Should We Ban Water Bottles? Pt. 2

Last time we looked at the reasons plastic bottles are probably a waste of space from water quality to chemical contaminants, but what about the use of water itself? Where does it come from and how is it processed? Is this an efficient system?

There are several different common sources for bottled water. One, as we mentioned, is literally tap water or Publically Source Water like what’s still used by Aquafina. Another is spring water. This water is taken from a natural source where water flows to the earth’s surface from deep underground. In slight contrast, well water is a manmade structure that taps a deep aquifer and creates access to this stored water. 

Water bottle companies usually source their water from one of the above and and then siphon off millions of gallons of water for bottling. The bottles themselves required oil to be extracted for their production and the amount of oil could power hundreds of thousands of homes. Add to that the facts that water is also used in the production of water bottles and the processing of water and the true the amount of water used by water bottle companies is staggering. For example, it take 6 liters of water to produce and cool 1.5 liters of bottled water. That means that not only are bottled water companies taking the millions of liters of water actually sold in store from springs and aquifers around the country, but they are also taking 4 times that amount just to process the water that is sold. The efficiency of this process is not only sorely lacking, but the environmental toll is staggering. 

Now, you may have heard a little about Nestle and their own water practices recently. Nestle owns one of the biggest water bottle companies in the country and they siphon water even from places that are suffering from a resource shortage. For example, in California, there have been several years of drought and fires and while communities are limiting their own water usage, Nestle is still pumping away millions of liters. It would still be bad if Nestle was paying back the communities it was taking from but as if to add injury to insult, in many cases, Nestle is paying a couple hundred dollars annually to pump millions of gallons of water from natural resources. In San Bernardino, CA for example, Nestle has been paying $524 for roughly 30 million gallons of water. That is a little over 5 dollars for 300,000 gallon. A dollar for 60,000 gallons. A penny for 600 gallons. How much is a bottle of water? $2 for something cheap. More if there is any kind of “enhancement.” For a penny, at the rate Nestle pays, you could fill 3,720 water bottles. I think it’s safe to say that we are all over paying for bottled water to an astronomical extent. 

So, at the end of the day, water bottles require huge amounts of water in addition to the water sold to be made. They require millions of barrels of fossil fuels and their cost is staggeringly disproportionate to the cost of producing them. All of that on top of the fact that disposing of plastic bottles takes a devastating toll on the environment and is one the the larger contributors to atmospheric pollution. 

So, should we ditch the plastic bottle? What do you think?

Should We Ban Water Bottles? Pt. 1

If you were offered a brand new bottle of water or a glass of water from the tap, which one would you reach for? We’ve talked before about how “enhanced” bottled waters are pretty gimmick-filled and may be more of an issue than a boon. We’ve also touched on the current water crisis as well as some of the current complications with tap water today. Any mention of Flint, Michigan will probably bring the dangers of water contamination and an overall shortage to mind for years to come. What about plain, bottled water? 

Bottled water has had a chokehold on the American preference for decades. Many of us grew up believing that bottled water was just cleaner and more heavily filtered than what came out of the tap. Even as we drank from hoses and accidentally swallowed lake water, we knew that just based on the cost alone, there had to be something special about that plastic-encapsulated H20. That’s one reason many of us were up in arms when it came out that Aquafina was literally straight from the tap. So, besides the possibility that they are identical to what comes from your kitchen faucet, what are the other big reasons that bottled water might be a bust?

The most obvious reason is right in the name: Plastic. Plastic waste is one of the biggest contributors to global warming and we, as a global community, need to be doing our utmost to combat such an unnecessary strain. More than 17 million barrels of oil are required to produce enough bottled water to meet America’s current demand. Even though some plastic bottles can technically be recycled, less than 1 in 5 are eligible. Even fewer make it into the recycling process. Most end up in a landfill or the ocean. Millions of tons of plastic bottles are currently floating in the Great Pacific Garbage Island. In addition, plastic often carries several chemical contaminants. Have you ever left a water bottle in your car and wondered if it was still okay to drink? The simple answer is, probably not. The longer answer is that the integrity of the plastic used for most bottles (roughly 93% of them) holds up until about 70 degrees. At that point, you are likely ingesting a significant amount of microplastics and heavy metals as well as an unknown cocktail of chemical contaminants that differs slightly between brands. So again, if you are considering drinking that hot, bottled water from the backseat, maybe just don’t!

