A look at changing the way we systematicly consume. Through learning and living earth friendly practices, together we can change the way we manage resources. My mission is to provide a lasting difference by changing habits that thoughtlessly destroy our planet.
I’m really into the idea that keeping Fiji water in Fiji is good for the planet. One thing this article doesn’t cover that I found in my experiences which I highlight in this post, Climate Change, Plastics and social responsibility, more lessons from my trip to Fiji, Fijians are also buying Fiji water out of pride, and in many cases – burning the plastic into the atmosphere. Creating long term solutions to water issues in remote islands, including preparing for changes due to climate shifts and increasing risks of violent storms – calls for immediate actions.
The island nation of Fiji is one of our world’s few remarkable utopias where life seems to revolve around the sand and the surf. With its alluring flora, charming fauna, and its vast expanse of translucent blue waters, Fiji seems like the perfect getaway. Yet the islands are being exploited beyond belief for one of the globe’s most precious resources: water. When the FIJI Water company began bottling the naturally pure water from the islands in 1996, the integrity of the nation of Fiji was tarnished. FIJI Water began shipping water from the islands to their customers in the developed world a year later and the island nation of Fiji suffered. The BBC published a study in 2008 that showed that a third of Fijians lack access to clean drinking water while FIJI Water shipped in excess of 30 milliongallons of fresh water from the thirsting island nation to refined…
Found on a secluded beach 1/2 mile outside Naviti Resort in Fiji, this water bottle and plastic bag are signs of how consumption and littering are visible everywhere. There are no Target department stores (plastic bag) in Fiji.
Over the last decade I have gone from a person who was oblivious to the issues of plastic pollution to being a person who daily advocates for people to give up their consumption of single use plastics every time it is possible. I am not alone. There are many groups that you probably haven’t heard of who are fighting on a daily basis trying to bring attention to this issue. The belief that because we properly dispose of the byproducts or waste materials, in this case the plastic bottle; that our duty is complete. Unfortunately, such a strong faith in the system is proving to be incomplete. As reported in the New York Times article, Plastics Pile Up as China Refuses to Take the West’s Recycling; England is enacting measures like plastic bag bans and mandates to reduce plastic packaging in grocery stores. However they report that, “Experts say the immediate response to the crisis may well be to turn to incineration or landfills — both harmful to the environment.”
While living in Fiji and the Samoan islands, I spoke firsthand with village elders in Levuka, Fiji who expressed concern that the plastics collect and their only option is to burn the plastics. Their concern is the same one facing nations around the world – what actually happens to the plastic once it’s consumed? Currently, mass recycled plastics of certain grades can be utilized to manufacture new plastic packaging. In the case of plastic bags, most are made of LP gas and can be processed quite effectively. Through mass recycling programs at grocery stores throughout the United States these bags are processed time and again. The quantity of bags captured meets minimum capacity requirements for this industry to be quite effective.
This is is not same however for plastics like beverage containers and statistics are even worse for materials like Styrofoam which are virtually unrecyclable. In addition to the issue of the statistical ability of plastics to be recycled or reprocessed into new manufactured goods, there are greater levels of civic responsibility that require cultural shifts of thinking to understand how our consumption impacts the world as a whole. For example each case of bottled water uses approximately 3 quarts of oil burned into the atmosphere to manufacture and deliver. During this time of transport, plastics often become heated. On the website Dr Geo, in the article Plastic Water Bottles exposed to Heat can be Toxic, it is reported that
“Virtually all plastic water bottles are made from polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and typically contain 190–300 mg/kg of antimony. Bottled waters become contaminated during storage due to a release of antimony from PET plastic. Actually, almost all packaged drinks are made from PET plastic. This includes milk, coffee, and acidic juice, among types of food containers.”
In addition to Antimony, Bisphenol – A (BPA) is another chemical that is released when beverage plastics are exposed to heat or sunlight. High level exposure to BPA causes early onset puberty and ovarian and breast cancer. Additionally, according to breastcancer.org’s article Exposure to Chemicals in Plastic, “BPA also seems to affect brain development in the womb. In 2011, a study found that pregnant women with high levels of BPA in their urine were more likely to have daughters who showed signs of hyperactivity, anxiety, and depression. The symptoms were seen in girls as young as 3.”
Simply looking at these three issues – human DNA modification that impacts fetus in the womb and the generation of cancer cells, the carbon emissions that continue to impact global climate change and the overall ways plastic pollution is impacting our planet present a solid foundation for one specific plan of action. There is one additional argument that I would like to ask you to consider. Financial freedom through contentious practices.
