That's the title of the article I pasted below here, posted on www.treehugger.com via Common Dreams. I just HAD to poke around on the Web after having a decadent day at Spa Montage, where upon check-in you get a fluffy towel and a cute little bottle of Fiji brand bottled water. Pretty label, I thought, but it can't possibly be from....what the - oh, yes it is! Which led to finding this item:
1.5 million barrels of oil in the US alone are used to make water bottles from polyethylene terephthalate, 86% of which are landfilled or incinerated. Often it is shipped long distances, like the 1.4 million bottles of Finnish tap water sent 4,300 kilometers (2,700 miles) to Saudi Arabia, or the popular Fiji water found in the U.S. and Canada. ''Even in areas where tap water is safe to drink, demand for bottled water is increasing--producing unnecessary garbage and consuming vast quantities of energy,'' said Earth Policy Institute researcher Emily Arnold. ''Although in the industrial world bottled water is often no healthier than tap water, it can cost up to 10,000 times more.'' Tap water comes to us through an energy-efficient infrastructure whereas bottled water must be transported long distances--and nearly one-fourth of it across national borders--by boat, train, airplane, and truck. This ''involves burning massive quantities of fossil fuels,'' Arnold said. It's time to buy a Nalgene and refill it rather than tossing empties. ::Common Dreams
The Lagunan here again --
I would urge you to rethink your use of bottled water in general, and of Fij water in particular. Maybe Spa Montage doesn't deserve a letter-writing campaign over this, but it might be worth bringing up with management. What good is all the chatter and ink about eating locally produced foods and going green if we're foolish enough to ship drinking water over from Fiji and Finland and put it into non-biodegradable plastic bottles from China that end up in our landfills? We have perfectly potable tap water here, unlike so many worldwide. A "Nalgene" suggested above is a tough, long-lasting plastic bottle campers use -- but still plastic. If you don't care for the taste of tap, get a reverse osmosis system, fill up a stainless steel drinking bottle, you're good to go for a long, long time without using a drop of polyethylene terephthalate. (Just remember: frequent hot soapy water!). Comments?
4 comments:
I can't believe people spend so much $$ on this kind of stuff; what is the world coming to, designer water!? I think your ding a great thing for Laguna!
If you care to, you can send Spa Montage an e-mail (using their annoying form, so you have to provide your name). Ask them to stop providing guests with Fiji water, and to even come up with an alternative to providing their guests with water. That's a lotta water shipped halfway around the world and plastic bottles every day. It's a small thing, but we're gonna drown in plastic.
Let's put pressure on businesses to join 1% for the Planet.
Their Mission Statement:
1% For The Planet is an alliance of businesses committed to leveraging their resources to create a healthier planet. Members recognize their responsibility to and dependence on a healthy environment and donate at least 1% of their annual sales to environmental organizations worldwide.
Thank, Anon. I like this idea a lot. One percent isn't that much to keep our species alive and our planet functioning, is it? Any suggestions as to how to put pressure on businesses? Could this be part and parcel of the Laguna's Green Initiative?
I was heartened to see that La Sirena has voluntarily switched to eco-friendly take-out containers, eliminated menu items such as shrimp and overharvested fish from its menu, and is using some organic ingredients. Living to close to the ocean, it makes sense to stop all styrofoam usage -- the "nurdles" as they are called, bits of foam that break off but don't break down, are changing the very composition of our food supply because fish eat these bits.
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