In your post choose two facts that you found to be the most interesting (quotes would be nice) and explain why you found them to be interesting as well as how and why they may have changed your thinking about bottled/tap water.
Note:
- One fact must be from the reading "Satan's Resin" from Garbage Land by Elizabeth Royte given out and partially read in class.
- The other fact can be from any of the lessons from this past week (Think gyres, windrows, bottle bills, and Tapped the movie).
This past two weeks we were learning how tap water was examine by scientists. One fact from the reading "Satan Resin" is when it says "only between 4 and 6 percent of glass bottles sold in New York refillable the rest of the redeemed bottles are melted down and reincarnated as new containers. This means that glass of bottles are sold in New York and the bottles are being solidify in many ways. Another facts that i founded interesting is when it says" New York city's waste stream by 220 tons a day,saving as much as $10 million in curbside collection and disposal cost". I found this stimulating because New York stream waste 220 tons each day so that save a lot in many ways. I founded this two facts motivating because this past two weeks we were learning about tap water/bottles water how they are examine and how bottles of water are major problem to the pacific ocean because the plastic bottles.Now i think differently about bottles water because for me bottles of water are bad and tap water is good for me.
ReplyDelete~Marino A. Ventura(4th period class environmental science)
This week was pretty intense in class. I would say the target for this whole week was to gain accurate knowledge on bottled water and tap water. Even though we got a lot of information thrown at us this week, I would personally say that I feel comfortable now, talking about both tap water and bottled water. After this week, there were two main points said that I feel will stick with me for a very longtime.
ReplyDeleteThe first point was said in a video describing the definitions of gyres, and windrows and the affects plastic garbage has on the ocean. What bothered me the most in the video was when the person speaking said “There’s a 40 to 1 ratio of plastic to plankton… garbage is taking over marine life. This was very disturbing for me, I have always loved marine life and always will, and things like bottled water which is garbage are putting it to risk and that makes me mad. I find it interesting that organism as small as plankton are being taken over by plastic. That is not good, plankton play a big role in our marine life.
The other point I read it in "Satan's Resin" from Garbage Land by Elizabeth Royte. Elizabeth writes, “Our nation consumes more than its share of natural resources, we create the most waste, and then we send it to be processes in countries that fail to protect their workers or their environment from industrial pollution. Sure, overseas workers get jobs, but they also get contaminated water, soil, and air.” This was interesting to me because I used to think America really did recycle and did a good job of protecting our planet. Now I see, that rarely happens and we actually contribute to making our environment worse by buying so much plastic. I used to think that plastic just disappeared when it was recycled, and it does but it takes years and years for this to happen, and sometimes it happens in places like our ocean, which is sad. It’s also interesting to me how a lot of people know, about the damaged we cause the environment and every living thing in it, yet no one has yet to anything over the top to try and help our world. It makes me mad that America in specific was discovered as a beautiful and healthy block of land, and over the years it has just became an unhealthy , and unpleasant sight to look at and be in, just because it has changed so much. It’s almost like someone having beautiful dark brown hair, and then that person dies it all different colors and bleaches it multiple times, until that person ends up having to cut their hair real short and dying it back to their natural color. That’s what has happened to the country through my eyes and plastic is a big factor to it. The only bad part to this all, is that I don’t think we as a country can start from scratch, we pretty much damaged everything.
After I came across these two points I told myself, that I need to reduce the amount of plastic that I buy and use and throw out because that would better my future. I am also going to make sure, that I tell people I know about these issues because I know they would love to help our environment. I would also love to tell my docent friends at the NY Aquarium about this subject, so while we are talking to guest we can inform them about these issues, maybe we can even add to our home page online. I also feel confident now telling people that tap water is more reliable then bottled water, and it actually helps the environment.
