottle at a meeting or 
> conference, is it ok to refill and reuse it?

   No. Do a google on plastic water bottles.

> 
> 3. If you don't want to drink tap water for whatever reason (ag 
> region with nitrites, chloramine, etc.) and can't get water delivered 
> in glass bottles for whatever reason, is it better to buy 
> filtered/purified water in large plastic bottles, or are you better 
> off drinking the tap water and not storing any water in plastic?

   Filter it yourself. We have two filters in our house in WI -- a big
charcoal filter that does all the water in the house to remove
chemicals, chlorine, etc. and then a heavy-metal/microorganism filter
right at the drinking water tap.
   But I guess if my water was really bad, I'd move. Just one of many
reasons not to live in cities or around farms, I guess. Our place in
northern Minnesota is so unpolluted we drink creek water -- but filter
it for giardia from the beavers upstream, and from a spring, which we
don't bother to filter at all.


-- 
Harmon Seaver