An Australian Company has developed an additive that they say makes plastic completely compostable and biodegradable. Goody Environmental says that the plastic can have a shelf life of 2-3 years and that a biodegration can be set to begin within 2-3 years with a “trigger” in the additive.  The plastic biodegrades and composts via UV light, Oxygen, or Aerobic Composting.

Wouldn’t it be great to think that the plastic water bottles and detergent bottles that are clogging our landfills could just disappear?  Goody says on their website that it’s safe for food contact and will compost in your home composter.  It all sounds so good, doesn’t it?  And, I hope it is!  100% safe, non-toxic, works with all plastic expect PVC…I think it’s a really great invention.  Not being a chemist, I just have a hard time wrapping my head around where all the bad stuff in plastic goes when the additive makes it biodegrade.  Would I really want to spread this on my fantasy organic vegetable garden?  What do you think?

Oregon becomes the first state to update it’s bottle law to include bottled water!  The new law takes effect on January first when anyone who purchases water in disposable containers will have to pay a 5 cent deposit to the store.  As with other bottle bills, stores will only have to redeem deposits on brands that they carry.

It’s time we all step up and push our legislators to make changes in our states.  Disposable plastic water bottles and sport drink bottles are an unneccessary load on our landfills and along our roadsides.

Congratulations, Oregon!

Made up of Mineral Water Bottles, this tree is featured in the window of the Montreal based furniture store domison.

Otsuka Beverage Co. Ltd, a Japanese company, has recalled eight million bottles of Crystal Geyser mineral water after receiving 75 complaints about its bad smell.

Consumers were complaining it smelled like insecticide and medicine.  Apparently, the water was tested and there were no problems with it, but they believe the plastic bottles may have absorbed smells that they were exposed to.

This is just on the heels of Kirin Beverage recalling over half a million bottles of Volvic after finding that some of the bottles smelled like paint.

I may be simplifying things, but it seems logical to me that if the plastic in these disposables is “porous” enough to absorb smells, it would potentially leach chemicals into the water.

Why take chances?  Drink from a reuseable metal bottle that won’t leach anything - no matter what you store it next to!

Thanks to lots of pressure from consumers, Brita will start recycling it’s filters through Preserve - the household products maker that recycles Stonyfield Farms yogurt cups.   Beginning in early January 2009, Whole Foods Market Stores will begin collecting them, or the filters can be shipped directly to Preserve.  According to a Clorox Company news release, 100 percent of each filter will be recycled into household products.  The filter ingredients will be “regenerated for alternative use or converted into energy.

This is great news for Brita users.  Mine’s been sitting on a shelf for about 8 months.  Because the plastic pitcher is not recyclable, I haven’t wanted to throw it away, so I’ve been hoping for a breakthrough on recycling the filters.  Although it’s no secret I have huge issues with many things plastic, I purchased the Brita long before my “plastic awakening” and haven’t quite known how to handle it.  I have resisted putting any plastic on our website, opting for non-leaching metal bottles instead.

Once I heard the news about the filters, I decided to email the company to find out if there’s BPA in the pitcher.  THERE’S NOT, so I think I’ll pull it back out and use it.  I really love my New Wave Enviro 10 Stage Filter, but unfortunately I can’t have it in my office!  So the Brita Pitcher is back in action - and I have some extra shelf space!

A great John Stossel report that compares NYC tap water with 5 bottled waters, ranging from Evian to the Kmart brand.  It’s really surprising to hear how “unsafe” people believe their water is.  If they really feel that way, wouldn’t it make more sense to buy a simple filter?  They’d save money and eliminate the possibility of any leaching.  Do they realize that 25% of bottled water is just tap water anyway? Check out the 20/20 Bottled Water Taste Test

Sure wish he had a regular pair of shoes.

Researchers at the University of Alberta in Canada have identified two chemicals leaching from the commonly used polypropylene as the cause for ruining an experiment that they were conducting.  The chemicals are quaternary ammonium biocides and oleamide.

According to The Toronto Globe & Mail, the researchers were “conducting experiments on a human enzyme that is the target for drugs to treat Parkinson’s disease.”  In the course of their experiments, they encountered a “mystery substance” that was interfering with their tests.  After more investigation, they found it to be oleamide that was leaching from the polypropylene plastic tubes. It’s used to “improve the fluidity of molten plastic” and is fairly commonly found in many food containers such as yogurt cups and cream cheese containers. These containers are marked with the recycling code 5.

For more information on this topic, I’d recommend In Search of Safe Plastics by Olga Naidenko, Ph.D on Enviroblog, as well as the article in The Globe and Mail.

For us, it really isn’t an issue about whether what’s leaching is safe or not.  It’s about the safety of any leaching.  Why not make a simple choice to avoid it with a metal water bottle?

Check out the style guide in the New York Times for a great comparison of some terrific water bottles that are available. The bottles were used on a hike - so the author’s view is from what works best on the trail.

Personally, I like to use my Sigg when I’m driving because of the small opening.  If I’m traveling, I prefer my Klean Kanteen because it’s light and easy to clean.  For hiking and swimming, it’s my Guyot  because it’s indestructable and I love the available insert that allows me to chug splash free.

We, obviously, favor the metal choices and like what he had to say about them.  What do you think?

Be one of the first ten people to post a comment in the Reviews section of our blog at H2Ox2.com and receive a free gift!

The New York Times reports there is a rise in the number of children developing kidney stones, and one of the contributing factors is that children are not drinking enough water.

According to the article, most kidney stones are a result of oxalate binding to calcium in the urine.  “…the two biggest risk factors for this binding process are not drinking enough fluids and eating too much salt; both increase the amount of calcium and oxalate in the urine.”  Drinking sports drinks and soda are not the answer.

When you start looking at some of the nutrition data for what our kids are eating, it’s pretty easy to understand why they’re getting so much sodium.  Between the prepackaged and fast foods that have become standard fare for today’s busy kids, we also do them a disservice by providing them with as many sports drinks as they desire, thinking that they’re a healthy alternative to soda.  The sodium content of a liter of Gatorade is about 450 milligrams - which may be healthy for an active, sweaty athlete!  It doesn’t really serve as a replacement for water, does it?

According to the Mayo Clinic, the average 9-13 year old child should consume 1500 milligrams of sodium a day.  Consider a trip to McDonalds for a QuarterPounder with cheese (1190 mgs.), a large fries (350 mgs.) and a medium Powerade (130 mgs.)…Wow!  That’s a whopping 1670 milligrams of sodium in one meal.   Check other McDonalds’ nutrition facts by clicking on the link.

Dr. Alicia Neu, medical director of pediatric nephrology and the pediatric stone clinic at Johns Hopkins Children’s Center in Baltimore says that “Drinking more water is the most important step in the prevention of kidney stones.”

Although obesity can be a contributing factor, Dr. Caleb Nelson, a urology instructor ad Harvard Medical School is quoted as saying “Of the school-age and adoescent kids we’ve seen, most of them appear to be reasonably fit, active kids.”

Encourage your child to be healthy with a personalized Klean Kanteen, or a really great Sigg bottle that fits their personality from H2Ox2.com.  Both are reusable and will provide years of safe and healthy drinking.