his week in class we have been discuses about water bottles and their effects on human kind. Learning about this made me think about some things on water. The point that got to me and my way of thinking on water was how the people who work in the water bottle companies circle around the real truth about their water and what really they happens. For example what shocked me was that water that is made in a certain state doesn't need to be check by the FDA. This can lead people to just buy not as safe water or water that is really being 100 percent check. Yet people buy and drink it. It’s really sad how mothers don’t even have a clue what really they are giving their children or what any person is really putting inside their bodies. Another fact that shocks me was that little things like serenity were being found in some water bottles. To me this allows me to think if this will have a long term affect for humans such as if it can lead to cancer. I know it’s really crazy to think that water can maybe lead to this but only if drinking too much water. As I read Garbage Land I found out that "plastic is toxic both to make and dispose of.'" This made me think why do we then use reusable bottles and solve this issue of making and finding a waste place for plastic to end up in. The way I think about our water bottle changed in a huge way I know will end up using more tap water if I want water and if I go out. That way I won't I will save my money, have right good quality water and try to be part of the people who are trying to stop this issue.
ReplyDeleteThis week learning about the aftermath of bottled water was really intriguing. Tapped the movie and “Satan’s Resin” helped to bring the negative effects of bottled water into view. I thought of bottled water as a beneficial commodity, I would have never thought of it as a destructive force. Greed is at the root of the problem and communities and the environment are being overlooked.
ReplyDeleteA big problem of bottled water is that it is packaged in plastic bottles. Plastic is not very easy to dispose of. Plastic ends up in the ocean and it becomes a problem for marine organisms to live in their habitat. In “Floating Junkyard” it states, “The “Great Pacific Garbage Patch” now holds approximately 3.5 million tons of waste”. This threatens marine life in the Pacific because those organisms can get plastic into their bodies. It can also harm the reproductive system of those organisms. Plastic takes long to biodegrade so the plastic will remain in the windrow for a long time. A gyre is located in the ocean and windrows are found in gyres. Waste should be removed from these places and the use of plastic should also be reduced. I see bottled water as dangerous because it is packaged in plastic and plastic harms the environment. Recycling is an important option, but it also has negative effects on the environment.
“Satan’s Resin” suggests that plastic has a double negative effect on the environment. Bottle bills are in 11 American states and there are some states that are having high success percentages, but it may still not be enough to reverse the effects of plastic production. In “Satan’s Resin” it states, “‘Recycling’ plastic, because it created new toxins and left old ones behind, might be more harmful than landfilling” (p. 189). Therefore, plastic will harm the environment no matter what we do; plastic is a double edge sword. As a result new innovative ways to create and recycle plastic should be created. I feel that plastic in bottled water should be substituted for another material so that plastic does not become a larger environmental danger.
Overall, my impression of bottled water has changed because I am now more aware or the consequences that plastic has in the environment. Something should be done to manage the plastic production and plastics impact on the environment. Greed and private interest of bottled water corporation should be put aside and they should try to suppress the problem. If nothing is done and nothing changes the problem could become irreversible in the future, then what will we do.
This past week we learned about where the bottles that we use end up and this information discouraged me from purchasing bottled items like bottled water, or bottled soda. This information on bottles is interesting because of the huge effect these bottles have on our well-being. According to information we learned in class this week, windrows form in gyres that keep this waste in a specific location in the ocean that endangers the surrounding ecosystem. Fish consume this waste and when we catch this fish and eat it, this waste ends up in our bodies where it can harm us. In order to avoid this sequence of events we need to recycle the bottles we purchase so that they are reused. This will in turn promote sustainable living for both us and organisms living in ecosystems harmed by windrows. The bottle bill, which Elizabeth Royte discusses in her book, Garbage Land, is the attempt of state governments around the United States to encourage recycling our bottles.