Below we’ve included some additional reading resources and next time we will talk a little more about how the production of bottled water is ironically wasting a precious, limited resource: water. 

Resources:

The Real Reason You Should Stop Buying Bottled Water

The real cost of bottled water - Sustainability - University of Que    ensland

Reasons to Avoid Bottled Water | Sustainability at Harvard 

Big Oil Undermining Climate Change Science in the Classroom

Let’s talk about the education system in Texas. This might seem a bit specific but the fact is, what happens in Texas, does NOT stay in texas. Many societal trends that take place first in Texas find their way into many other states rather quickly. While this sums up so many things we are currently dealing with, let’s focus on the impact of the oil and gas industry on the curriculum of Texas elementary and high school students. 

Now, why would the oil and gas industry care about what kids are learning in school? The same reason advertisers dedicate whole departments to targeting kids. The younger you lock in a group of people as supporters, the better for the longevity of your product. In this case, we are talking about the education of future voters and even political participants. It is in the best interest of oil and gas to ensure that they are viewed favorably by the next generation to maintain their foothold in the energy world. Particularly as the amount of bad press coverage due to increasingly obvious climate change caused disasters, rises. 

How do they even have the ability to inform curriculum though? Simple. In places like Texas where the oil and gas industry contributes heavily to education funding, their people sit on the boards. They make up committees and provide consultants who propose changes and modifications to the textbook language. They “recommend” the best way to introduce oil and gas based energy and make a blatant effort to downplay the role of big oil in contributing to climate change. They tie funding to an adherence to their recommendations and expect to be taken seriously when it comes to the language used in textbooks as they are a main source of funding for the creation of those textbooks. 

You might say, ok, but that’s just Texas. Why do I care what they print? It sounds like those textbooks may just reflect what the Texan population already believes about climate change. First, even if that were true, the continuation of detrimental concepts and beliefs being perpetuated through the public school education system in the largest state in the US is always going to be a concern for us all. Texas has around 40 electoral votes meaning Texas, by itself can provide almost 15% of the votes needed to elect a president. What Texans do and think will impact the rest of us. Secondly, Texas is one of the largest producers of textbooks in the country! Meaning, what they put into those books might be exactly what your 5th grader gets in their classroom in Vermont. 

Bottom line? Be vigilant. There are programs around the country that promote the idea that oil and gas either aren’t really contributing all that much to climate change or even that climate change “isn't so bad.” It doesn’t take a psychology degree to imagine the impact teachers parroting big oil might have on the next generation of Americans. Big oil has certainly run the numbers and decided it is worth the millions of dollars invested in industry-shaped education. 

Resources:

Subverting Climate Science in the Classroom - Scientific American

The ABCs of Big Oil: Why the Fossil Fuel Industry Infiltrated Schools

Pipeline to the classroom: how big oil promotes fossil fuels to America's children | Oklahoma | The Guardian 

Ecobricking: Building a Future

Have you heard of ecobricking? Among the innovative solutions we have for plastic waste, this one’s geared specifically toward our daily and personal lives. Ecobricking takes the plastic we use on a daily basis and removes it from the typical industrial waste track. We’ve talked about how plastic not only hurts the environment and often ends up in the ocean, but how the production of plastic, the use of fossil fuels, contributes to the build up of greenhouse gasses, ultimately causing global warming and climate change. While supporting corporate and industrial, big picture solutions is the biggest way for us to see large and essential changes, personal changes in our everyday practices can make an impact as we work to change the larger system. Ecobricking is one of those lifestyle changes. 

So, what is ecobricking? Ecobricking is the process of using a PET or Polyethylene Terephthalate bottle to create a reusable building block. These bricks accomplish what is called plastic sequestration which isolates these plastics from the environment in such a way as to prevent degradation and the development of microplastics. These plastics will not be melted down, releasing greenhouse gasses into the air. They will not fill a landfill, leaching toxins into our groundwater. They won’t end up in the sea. Instead, these plastics will be turned into building blocks used to create anything from firepit seating to entire affordable homes. 

