Fillanthropy's Blog

Live in California? Like to Drink Water? Then read this...

California's 2 main river basins and their joint aquifers have lost nearly enough water since 2003 to fill Lake Mead. This is largely in part due to the draining of aquifers from agricultural farms. Farms in the arid Central Valley usually tap into aquifers instead of irrigating water from far away, which comes at a much higher cost.

Satellite pictures show that the amount of water left in the 2 aquifers is disappearing at a faster rate than it can be replenished.

The answer? Everyone should begin to harvest rainwater. It's an easy solution. Cities, such as Los Angeles, wouldn't have to have their main water sources so far away. In fact, Los Angeles could be self-sufficient for it's water needs if rain harvest became mainstream. So, check it out and be a harvester, not a consumer.

Glug, glug, glug...

Sigg is so cool. I'm just saying. They've created some fun and fancy bottles which make it hip to be green. BPA-free and tough enough to survive being dropped off a cliff (true story) they're worth the purchase. Find your own www.sigg.com Oh, and it's free shipping too. Too cool.

Vermont: Gay Marriage? OK. Bottled Water? Not OK.

Representative Jim McCullough of Vermont is pushing the Vermont government to end their purchasing of bottled water and instead switch to tap water. McCullough claims his desire for the change is related to the environmental concerns which are associated with the production, packaging and transportation of bottled water. Intertwined with this though, is the additional concern of cost. In a time of layoffs, how can a government justify spending $228,874 a year purchasing bottled water for their employees? He just doesn't get it, and I totally agree.

McCullough stated "public dollars spent to support private water interests robs the public water system of available dollars. Many of these dollars could instead be spent to be sure tap water is safe." Again, I agree.

It's big business, people. Big business, advertising revenue and invested stake in a product. Someone, at sometime, had the brilliant idea that adding packaging to something, which can be attained by most for little to no cost, could make them an insane amount of money. And they were right. But now we must wean ourselves off the idea, and just drink the water. Water, from a cheap, clean and easily accessible source. Like, for instance, your kitchen sink. And if you're worried what comes out of your faucet is not clean, maybe you should do like McCullough and urge your local government to quit buying their employees fancy, bottled water and instead clean up the public water in your area. Because that's their job. And a government job description shouldn't include 'a daily bottle of water'.

Oh Canada!

Gotta love the Canadians. A declaration backed by the Council of Canadians and the Canadian Union of Public Employees stressed the need for a national water policy which recognizes water as a human right, and fights to protect Canada's water resources which are threatened by privatization and.....wait for it....the bottled-water industry.

Governments are being asked to establish national enforceable guidelines for drinking water, work to stop sanitation problems and exclude water as a commodity from the North American Free Trade Agreement.

If laws such as these were passed, it would make it much more difficult for the bottled-water industry to continue to sell enormous quantities of bottled "fresh" water. That is, standards of water quality would be set, therefore not allowing the sale of bottled tap water to continue north of the US border.

Hopefully we'll take a hint from our neighbors and start to implement similar laws in the near future.

The Copenhagen push.

See, here's the thing about Copenhagen. It's kind of a big deal. It’s kind of a huge deal. Because, think about it. I can bring reusable shopping bags to Trader Joes when buying my 100% post-consumer recycled toilet paper. I can ride my bike to the farmers market and turn lights off when I leave the room to conserve energy resources. But the changes that countries, governments and huge corporations can make are the changes that will have the greater impact.

This doesn’t mean we shouldn’t choose more sustainable options in our daily lives. It means that in addition to these decisions, we must also take part in the changes our governments are implementing. Our voices must be heard and our environment must be protected.

Check out organizations such as greenpeace.org and huffingtonpost.com/green for more information.

Just filter as you drink...la la la la la la la...

The day has come, boys and girls...to filter as you drink. Or so proclaims the new Hydros Bottle, available by the end of 2009, which filters heavy metals and toxins out of tap water while you drink. Amazing!

One recyclable filter lasts for 320 refills...which amounts to a saving of nearly $500 when compared to purchasing bottled water. Again....amazing!

Go get your own. Visit www.hydrosbottle.com to do so.

Rainwater Rant

As the winter storms approach, all I hear about is rain barrel
this, rain barrel that. It may not
be the latest, but it certainly is the greatest way to harvest rainwater for
reuse. If you have a roof and
gutters you’re pretty much set.
Plus, it can save you a significant amount of money every month on water
bills.

But, there is time involved for installation, or if you can’t
be bothered with it, then a small cost is required to hire someone to do it for
you. And then there’s
maintenance. If you live in an
area where the temperature drops below freezing in the winter, you must drain
and properly store your barrel to prevent cracks. All of this takes time and dedication. So the real question is…do you really
care enough?