ReplyDeleteI found the bottle bill to be very interesting because it is an economic incentive. When I purchase a bottle of water I make a 5 cent deposit. Once I drink the water I can return the empty bottle to a bottle recycling station in order to reclaim my deposit. The statistics in Royte's book also support the bottle bill and its effectiveness. Royte cites a statement from the Container Recycling Institute that states, "the eleven states with bottle bills recycle beverage containers at a rate of 70 to 95 percent, while states without bottle bills average 37 percent"(185). The difference is alarming and it is also an indication that all states should adopt the bottle bill. Even though it is true that states without bottle bills don't have them because there wasn't a need for them at the time, the water bottle industry is selling so many plastic bottles that every states should adopt a bottle bill. This statement in Royte's book also highlights that we wouldn't even have to recycle many these bottles if we drank tap water instead of buying them. It's ironic that the bottled water industry promotes purity and cleanliness, yet its bottles are responsible for the pollution of our environment. Therefore, it is imperative that all states adopt a bottle bill to prevent this pollution. However, boycotting bottled water could also reduce the amount of bottled water produced which would result in less bottles that would otherwise end up in windrows.
The excerpt from Royte's book has also encouraged me to take advantage of the bottle bill. Whenever I purchase a bottled product, although I rarely do, I will make it my duty to find a bottle recycling station so that I can claim my nickel. I feel like a lot of people in my community don't know about this bottle bill and if they did they would take advantage of it. I believe that the state governments should inform the public of the bottle bill in order to ensure optimal return of bottles. I wonder if it could be possible to create anti-water bottle commercials just like the anti-smoking commercials? If created, would these commercials be effective at reducing the purchase of bottled water? Should the bottle bill require a 50 cent deposit to encourage people to return the bottles?
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ReplyDeleteAfter learning more about bottled water, I received even more surprises. For instance, I had no idea what gyres and windrows were but after finding out what they were, it makes me a bit sad. I can’t believe there’s a pile of garbage that’s just floating on the surface of the ocean water. Not only that but to find out that it gets bigger since more and more people throw stuff out, which can end up in the ocean a great majority of the time, is also sad. I was a little disgusted and in shock when we saw the video of people taking garbage out of the windrows and they showed the inside of a fish to shows that it had bits of plastic inside. That really made me step back and think about where I put my plastic, whether I recycle, and whether I really need as much plastic as I use.
ReplyDeleteAnother thing I found interesting was the bottle bills. I honestly had no idea those existed. Whenever I saw the ‘refund me 5ȼ’ on a water bottle, I thought the water bottle companies were just trying to be funny or cute. I didn’t know that if you refunded the water bottle, you actually got 5ȼ in return. When I first learned about the bottle bill, I was wondering why anyone would want a used water bottle in return but I soon learned that those used water bottles could be recycled. I found it to be pretty crazy that only 11 states had bottle bills. Everyone knows-or should-that too much waste, including the vast amount of plastic, isn’t good for the environment so they should pass bottle bills everywhere so that we can lessen the burden on the Earth and its environment. I don’t understand why people have to be so stubborn about it. After learning about the bottle bills, I realize that I can actually help the environment even if it’s just a little. It also makes me consider returning all the water bottles I buy and throw away.
In addition, the reading "Satan's Resin" from Garbage Land by Elizabeth Royte was interesting and informative. There was a lot of things that caught my attention like the bottle bill process and how not all plastic is recycled. But there was a specific part of the reading that caught my attention. “The garbage landscape is littered with greenwash tactics, in which polluters pose as friends of the environment but spend more money advertising their green projects than on the projects themselves” (184). I found this to be very intriguing since it unfortunately makes sense. Large companies are interested in what makes them the most money and whatever would promote them. Of course anybody would love a company that goes green since a lot of people want to protect the endangered environment. That’s why companies spend so much on advertisements, to pull people in and basically send the message: “Look! We’re going green while those other companies aren’t! We’re the good guys! Come with us!” What people don’t realize is that many companies don’t actually stay true to their word. This has made me more aware of the dangers of advertising and has made me want to be on the lookout. Furthermore, it sort of motivates me into doing more research into all those companies that claim that they are going green and are recycling. Are they really doing what they say they are? Or were the ads just scams to get more money flowing into their company? On the other hand, if the company actually is doing what it says it is, it makes me wonder, what can I do to help? Is there anything I can do to convince my friends and peers to help the cause the company is promoting?