How do you create an ecobrick? Well, first you save your plastics. Rise them like you would for regular recycling but set them aside. Then, take a clean see-through bottle and prepare to pack. You will need small, packable or shreddable plastics. Stuff that will fit in a plastic bottle, obviously. You will also need a blunt stick to pack that plastic in as tightly as possible. You’ll want to alternate between softer plastics and harder ones, shooting for a min weight of 0.33g/ml. Remember that the color you start with will be the color of the brick so you might want to keep that consistent depending on the project you plan to use your bricks for. If you are ecobricking for your community or school, they might already have a color or group of colors in mind so make sure you check before you begin packing. We’ll include a link with more details about the process below this article. 

Once you’ve created a collection of bricks, you can use them to create whatever you want. They can be made to be incorporated into permanent structures, as with a building or larger outdoor structure. Or they can be made to be a little more flexible with the option to break them down and build them back up in new ways, as with lego style furniture. Really, the sky's the limit. Ecobricking is a great way to be aware of the amount of plastic waste your household creates and many organically begin to reduce their plastic use as they see how much plastic waste they create. Ecobricking is just one way we can reuse, recycle, and reduce all in one lifestyle change. For those who don’t feel like they can make a difference, it’s a calculable and quantifiable change!

Resources: 

What is an Ecobrick? 

Plastic Sequestration | Ecobricks.org

Bottle Bricks | Engineering For Change 

Our Projects 

Did You Know About the Garbage Island?

It is wild to think about the amount of plastic waste we create in this country and around the world. We’ve discussed how we produce about 380 million tons of plastic and a sizable chunk of that is dumped into the ocean each year and how as human beings we inadvertently eat a surprisingly high amount of plastic as a result. Microplastics are pervasive and small enough that they are consumed in our food, found in our drinking water and even in the air. We’ve talked about this before but did you know about the garbage island? 

The garbage island, known as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch located in the pacific ocean between California and Hawaii and spans an area about three times the size of texas. You can only imagine how many marine creatures are impacted by a mass of plastic waste that large. Even more eye opening is that while the Great Pacific Garbage Patch is the largest plastic waste site in the ocean, it is not the only one. It’s actually one of 5 very large sites of plastic waste contamination. It is estimated that in this one patch alone there are more than 1.8 trillion pieces of plastic waste weighing over 80,000 tonnes. 

Recently, groups like The Ocean Cleanup have begun trying to clean up this disastrous by-product of consumerism. Many are of the opinion that unless we turn plastic waste off at the source, there is little hope that we will be able to catch up with production and waste. One researcher speculated that if we stay on our current trajectory, in about 25 years, there will be more plastic in the ocean than fish. While that may seem crazy, think again about how much waste is in this one garbage patch and how we are adding to it everyday. It’s thought that the patches are created by a vortex of currents that collects and holds the garbage together. As the bigger pieces break down, they create millions of smaller pieces that are consumed and often kill the wildlife around the patch. The wildlife that doesn’t die often becomes food for larger sea creatures, spreading the overall effect of this floating trash heap. 

We know that plastic waste is a problem. We know that we have a finite amount of water on this planet. We know that plastic in our blood, lungs and air is not sustainable. We know that we are now passing these problems one directly to babies just born and the cycle is getting more and more dire. We also know that we have a small window of time in which to implement changes that will have a real impact. We are perched on the edge of a point of no return. It’s time to act and protect our resources before we run out. 

Resources:

https://theoceancleanup.com/great-pacific-garbage-patch/

https://plasticoceans.org/the-facts/

The Fluoride Sweet Spot

If you are a human being with a set of teeth, you may have heard that fluoride is necessary for their upkeep and stability. In the early to mid 1900s, researchers found that the use of fluoride reduces dental caries or cavities by 40% or more. They decided that to help lower the amount of dental decay in the general population, including those without regular access to proper dental care, they would add fluoride to the general water source. This way most people would get it in some amount. While this blanket effect, where possible, was effective in closing the dental decay gap between medium and low income communities, there were and still are some concerns. As you might imagine, applying a blanket treatment to an entire population who may or may not already benefit from fluoride dental care products removes the ability for individual assessments and application. While someone who lacks any other kind of dental care may benefit from the fluoridation of their water supply, those who are already using fluoride products may end up with a double dose. 

