I don't usually get on my soap box but
I've been bothered lately so I decided that I'd hop on up for a few
minutes. With the prices of just about everything on the rise and
our home values plummeting many of us are left feeling rather
helpless. We wonder where we can cut back, how we can fill our gas
tank and put groceries on the table without changing the lifestyle
that we've all gotten used to. I'm in that boat too but I've vowed
to make at least one change in what I buy and use. No more bottled
water!
I can be rather thick at times. It can
take me a while to see what's right in front of me. This week I had
a revelation. Why this week? I don't know. It's not like there is
any new information that has not been said before, but this week I
realized that drinking bottled water is just plain stupid and I
really don't like to think of myself as a stupid person.
First of all, we've all heard about the
negative effects of BPA which can leach from plastic bottles into the
water we drink. But did you know that it takes anywhere from 3
to 5 liters of water to bottle 1 liter? Or, that enough oil
to run 100,000 cars for one year is used in the manufacture of
plastic bottles with more used to transport the water and bottles
before and after they are filled? And, 90% of all plastic bottles
are not recycled! Did you know that? Neither did I. There's much
more that I didn't know and the articles on Wikipedia.org
and Treehugger.org
were eyeopening for me.
Imagine, for every plastic bottle or
bag that we use we are causing gas prices to go up. Well, maybe
that's a little simplistic, but really, when I think of all the
plastic water bottles alone that I've recycled since the January 1st
it's shocking. Imagine all the other plastic products that we use
and discard without even thinking twice about it. I, for one, am
ashamed of myself and I vow to change my wasteful ways.
I've begun with bottled water, no more
for me. I've always requested paper over plastic bags but even that
is not good enough so I'm carrying reusable grocery bags from now on.
There are many other things that we can all do and I hope you'll
join me, starting with bottled water.
In this day and age there really is no
excuse for us not to know what effects we are having on the world.
The choices we all make have a direct effect on how we live, we're
feeling it more right now, so let's all do something. I think we can
make a difference!