This week’s lesson had added on to the negative impacts I already had in mind towards bottled water. I prefer to not use bottled water since it affects our health in a harmful way rather than keeping us healthy, as water should be doing. The same goes for Earth; much of the plastic from the bottled water that is floating in our waterways. It’s hard to face the facts and see that this is happening right now, but how can we be completely surprised? I don’t think bottled water companies (one of the major culprits of this situation) look at our health nor the planet’s health as their top priority. Instead, I feel that they think money is much more important.
ReplyDeleteElizabeth Royte describes this in “Satan’s Resin” from her book, Garbage Land. When ideas such as an expansion on bottle bills aiming to “keep litter off the streets and beaches, [keeping] solid waste from the landfill, [conserving] natural resources through recycling, and [directing] money to environmental programs” (183), the atmosphere should be one that involves motivation, seeing as how these bottle bills would allow states to push people towards recycling bottles and earning what could be seen as a reward for benefiting the environment (5ȼ - 10ȼ depending on which of the 11 states you are in). However, this doesn’t seem to be the case. It’s shocking that many individuals care more about their pay rather then the way that they are helping the environment - grocery store operators, waste haulers, and MRF owners are just some of the individuals Royte mentions. Along with this, Royte mentions how the Keep America Beautiful campaign had used “greenwash tactics, in which polluters pose as friends of the environment but spend more money advertising their green projects than on the projects themselves” (184). Does this make sense at all? Of course not - the only reason why they are advertising such projects in the first place is to create more attention to their campaign, and eventually gaining a profit. The fact that state governments are making an effort to establish bottle bills makes it clear that these individuals are more concerned with the sustainability of our planet, not the sustainability of a company’s wallet.
While watching the documentary Tapped, it shocked me to see just how egocentric many of these companies could be. Nestlé Waters, Pepsi, and Coca-Cola are three of the most selfish companies I have ever heard of; I hadn’t known that these companies acted in such ways in the past, but now that I’ve realized the truth behind all the advertisements, it’s made my perspective on them change completely. Nestlé Waters, which owns much of the bottled water industry, has the biggest pump for extracting ground water and uses the idea of “absolute dominion” to their full advantage. However, the fact that Nestlé doesn’t even pay for the water they are taking and using is what had surprised me. Nestlé should at least give back some money in return to the amount of water they are taking freely. What had shocked me the most out of all the information I had heard was how the bottling operations of Pepsi and Coca-Cola had not been stopped during the southeastern United States drought. Even with the lack of water that the community had, these companies still pumped water just to benefit themselves. Actions like these are what make me hesitant to buy any of their products, just by learning about their greedy conducts. What’s worse is, all of their products do eventually get bought and end up being in the one place where they should’t be: our waterways.
It’s important for everyone to get involved in their own communities and raise awareness of the damage that these companies are doing to our environment and to ourselves. They are fooling us into believing that they are the “good guys” and that we should listen to them. In reality, we must find ways to turn away from such companies and make an effort to have our state and federal governments establish rules or laws that would create a positive and sustainable ecosystem.
This week we have been learning about how tap and bottled water is either better for you than the other or worse. But the thing was that what surprised me the most was how tap water is actually better for your health than bottled water. This really surprised me because there are so many people in the world drinking bottled water. When almost everything in that bottle has so many chemicals, and most of the water in the bottle is tap water anyway. So many people can be drinking this but they don't know what they are really drinking. We or others should start sending messages to other people to show them what is much better for them. Another fact was how some bottles that carry water have serenity inside them. If you let them go to long for awhile the serenity spreads into the water. This is bad because serenity can lead to spreading some type of disease into your body which can lead to cancer, but this happens little by little if you keep drinking the water like this. This made me think then whats the point of bottled water when it hurts us. Also, how when barely people are recycling around the world. Why wouldn't they recycle? This helps us a lot, especially towards them like why? The bottles and plastics that are supposed to be recycled, but when people are throwing them in the ocean like why? You people are making things worse! Fix this, and we wouldn't be going through all these problems we are going through.