Why is this concerning? Well, at the end of the day, fluoride is a neurotoxin. When you ingest fluoride, it is quickly absorbed in the digestive system, mostly through your stomach lining and the small intestine. While about two-thirds of that amount is still excreted in your urine, the rest is taken up into the bones. This is why for a small period of time, fluoride was considered as a possible treatment of osteoporosis. However, while it does make the bones more dense, research seems to suggest that the brittleness of the bones and ease of fractures might be increased by fluoride, not decreased. Besides dental care, there do not seem to be any negative ramifications to getting no or low amounts of fluoride in one’s diet. So, it doesn’t seem to be essential. Really, the main thing that fluoride has going for it is that it does reduce tooth decay. However, even in that area, too much fluoride can cause what is known as fluorosis. Fluorosis is most prevalent in developed countries and here in the US almost half of all adolescents between 12 and 15 suffered from fluorosis. Fluorosis presents as a whitish discoloration on the surface of the teeth and is a sign that someone is getting too much fluoride most likely from too many sources at the same time.

Besides water fluoridation, other common methods of fluoridation have included milk fluoridation and salt fluoridation. These are actually more prevalent that you might think. Milk was introduced as a mechanism to make sure that small children were getting enough fluoride in their diet. Fluoridated salt is very prevalent in places like Germany or Switzerland where more than 50% of domestic salt is fluoridated. So, we’ve really leaned into the idea that we need this in our diet but besides fluorosis, is there a downside? 

Probably. Whenever the scientific community uses terms like “trade-off” and carefully defined parameters on which to make selective recommendations, it’s safe to assume that, yes, there is a set of circumstances in which the subject being discussed could be harmful. For fluoride, it is difficult to pin down general recommendations because, as we mentioned, everyone’s ingestion of fluoride is different. It’s naturally occurring, it’s added to our water, it’s in the air(pollution), it’s in some of our food, particularly if you are a meat eater, and it’s in our dental products. No one is disputing that at the end of the day, fluoride is a toxic chemical. It’s been associated with immune system dysfunction and gastrointestinal issues as well as premature puberty, dementia, and sperm decline. There’s also a chance that it is linked to both cancer and impairing neurological development in kids. Specifically, there may be a link to lower IQ in children. We’ve already talked about how it may be responsible for making bones more brittle and prone to fractures. Being aware of the amount that you as an individual are consuming fluoride may be the only way to protect yourself and your family as assessments of the general population are not going to address individual needs. Resources, like the one included below will allow you to get an idea of how much fluoride you are getting from your water system. Reaching out to your specific company will give you the best estimation. According to the CDC, If that amount is over 0.7mg/L, you might want to take steps to limit the amount of fluoride you are getting from other sources. Check out our resources below for additional reading and information about the fluoride content in your county!

Resources: 

CDC - MWF - My Water's Fluoride Home 

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2020/04/why-fluoride-water/606784/ 

Turn Off the Plastic Tap!

So, as we’ve all been existing this last week, one theme keeps coming back again and again. The overwhelming amount of plastic waste in this country and globally. Statistics like, 50% of emissions are coming from the top 10% of wealthy individuals globally. Or, the truly shocking news that among everything else, the USPS is about to buy a huge fleet of their classic truck model that we’ve recently learned gets about 8 miles per gallon of gas. This, in the face of all the efforts to reduce the use of fossil fuels. Not a great choice when there are definitely other options available. When a public service doesn’t seem to be making an effort to change, it can be really disheartening as it seems to suggest that our government is not backing up their words with actions. Can you imagine the impact it would have in the other direction if all USPS trucks were transitioned to electric? Additionally, bathtub analogies about turning off the plastic tap abound. The idea is so straightforward that a very small child could understand the premise. If you haven’t seen one of these illustrations (check out the video below), basically, in order to stop an overflowing bathtub from dousing your space, you’d first turn off the tap. While interested and innovative, a lot of the suggested climate change fixes are more like attempting to bail water out of the flooding tub without turning off the tap. Impossible, impractical, irrational. Everything a successful plan should not be. We need to stop plastic waste at the source. The number of things that must be plastic is much shorter than the list of things that can be plastic or are cheaper when plastic.