It reminds me of those old anti-smoking ads that were quite
popular when I was younger. Huge
piles of expensive things were shown, ranging of big-screen TVs to skis,
vacations and car payments. All
these things you could have, and all you had to do was give up smoking. The campaign ended because it wasn’t as
successful as one might think. The
thing is…people don’t care. They’re
happy to stick with their habit, knowing the damage it causes, because they are
addicted. No pile of swag they
could potentially have is going to make them quit. And it’s the same thing regarding water conservation.

We’re addicted to convenience. Whether it’s buying water in plastic bottles because it’s “fresh”
and “clean” and we don’t have to filter it ourselves, or simply turning your
hose on and watering your front garden with city water, and not having to go
through the small hassle of setting up your own system of catching and
reclaiming water.

We’re lazy. But
that doesn’t mean we can’t change.
Just like people can up and quit smoking cold turkey, we can prove to
ourselves we’re stronger by making daily changes in our lives that benefit the
earth.

So quit making excuses and go buy a rain barrel. Excuses don’t work anymore, not that
they ever really did. It’s time
for some dedicated action.

Interesting piece by Larry West

The most valuable commodity in the world today, and likely to remain so
for much of this century, is not oil, not natural gas, not even some
type of renewable energy. It’s water—clean, safe, fresh water.

Follow the Money

When you want to spot emerging trends, always follow the money. Today,
many of the world’s leading investors and most successful companies are
making big bets on water. Do a little research, and it’s easy to see
why. There simply isn’t enough freshwater to go around, and the
situation is expected to get worse before it gets better.

According to Bloomberg News,
the worldwide scarcity of usable water worldwide already has made water
more valuable than oil. The Bloomberg World Water Index, which tracks
11 utilities, has returned 35 percent to investors every year since
2003, compared with 29 percent for oil and gas stocks and 10 percent
for the Standard & Poor's 500 Index.

"There is only one direction for water prices at the moment, and that's
up," said Hans Peter Portner, who manages a $2.9 billion US Water Fund
at Pictet Asset Management in Geneva, according to a report by Bloomberg News.
The value of the fund increased 26 percent in 2005, and Portner expects
water to provide 8 percent annual returns through 2020.

Freshwater Becoming More Scarce

The United Nations estimates that by 2050 more than two billion people
in 48 countries will lack sufficient water. Approximately 97 percent to
98 percent of the water on planet Earth is saltwater (the estimates
vary slightly depending on the source). Much of the remaining
freshwater is frozen in glaciers or the polar ice caps. Lakes, rivers
and groundwater account for about 1 percent of the world’s potentially
usable freshwater.

If global warming continues to melt glaciers in the polar regions, as
expected, the supply of freshwater may actually decrease. First,
freshwater from the melting glaciers will mingle with saltwater in the
oceans and become too salty to drink. Second, the increased ocean
volume will cause sea levels to rise, contaminating freshwater sources
along coastal regions with seawater.

Complicating matters even further is that 95 percent of the world’s
cities continue to dump raw sewage into rivers and other freshwater
supplies, making them unsafe for human consumption.

The Need for Freshwater is Increasing Rapidly

Yet, while freshwater supplies are at best static, and at worst
decreasing, the world’s population is growing rapidly. The United
Nations estimates that the world population—approximately 6.5 billion
in 2006—will grow to 9.4 billion by 2050.

The cost of water is usually set by government agencies and local
regulators. Water isn't traded on commodity exchanges, but many
utilities stocks are publicly traded. Meanwhile, investments in
companies that provide desalinization, and other processes and
technologies that may increase the world’s supply of freshwater, are
growing rapidly.

Companies Investing in Water

General Electric Chairman Jeffrey Immelt said the scarcity of clean
water around the world will more than double GE’s revenue from water
purification and treatment by 2010—to a total of $5 billion.

GE’s strategy is for its water division to invest in desalinization and
purification in countries that have a shortage of freshwater. Saudi
Arabia is expected to invest more than $80 billion in desalinization
plants and sewer facilities by 2025 to meet the needs of its growing
population. And while China is home to 20 percent of the world’s
people, only 7 percent of the planet’s freshwater supply is located
there.

"This will be a big and growing market for a long time," Immelt said at the GE annual meeting in Philadelphia in April 2006.

Drinking Bottled in NY? It's going to cost you...

Starting today, the state of New York is adding a 5-cent deposit for each bottle of water sold. It is the 11th state to do so, and proponents hope that it will boost recycling efforts and decrease the amount of plastic bottles which end up in landfills. For me, personally, I hope it will act as a deterrent in causing individuals to no longer purchase non-reusable water bottles. But that's just me. Get the full story here.