ReplyDelete~Jeffrey De La Cruz
“According to the Container Recycling Institute, the eleven states with bottle bills recycle beverage containers at a rate of 70 to 95 percent, while states without bottle bills average 37 percent.” (Garbage Land “Satan’s Resin” - Elizabeth Royte) I found this fact to be interesting because before this class, I never really payed attention to “bottle bills.” Since the states with bottle bills recycle at a much higher rate than those who do not, I am going to start recycling my bottles too and see if I can help maintain the high percentage we have now. This fact changed my thinking about bottled/tap water in the sense that it is more beneficial to drink from the tap than a water bottle. A water bottle costs (on average) about $1.25, while a cup of water from your tap comes completely free. Now I see that although it is more reliable to walk around with a bottle of water, it costs much less to wait until you get home and drink water from your tap.
ReplyDelete“...they use words like “pure and safe” which implies that tap water is unsafe and not pure.”(Tapped - movie) Although I found the entire movie interesting, this fact was really intriguing because it is the sole reason why tap water has a negative connotation to it. We are led to believe that bottled water is perfection and tap water is basically trash. When in reality, bottled water is the same tap water but purified. After watching this movie, I am a bit angry at myself for falling into their little traps and believing bottled water was better. I am now doing my best to fight the urge to purchase Aquafina and Dasani bottles, and instead purchase BPA free water bottles which I can reuse and recycle.
This week’s class discussion was a real battle between what each of our classmates thought of bottle water and whether or not they would stop using bottled water considering the facts we had learned about it. The information in class was very concerning to me because it applies to my family in many ways. In one of the videos I saw that plastic bottles could release bad chemicals to our water if it sits for the longest amount of time in it. It said that it releases a certain type of chemical that can cause cancer over time and other type of diseases. I was really shocked with this news because my mother orders from Poland Spring the big blue tank of water, about three every month and we drink water of that. The most surprising thing was that even though I told my mom once again about the big tank of water releasing horrifying chemicals, she said “It doesn’t matter leave me and my water alone, there’s nothing we can do about it, filtering the water would only take away the Chlorine and nothing else”. Technically there is nothing I can do to convince my mom that bottle water is bad for. She just enjoys it better than tap water and that’s why she really doesn’t care because she wants what she feels is best. Even though it hasn’t changed my mom’s mindset it has changed mines. Now for the future I’ll know not to waste money like my mom does monthly buying water from a company that we believe is coming from spring water.
ReplyDeleteThe reading "Satan's Resin" from Garbage Land by Elizabeth Royte talks about how Bottle Bills work. Bottle bills are really important. According to the reading “…such a bill would lighten New York City’s waste stream by 220 tons a day, saving as much as $10 million curbside collection and disposal cost.” This part of the reading got me thinking a lot because this system can really help the state save up a lot of money. It can also help the unemployed get employed because if the stores agree to have that bottle machine then they will have to hire people to handle it benefiting the state and individuals all at once. The only problem is that around low income areas especially don’t have this system in many stores, then how will we fulfill the plan to success if there isn’t any support. If only our government would support this system then it would might work and make a change. The Billing Bottle is a great opportunity to decrease the amount of bottles into our oceans; it is and will continue to affect our fishes and other animals in the ocean ruining the food chain of not only other species but us humans as well.
With all the information and logical sense I possess, personally I am not very elated but most likely disappointed in the water industry. It’s all a monopoly; they want to get people to get to buy their water when they are all the same. They lie to people’s faces telling them their water comes from a beautiful natural spring and that tap water is unsafe. I didn’t realize the egoism behind these companies and now I have changed my mind about tap water. It’s understandable that the United States it’s all about capitalism, but it shouldn’t be the cost to individual’s health and long term affects to the world under no circumstances.
This week was a very insight full in a way life changing. Before this week, I knew close to nothing about water bottles, or recycling for that matter. I know that I recycle all my bottles and I have 3 different bins for trash at home, but I didn’t know where it all went or what happened to all the other bottles. Another thing that I was uninformed about was tap water. I would always buy a water bottle to take to school or to the park but when I didn’t have one, I would just buy a disposable one at the store. One thing I would never do was drink tap water. I thought it was dirty and unsafe. My mom bought a filter for our water, and my dad buys 24 packs of bottled water but we recycle close to all those bottles.
