Ships in a bottle or bottles in the sand...

Let's go back a bit and talk about plastic bottles and water again. Beverage containers make up approx. 15% of all packaging waste in the U.S. Americans “throw away” about 200 billion, with a B, containers, including aluminum cans and plastic bottles every year.
As of the year 2000, according to the Container Recycling Institute, only 31% were recycled. CRI placed pressure on the large bottlers Pepsi and Coke to begin to use recycled content in their bottles. This action will not only reduce waste, but it would also take less energy and be better for the environment. If they were to make aluminum bottles from recycled aluminum it would require 95% less energy than producing one from the virgin material. In doing this, the beverage companies could save over 1.6 million barrels of crude oil to produce the plastic bottles. Pepsi announced a statement saying that they would use 10% recycled material for their bottles. Coke responded by stating that they were already doing so. However, they were also already using bottles in other countries with 25% recycled material.

Even with these recycling numbers it still means that two thirds of all bottles and cans go into the landfill. There are 11 states with bottle bills on their books. This means that there is a deposit for the consumer upon purchase of the beverage. These deposits are generally 5 -10 cents. States with plans with a ten cent deposit have seen as much as 97% return rates back to the stores for recycling. If you wish to help CRI with their efforts to persuade lawmakers to create more bottle bills you can contact them at CRI.

Much of this problem can be reduced on your part by not buying products like bottled water to begin with. As we stated previously finding a good water filter for you home or kitchen to purify your tap water can help reduce the debris of bottles that get thrown away every year. It takes 45 million gallons of oil to produce the bottled water that is sold in America every year.

Where does all of our garbage go?

My wife once asked me a question that has created some numerous conversations for us over the years, that being, “Where does all of the garbage go?” This is a critical question and should not be taken lightly. Most people simply want their cans emptied, removed and to then get rid of the stuff for an out of sight out of mind. We have reached a point in our growing global society to become well aware of the direct impact that refuse has on our local and planetary ecosystems.

Here is a short list – buy less, consume less, avoid single use items, reuse or recycle everything we can. Eat local, and fresh as much as possible.

We will continue this discussion with more detailed entries on this topic.

H2O is the tie that binds...

Did you know that it takes nearly 64 ounces oil to create a 16 ounce bottle of water. These calculations take into account the processing, filtering, bottle creation, labels, etc. This does not include transportation of the product to the shelves for purchase. It is widely known that over 60% of consumer purchased bottled water comes from the tap. The bottling corporations will then filter, bottle, and ship the filtered tap water to the store for end sales. With a planet covered in water, yet only approx. 2% of the world's water as drinkable, we know that there is a water shortage. In the long run for our water needs conservation will not be the only means to maintain our supply.

It is simple math really. As our population continues to expand, this puts a strain on our food supply. As more crops are necessary to plant in order to feed the people and animals these crops need water. Farmers use nearly 90% of all the needed water supply. Farmers are also subsidized for their water costs, yet a high percentage of farmers will water their crops in the middle of the day. Most of this precious commodity will not even go into good use as it will evaporate before it reaches through the soil. A city dweller might pay $1200 per cubic foot acre when a farmer will pay $17. As the battle for water continues we see cities buy out these water credits from farmers for future water scarcity times. The system is broken.

Although, Las Vegas, known for its dry and arid climate reclaims nearly all of its water. They then filter it and pump it back into nearby Lake Mead to where it is held to be used again. Lake Mead has been in a steady declining drought in the past 7 years. It has reached levels that have unearthed an ancient “lost city” that was drowned by the creation of Lake Mead. The lake has gone below one of its two pump levels making the city dash to create a lower third pump station.

Perhaps having a natural landscape to the true environment would help so residents would not need to water. Instead of buying bottled water it would be best to purify your water at home and carry a mug or thermos instead. These are little things that can make big change if we can all do our part for this scarce commodity and our planet.

a rate, is a rate, is a rate...

With the new rate cut from the Feds are we to be expecting a slow turn around in consumer confidence? Did we really think that a 1/2 point adjustment would save the day? Why is there such a backlash with the 1/4 point reduction. This should show us that the Fed's don't see the economy in such dire straits that they must cut more. First the press was telling how Greenspan was a failure, now that they can reflect in retrospect, as they now say he slashed rates too haphazardly. Yet, then when they are wanting another rate cut, it's okay if it is from Bernanke? Or has our system changed so that it is okay to slash now? The economic numbers are still strong. This is more of the fear based "free" press.

A new rate on the horizon...

The feds are deciding a new rate in the morning. We'll see how things progress from an expected 1/4 point reduction.