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/new-york-adds-bottled-water-deposit-raises-fees-2009-10-30

Be anti-bottle with this bottle in hand

Now you can be as anti-plastic-water-bottle as you wish, while toting the new "anti-bottle". Created by Vapur Inc, a local company headquartered in Westlake Village, this easily transportable, dishwasher safe and super stylish water bottle tackles the one big issue reusable water bottle carriers face...what to do with that big bottle once it's empty. Now there's an answer: simply roll the bottle up to a much more convenient, and easily transportable, size. Learn more, find pictures or buy your own at http://www.vapur.us

A Must Read

Definitely check out this article, posted by the LA Time on November 1. It outlines how one of the major water supplier for the southwest and Mexico carries radioactive and toxic substances. Such an issue would have less impact if the US had better policies and programs on rain water retention and pollution prevention.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-radiation-newmexico1-2009nov01,0,6423820.story?track=rss

Take Action this Friday

Friday is International Day of Climate Action. No, this isn't the equivalent of an October Earth Day. This is a day where you, your friends, family, neighbors and community leaders can make a difference in your area to battle the effects of global climate change. Visit tcktcktck.org/350 to learn of planned events near to you, or to submit an idea of your own. You can also learn more about 350.org, the organization coordinating the day of events.

Water: The Next Crusade

The media will always favor the predicaments our world faces when choosing their top stories. And as tales of fraudulent financial schemes, oversea warfare and oil prices continue to make headlines, environmental issues will remain on the backburner. The slow deterioration of our planet, and the actions we should be taking to restore what we have damaged, promises neither raging headlines nor breaking news stories.

And yet, while it may seem the resources the environment holds for us are unlimited, even resources cyclical in nature will swiftly disappear in future years. All remaining unpolluted resources will be extremely limited and therefore highly valuable. And sadly, this is when the rush of headlines and coverage will begin.

Many things (including milk, laundry detergent and Starbucks coffee) cost more per gallon than oil. But our fascination with this black gold stems from our dependence on it and our refusal to live without it. However, despite our desires and insistence on the continuation of our gasoline-operated lifestyles, we could (technically) live without it. But water we cannot.

One in six people do not have access to clean drinking water. I use water that could safely be drunk to wash my clothing in. The rain that falls onto the streets around my home in Los Angeles is wasted; washed across cement surfaces, picking up contaminants, and channeled to our already polluted oceans. The disparity is blatant.
The purpose in the creation of this blog is to provide insight into the predicament the human race has created in regards to the scarcity, pollution, waste and future of water. Turning a blind eye to our world’s problems is obviously not working, and expecting the mainstream news media to inform populations may result in naught. But perhaps this blog, just a drop in the ocean, will provide some insight and produce some, even slight, change.

Talk about soon

This is a cool one... like too cool and good to be true! Scientists have created a microwave that does some special stuff to turn plastic back into petroleum.

Let that sink in for a second.

Ok, thin of the ramifications of such a device! It could revolutionize the whole recycling industry. All that big, bad plastic that clogs up our landfills and refuses to decompose could be melted down and turned back into petrol, and then into who knows what?! Or think about having a unit on the back of your Delorean that converts garbage into fuel on the fly! Wait...

Read.

I don't know what's wrong with me!

Sorry that I haven't posted in forever... the blog has been so lonely! I promise to get more in here, very, very soon.

Being funny is hard....

But Frostfire Zoo.com pulls it off nicely. Check out this comic about the absurdity of bottled water:

Link.

This is a big one folks...

Ok, time to put all of our resources to make a difference again! According to Green Daily, several restaurants will be giving you the opportunity to help get clean water to children. You will be able to donate money for ever glass of tap water you get at your favorite participating eatery (at a minimum of $1.00) the week of March 16 - 22. A very easy way to make a very big impact.

Read. Oh, and here's the project's site.

Fat cats!!

So check this out... Our friends the Brits (fish and chips, warm beer, the winchester, we've covered this before...) have ~~wasted 100,000 tons (90,718 metric tonnes)~~ spent 200,000GBP on bottled water in the Department of Health. Opponents blame the unclear policies of city officials to encourage the drinking of tap water. Maybe they should look to Helsinki (previous post) for some ideas?

Anyway, good short read. Come on, give the links some love.

[Editor's note: That title may have been misleading but follow me
here... British pounds, as in money, but i said tons as in weight,
weight = fat, and... ok, it was dumb.]

Good news, world travelers...

A recent study in Finland showed some interesting results:

    A fresh study by the National Public Health
Institute
    indicates that bottled water contains up to 100 times more
    microbes than the average for tap water. Water in spring
    water machines
contained up to 1,000 times more
    microbes than tap water.

Finnish microbes invade bottled water!!!1!11! Anyway, maybe we should send Helsinki some of our fillanthropy* bottles, huh?

Full read here.

Keeping it clean is hard...

But we managed to pull it off.