ReplyDeleteThe visit from Elizabeth Royte, author of Garbage Land was a great experience. I learned allot about where all the non recycled water bottles go. According to Garbage Land “Satan's Resin” “Only between 4 and 6 percent of glass bottles sold in New York are melted down and reincarnated as new containers.” This is a shame because all the bottles that are not being re-used end up in oceans and landfills.
I believe that if we made an effort we could recycle more than 50% of all the bottles we use. “More than 2.4 billion pounds of plastic bottles were recycled in 2008. Although the amount of plastic bottles recycled in the U.S. has grown every year since 1990, the actual recycling rate remains steady at around 27 percent.” This fact is interesting because it shows that we need recycle more. If we do this than we can stop the trash build up as a result of waste.
Bottled water never really posed a threat to my safety… until now. With the water unit, I have learned facts about water that I never knew. Those facts have changed my mentality completely. Water and bottled water is indeed a topic that we all need to be aware of. We simply consume it without knowing the truth behind where it comes from, how it gets to us, and what it in it.
ReplyDeleteIn "Satan's Resin" from Garbage Land by Elizabeth Royte, I learned about bottle bills. This is something that I never heard about in my life until I read about it in class. I had no idea that you could actually do that. But then, we DO live in NYC; somewhere where actually doing the bottle bill proves to be a hassle. Since we have so many grocery stores on almost every corner, saving up bottles acquires space in which those stores do not have. Also, we tend to be on our feet a lot of the time. We don’t take the time to actually go back to stores and return our bottles. Things like that are mostly seen in suburban areas where people can actually find the space to hold their bottles until it is picked up. Even if we really push to have the bottle bill enforced in NYC, it would be nearly impossible to do it unless the public abides by the bill. If we don’t, then the bill will most likely expire after an amount of time.
Another fact that I learned was that 40% of bottled water comes from tap water sources. When I read that, I was dumbfounded! I thought that all of the attention given to bottled water was because it came from mountains or some magical mystical place. But no. This fact told me that I basically paid $1.25 for something that I can get for free in my kitchen. ARE YOU SERIOUS? I hope that I am not the only one appalled by this fact. However, I took time to think about it after some time. The reason I preferred bottled water over tap water wasn’t because it was in a bottle. It was because I truly believed that they got the water from the pictures seen in the label. I found it exotic and for that reason, I would buy the bottled water. For some reason I thought it was cool to drink water from a mountain. Now that I know that 40% of bottled water is equivalent to the water I find in my kitchen, I no longer care much about bottled water. I didn’t buy it often before I knew this, but now I definitely don’t want to buy it any time soon.
One fact from the reading that I found the most interesting was the government and the bottle bill. The bottle bill is only established in some states and it’s when you’re charged a small deposit when you purchase a bottle of water and you get that deposit back when you recycle the bottle in recycle stations. I found this the most interesting because I never knew we give the five cents to get it back. I just always thought we get a free five cents when we recycle the bottles.
ReplyDeleteAnother topic I found interesting from this week’s lesson was learning about gyres. Gyres are currents that form circular patterns. I found this cool because it sort of reminded me of tornadoes because when things go into the gyres it’s hard for that thing to come out sort of like objects that get caught up in tornadoes.
All of our learning in class has helped me change my mind about bottle water. Even though I still currently drink bottled water, I now know that bottled and tap water are similar if not tap water can even be better.
One thing I found interesting from the reading was the bottle bill and how you are able to get some of the money that you pay for the water bottle but that only some states have this bill. this got me thinking that their is no use of buying water bottle that you can just get from your very own home.
ReplyDeleteOne thing that i found interesting during class was that we pay a thousand times more than what it takes to make it. I found this interesting because we are just paying for something that we can just get from our own sink we just do this because the water bottle is just there when we need it . this has changed the way that i think about tap water/water bottle is that it’s the same thing so why don’t i just save money and just drink tap water.