Here’s the consideration I encourage you to make. Depending on your preference from a standard glass jar to a high end vacuum sealed stainless steel hot/cold container – one could spend $1.00 – $30 US on average for a portable, go anywhere container. Depending on the climate and quantity needed, many people even carry water bags with drinking hoses for drinking while working or walking. These bags can carry 3 litters or about 1 gallon of water are are designed for backpacks. Additionally, there are places in the world where drinking water mean carrying jugs miles to gather all that can be physically carried – sometimes hours a day. For most readers who have to purchase clean water, standard Ultra Violet (UV) and Reverse Osmosis Machines (RO) are often available at village stores for the equivalency of $0.50 US per gallon, when clean in home tap water is not an option. Using a standard 12 oz bottle for calculation purposes: one case (24 bottles) of water is 2.25 gallons of water. At a cost of $0.50 – $2.50 per bottle the price of water before factoring the cost of recycling the plastics is $5.00 – $25.00 per gallon. If you drink 2.25 gallons or one case of bottled water per week – the average person will spend between $260 -$1385 per year in water. If a single person was to drink only 2.25 gallons of water per week (one case of bottled water) the cost difference in buying machine based water ($58.50) versus prepackaged plastic bottles of water would be between $200 to $1150 a year in money saved. According to medical information from sources like this article from the Mayo Clinic, the average person should drink about 1/2 gallon or 2 liters of water per day or 3.5 gallons per week.
Many reading this might think that spending $1000 US or more per year on water is no big deal. This however isn’t true for many people around the world. Look at example the people of Fiji who are fighting for a $4.00 Fijian wage. This is the equivalence of $2.00 US an hour. To buy bottled water that would mean spending 3.5 months of wages at 40 hours per week to buy bottled water each year ( at $0.50 a bottle cold in the store). When thinking about changing the standards of poverty, sustainability and climate change – cost savings alone stands as a primary reason to develop clean water infrastructure as part of the process of eliminating plastic bottled water consumption.
Please remember that my considerations haven’t even factored the savings if you live in places where the water coming into your home is regulated to be clean and safe for your consumption. When looking at the cost of tap water, the price of $2.00 per THOUSAND gallons makes it’s own argument. Carry your own beverage container and fill it over and over again. This Money Crashers article will explain this more. The reality is that in order to make changes around the world, we need to first examine our own practices, and when possible consider how the financial savings could be used to positively impact others who don’t have,.
The first step then is finding yourself a nice sustainable beverage container to carry your water, coffee, tea with you where ever you may go. What are your thoughts, do you believe your actions would make a difference? Do you think this is important enough to tell other people about it?Please leave your comments or experiences below!!!
It’s April 17th 2018. The United States, as well as many other places in the world, has been experiencing storms or climate events of greater intensity and frequency for several years now. This weekend Hawaii and over 1000 miles of land in North America were pelted with storms that are examples of such. In Kawaii, Hawaii over 200 have been rescued from flooding, displacing families and causing water quality concerns for the whole island. Meanwhile late season snowfalls have dumped over 12 inches of snow from South Dakota to Michigan weeks after a multitude of intense winter storms wreaked havoc on the East Coast of the United States.
Internal Report “Global Climate Change” shows Shell’s global responsibility of CO2 outputs in 1984 at 4% of global emissions. See the whole Document Here
If you have ever researched anything about the environment, it’s likely that you have heard something about Global Climate Change, Global Warming, or the Greenhouse Effect. It’s likely someone has told you the weather is changing and that the world is getting warmer; or that the concepts of this are false and made up by hippies who want to return humanity to the dark ages. It’s probable that your information overload on this topic says you as an individual are responsible to make a difference in the problem. While this is true, the bigger picture is that corporations like Shell Oil and the way that have pushed their products to be consumed by the human population are a larger, and more importantly – intentionally complicit culprits in what may now be an irreversable sickness upon our planet.
The scariest part of this is that 30 years ago, Shell Corporation published internal documents that refer to a minimum of 7 years of research. Reading these documents, paints a scary backdrop to a weather and consumption history of the last 3 decades. What’s worse, is the intention examination and consent that comes out of knowing that the future problems of the world, which are predicted by this report to be irreversible, was intentionally followed through upon.
At this point, my reader – I’m guessing you imagine I have lost my mind or am consuming mass quantities of mind altering chemicals. Unfortunately, this story has truth that is scarier than any fiction you might consider reading. According to Dutch journalist, Jelmer Mommers, who introduced the world to this internal document to the world via De Correspondent, Shell Corporation pushed a climate change denial campaign knowing it would likely become a named defendant in future lawsuits and that the energy industry should push for responsible responses and solutions.
The introduction to “The Greenhouse Effect” clearly indicates in the 4th paragraph that the Energy Industry needs to consider it’s role in preventing or solving CO2 emission issues.
Now that I have your interest, I highly suggest you go and read the 90 pages of text directly at this link.
CutThePlastic 