That’s the bottom-line, though,  isn’t it? Plastic is cheap. You go to the store and you want a soda. You could buy a 20oz for, say, $1.50 or you could buy a 12oz glass bottle for $2.99. Which are most people going to buy? We’ve incentivized buying the plastic option to the point that it's all vulnerable communities can consistently afford. So, where is the root of the issue? Though large corporations bear a lot of the weight when it comes to making biodegradable and eco-friendly alternatives, they are motivated mainly through our consumerism. Companies aren’t going to produce a product for which there is no demand. But I recycle, you might say. Well, if you live in the US, you should know that the amount of plastic actually recycled has dropped below 6%. We aren’t saying don’t try but a lot of the stuff you think is being recycled may still be ending up in the landfill. So, if you can, when you can, buy a reusable alternative. Support companies that are making big moves towards reusable products. Most of all, we need to  get on the same page as a country and vote to support climate change savvy legislation. Customer demand is gradually making a change but with the right regulations we can make sweeping changes to the landscape of commercial production. We are already finding microplastics in our lungs and in our blood. What more will it take for us to work together to pull the plug on plastic waste? We have the innovations. Use them. 

Resources: 
Companies Moving Towards Zero Plastic

Light It Up!

Eureka!

The iconic symbol representing a good idea is getting a permanent upgrade.

Thomas Edison was the first to successfully patent a functional and marketable incandescent lightbulb in the 1800s and we’ve been relying on this technology for the last 150 years. The basic principle of incandescent light is that light is produced from heat. In this case, heat is passed through a very tiny filament in the vacuum created by the bulb until that tiny filament begins to glow, producing light. This is why a light bulb is warm to the touch, even after it’s been turned off. Without the glass surrounding the bulb, the filament, often made from tungsten, would oxidize in the open air and burn right up. Additionally, 90% of the energy used to light an incandescent bulb is emitted as heat, which, unless it is being used as a candle warmer or other heat-centric device, is quite a big waste. Even so, while alternatives like the fluorescent light bulb may have taken over the commercial scene, incandescent bulbs are still the least expensive option upfront for most residential settings.

That being said, LEDs are steadily rising in popularity as more people understand the advantages of their long-term value. LED light bulbs might be a little more expensive but they outlast incandescent bulbs lasting 50,000 to 100,000 hours. For comparison, an incandescent bulb typically lasts about 1,200 hours, if that. LED bulbs are wildly more efficient at producing light from electricity, taking much less energy to produce the same amount of light. They don’t use heat to produce light which saves a ton of energy but instead use electroluminescence.

Fig. 2 - Summary of Benefits

Electroluminescence is basically the production of light by a controlled flow of electrons, in this case, through the diode. Without getting too technical, the diode is a semi-conductive material designed to facilitate the production of photons and produce light from excited, moving electrons. This whole process means that a standard LED bulb can create the same amount of light without the loss of energy through heat emission and with a much smaller level of overall energy expenditure. This is good news for the United States’ plan to decrease total carbon emissions. In fact, the Biden administration estimates that changing over to LED lights would save consumers around $3 billion dollars collectively in just one year. It then comes as no surprise that incandescent light bulbs are officially being phased out of use. In theory, this will cut our carbon emissions by 222 million metric tons over the course of the next 30 years. That’s enough energy to power 43 million homes or 90 million cars for an entire year. 

One crazy thing about this change is that we had all the necessary information to make it half a decade ago, but we abandoned the plan before it could save us millions in dollars AND harmful emissions. Isn’t it great that we are now back on track for this simple move toward energy efficiency?

Resources:

https://www.lampsplus.com/ideas-and-advice/how-an-led-light-bulb-works/

Harness That Wind!!

We have a deadline for reducing the impact of global warming and limiting it to 1.5 degrees Celsius. It’s time to utilize all the known and new methods for providing clean energy. One of the better known methods of producing energy is through the power of wind. 