Thisweek in class was a very intense week. We learned many thins especially from all the videos and the reading given to us. For examle something that surpised me from the reading was how only 4 to 6 percent of bottles are acually incinerated and made into containers again. This has encouraged me to recyle especially since one my uncle buys 24 packs of water bottles and doesn't recyle them, but now I have started recyling the ones he had already had. Another interesting fact that has caught my attention was how chemicals get released in the water if bottles are not used ,which can affect our bodies in many ways. This has also helpedme change my ways of throwing away bottes and just reusing them and refilling them with my filter in my house. This ca effect us inlong term use unless we do something to change ourways and not support companies of water by buying water bottles especially if we are loosing a 5 cent profit
ReplyDeleteThis week we continued to talk about the difference between bottle and tap water. One thing I found interesting about this week lessons was the bottle bills and how they are only a couple states that have it. I found it interesting because i used to looking at the bottle and see 5 cents or 10 cents and i didnt know what that was for but now i know that it means that when you recycle that how much it is per bottle. From the garbage land article the quote that was most interesting for me was "The eleven states with bottle bill recycle beverage containers at a rate of 70 to 95 percent , while states without bottle bills average 37 percent." I found this quote interesting because if every state was to recycle then the world would be more clean and people can actually get money from recycling.Another quote i found interesting was " only between 4 and 6 percent of glass bottles sold in New York are refillable; the rest of the redeemed bottles are melted down and reincarnated as new containers." I found this quote interesting because there being more sustainable by reusing the bottles.
ReplyDelete-jesus guzman 4th period
This week we have been learning about how tap and bottled are almose the same and where they come from or end up at.One thing i found interesting in the "Satan's Resin" from Garbage Land by Elizabeth Royte was that i learned about bottle bill i heard of it but never know what that means bottle bill mean "consumer get a small amount of payment when consumers recycle bottle and cans".This show me that that the people that recycle get pay small amount of money only 10 or 5 cent for each bottle but it depend in witch sate you in because there only 11 state that have bottle bills. Another topic I found interesting from this week’s lesson was learning about gyre and windrow is that a gyre is a circle carint windrow shape and a windrow is a garbage patch.
ReplyDeleteELLISON LUGO
This week we continued talking about the diffrences in tap water and regular water. Something I found interesting was how some store they have machine so you could recycle your bottles and you would get 5 to 10 cents back. Only 11 states have bottle bills. Another fact i found supprissing is that 4 to 6 percent of bottles in new york city are being refillable other are just being burn.
ReplyDelete~Felix Guzman
What i learn this week was about bottel of water and tap water and wish one is safer.The water i think is more safer is tap water because it taste better bottel not so good for me the fact that was most important to me was that some people think bottel of water is safer because of the pic on the bottel showing were suposubly the water comes from and i think i will stick with tap water ands not other then bottel is not i think bottel is way bad then tap but some people love drinking bottel because suposably it does not have bateria. -whitney
ReplyDeleteThis week in class we learned a lot about bottled water and where it comes from. One fact that was interesting from the reading was that "Our nation consumes more than its share of natural resources."This was interesting because there should be something done to stop using bottled water. We are hurting the environment and companies are taking water from the citizens.Water is supposed to be free and people are taking tap water and selling it when we can get it free from our own homes.This has changed my thinking about bottled water and tap water because now I know that most bottled water is tap water.I also learned that we are using up too much water and that we should stop using so much so that other people can get water. In NYC we have the advantage of having good water.In other places people don't have enough water or have trouble getting it.We don't think about it because we use all the water we want.Something else that we learned in class is that a lot of water bottles end up in the ocean.There is windrow in the ocean and its harming the animals.This has changed my thinking about water bottles because they harm the environment.If we keep using them global warming will not stop.It is also bad because plastic takes really long to decompose.A plastic bottle takes 450 years to break down.If we keep using plastic things we will harm the environment and we have to take action now so that things could change.
