The bottled water debate continues
Friday, April 27, 2007
This subject has been covered a couple of times before (here, here and here).Tap water is better according to one loyal UE reader
Loyal reader RW is a big proponent of not buying bottled water. In fact he uses the same Gatorade bottle filled with tap water for about 6 months at a time. He says he actually likes tap water better than bottled water.
Think outside the bottle
It looks like there are groups of people that feel the same way - a corporate accountability group started Think Outside the Bottle.
CNNMoney article tells it like it is
Great quotes from Bottled water no longer cool?:
"Recently, I stopped by my neighborhood Exxon station to conduct a price test. A 20-ounce bottle of Aquafina water cost $1.57, including tax. A 20-ounce bottle of Pepsi also cost $1.57. Regular gas sold for $3.05 a gallon.
Yep - water costs the same as soda and three times as much as the gas.
So critics are asking: Why drink bottled water?
After all, it's pricey. Packaging and shipping water consumes energy and contributes to global warming. Empty bottles add to litter and solid waste. And, as a rule, bottled water is no safer or healthier than the H2O that flows from municipal water systems.
..."People complain about the cost of gasoline," Solomon says. "No one seems to realize that they are paying for a picture of pretty mountains on the label and a product they could get for free from their own tap."
In related news, Coca-Cola is contemplating buying powerful industry newcomer, Vitamin Water.
posted by Michael Tavani @ 12:22 PM |
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Update on bottled water
Wednesday, January 31, 2007
This is a follow-up to my two previous posts (here and here) on bottled water. Clark Howard did a short blog on bottled water and how it is ridiculous that people pay for water that is no cleaner than water you get from your tap. Women may argue that Oprah did a show recently on a girl who did her science project on cleanliness of ice at restaurants and she found that ice had more germs than the toilet water. That was at the ice machines at fast food restaurants - this is municipal water which is tested very frequently for cleanliness (more than bottled water is) and some studies have found bottled water to just be tap water. Throw in the fact that bottles can be hurtful to the environment if they are not disposed of properly (and even if they are recycled in some cases). [via RW]
From Clark Howard's article on bottled water:
Last year, people spent $11 billion on bottled water, according to the beverage industry. That’s about $2 per bottle and people happily spend it every day, yet we complain about the cost of gas. Coke and Pepsi own the two largest bottled water companies, Dasani and Aquafina, and they are making a ton on each. People seem to think that water out of a bottle is cleaner water out of a tap. But that is not true. In fact, municipal water is tested much more often than bottled water. A number of recent studies also show that bottled water is really just tap water in a bottle. It tastes better because it’s been treated, and that makes a huge difference to some people. But bottled water isn’t any safer than tap water. That’s just a little something for you to swallow.
posted by Michael Tavani @ 9:28 PM |
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Robotic parking garages
Tuesday, January 30, 2007
Via loyal reader/contributing writer RW:For those people who like the urban lifestyle, be on the lookout for robotic parking garages. This idea is not necessarily revolutionary, but NYC is opening up a robotic parking garage in Chinatown, and if it works accordingly we'll probably be seeing a lot more of these. I think I'm just going to give up my car and wait for those telepods that they had in the movie The Fly. Those were pretty boss.
posted by Michael Tavani @ 10:08 PM |
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Thoughts on Windows Vista
From loyal reader/contributing writer RW:This is an MSNBC article that I really enjoyed about a Mac user (in fact he used to work for Apple back in the day when Microsoft was stealing everything) who switched to Vista and then ultimately switched back to a Mac. From what I can tell, Vista seems to be pretty impressive as long as your computer has the necessary power to handle it, and Microsoft certainly seems to be making significant strides towards an integrated Home computer network. A guy I work with has been testing Vista and he says as long as your computer is over 1 gig processing you should be good.
Features I enjoyed:
1) Vista's ability to record live TV (much like TiVo) while you are working on it.
2) Compatibility with other Microsoft products such as their 360 gaming system.
Disappointment:
1) While it talked about Vista's new photo software it didn't mention anything about video editing software (possibly because Vista doesn't really have a good capability for it yet, I don't know).
1) Vista's ability to record live TV (much like TiVo) while you are working on it.
2) Compatibility with other Microsoft products such as their 360 gaming system.
Disappointment:
1) While it talked about Vista's new photo software it didn't mention anything about video editing software (possibly because Vista doesn't really have a good capability for it yet, I don't know).
posted by Michael Tavani @ 5:28 PM |
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