Historically, like hydropower, wind power has been utilized in some form for quite a while. Popular novel, Don Quixote, originally published in 1605 noted one such use in the famous battle with a windmill. Indeed, windmills are thought to have originated either with the Greeks around 250 BC or possibly in China in 200 BC. The windmill was and is still used to complete agricultural tasks such as grinding grain and moving large amounts of water from place to place. The use of the windmill eventually led to the development of the wind turbine which takes the utilization of the wind a step further by producing and storing energy. Instead of the mechanical rotation created by the propellers being used directly in a task like grinding grain, the rotation is leveraged by a series of gears and rotors to create electricity. This electricity can then be transferred to the grid, used on site, or stored in generators. 

The wind turbine is made up of 2 - 4 large blades suspended above ground by a tower. The tower allows for the greatest wind current, high above the ground, to be “captured” for use. The tail or vane attached to the shaft ensures that the blades are facing into the wind and the pitch control unit ensures that the wind turbine’s blades don’t get damaged by violent winds tearing at them at aggressive angles. From the mechanical movement of the blades to the generator, then from the generator to a set of inverters or power interface, energy travels back to the grid. The efficiency of this system controls how much power and the improvement of this system could be the difference of producing enough power for a small town or a large city from the same wind farm. Efficiency is everything. 

Treehugger / Hilary Allison

Wind power is one type of clean energy that produces zero emissions and countries like Denmark, that have been leaning into wind power for several years, are able to produce even more energy than they use. This is an excellent option as we work to replace and eliminate fossil fuel based energy sources. Even if your county or city isn’t utilizing wind power, you may be eligible to use wind power residentially. If it is suitable for your location, residential wind power is actually one of the most affordable options. In some locations, you can cut your home electrical bill by 80%. Combined with another source of energy, it’s possible to design a  home system that produces enough energy to sell back to the grid.  That’s beyond self sufficient! Residential goals for 2022! We have the clean resources, it’s time to implement them. 

Geothermal Energy: Heat It Up!

So by now you’ve probably gathered that as a global community, we are all trying to make the move towards cleaner, more sustainable sources of energy. Hydro energy and solar energy are pretty self-explanatory. We’ve already talked about kinetic energy, a very cool innovation using the movement of a multitude to power common amenities.  One type of energy that's been around in some form for ages but seems to get a bit less screen time is geothermal energy. Geothermal energy is a renewable energy source that uses the heat continuously produced within the earth’s core to generate energy.

One of the earliest examples of geothermal energy use that you might be familiar with is the heating of greek and roman baths. France was one of the first countries to use an installed heating system and the largest geothermal district heating system is in Reykjavik, Iceland. Idaho is thought to be the first place where geothermal heating was used for residents of the US and today over 80 countries around the world use this type of clean energy for household, commercial or industrial use. 

Geothermal heating is incredibly efficient, about 400%, meaning for every unit of energy used to power the system, about 4 units of power are supplied. For this reason, a geothermal heat pump is roughly about 300% more efficient than the best gas pump on the market. Additionally, though drilling into the earth does still release a certain amount of greenhouse gasses, the difference between it and burning fossil fuels is  significant. If 100,000 residential units replaced conventional residential units, over the 20 year lifetime of a typical residential heating unit, it would be equal to 58,700 cars being removed from the road or 120,000 trees planted.* 1.1 metric tons of carbon equivalents would never be released. 

This is also a consistent source of energy. Although you can exhaust a thermal field, they can normally be used for 20 to 30 years and like a water well, redrilling is sometimes a possibility. Also, leaving a geothermal field for a period of time may allow for regeneration.  Well maintained thermal fields have lasted for decades longer than this average and some currently in use have been operational since the early 1900s. 

If you decide to use a thermal pump to heat your home, you should be prepared for a higher initial cost. The system commonly costs between $18k and $30k though it’s estimated that this system pays for itself in 2 to 10 years depending largely on where you are in the US and the efficiency of the heat exchange for your locations. The system also requires some amount of land as the design requires digging into the earth’s surface to access the consistent underground temperatures.

While initially expensive, this unit will ultimately pay for itself and because it is better for the environment, you may also be eligible for some level of government tax benefit. It is definitely an investment but hopefully as technologies continually improve, the availability of this option will become more and more accessible to the general public. 

  Resources:

*Geothermal Heat Pumps: Environmental Benefits and Efficiency 

Geothermal Energy: Advantages & Disadvantages (2022) | GreenMatch