ReplyDeleteA fact that I found interesting from "Satan's Resin" from Garbage Land by Elizabeth Royte was, "Who could argue with an expanded bottle bill? It would keep litter off the streets and beaches, keep solid waste from the landfill, conserve natural resources through recycling, and direct money to environmental programs." This was intersting to me because if such a simple bill can create such a difference and benefit so many aspects of the world why isn't it being put into action. A bill of this sort would decrease the amount of litter creating a cleaner environment for us and those to come. This changed my thinking about bottled water because I realize that it isn't neccessary when we can be proactive and think about taking water from our homes with us in order to prevent not being sustainable, additionally I see how the cons of bottled water out weight the pros.An interesting fact that I read in "Floating Junkyard" is, "But roughly 80 percent of the debris originateds on land. Rivers and overflowing storm drains and sewage systems all carry garbage to the ocean." I found this interesting because most of the waste in the ocean comes from the land meaning that us humans are to blame for the contamination of oceans. Taking this into considersideration people are the only ones that can make the oceans clean again and not add to the problem this can be done through the acts of recycling or just using less plastic in general. This has changed my thinking about bottled water because as a result of using them the planet is being harmed and just by drinking tap water in reusable containers a difference can be made.
ReplyDelete~Karina Tavarez
Throughout this week, I spent time along with my classmates building background knowledge in preparation for the creation of our NYC tap water advertising campaigns. During this time, I learned many facts but two really caught my attention. The first fact that caught my interest was that thalates, a chemical in plastic, can give its consumers cancer. The other fact that interested me was that according to Elizabeth Royte of all the materials we throw out, plastic is among the hardest to kill. Today my perception from bottled water since last week has not changed. I am still skeptical about how good bottled water is. I’m actually beginning to question if it will ever leave the market although I’m sure it won’t because enough consumers have not been educated about the quality of their water. However, based on the fact about thalates, I don’t believe that this is true because every person at some point in their life has drank water from a plastic bottle and if these bottles have thalate then humans would all be dead by now. In this case, I believe that this affects my beliefs from last week because first it was that 45% of water in bottled water was tap water and now thalates gives cancer so I don’t want to drink bottled water at all unless it’s an emergency. Furthermore, based on the fact that plastic is among the hardest material to kill I am surprised because I thought that plastic could be melted and I also don’t believe that plastic is hard to kill even though it is hard to break. Water is the hardest to kill because I don’t know when all bacteria is killed. This makes sense to me since water is clear and how can I be sure that it’s not always tap. Overall, based on what I know now about water and plastic, I think tap water is the only reliable option left for me and hopefully one I can truly depend on.
ReplyDeleteThis week during class we have watched "Satan's Resin". This video clip has helped us view the negative effects of recycling and the difference between tap water and bottle water. Before seeing this video I thought bottled water was a great idea because it was easy for people to just grab and go, then throw them out after they have finished using them. But now we find out it's a bad idea because a lot of people are just dumping these bottles everywhere and they can't recycle that much bottles it's limit. So most of them are staying in our oceans and rivers polluting our waters. In the video clip it show how they recycling bottles and how bottle water are useless. I think tap water is way better then bottle water because its directly from your house and fresh. Also many people use bottle water to get rid of it faster but they get rid of it in a bad way cause they throw it anywhere. And our city is not green no more is less green every time.
ReplyDeleteThis week we continued talking about water and what I found interesting was the amount of tap water is in "pure" water bottles. In my campaign im going to talk about water bottles not being fully filled with "pure" water as people are being told. Another thing im going to talk about is about the states that give back money for recycling bottles back.
ReplyDeleteKenneth Rufino 4th period environmental class
Throughout this week i have learned more about blottled water , after understanding the meaning of gyre and windrow now i understand better but is amazing the amount of garbage end up floating on the surface of the ocean water but this is not the only thing the pile of garbage is getting bigger by the people thowing waste eveyday which end up at the ocean.due to this actions at least 100, 000 marine animals are dying because of the chemical of the plastic . when i saw the video of the people i was in shock because they found many shape and color of plastic's at the surface of the ocean . i think that we as humans don't try to stop other people to stop hurting the environment many ocean animals and land animals will die by all the plastic in the oceans. Another thing that was interesting was the bottled bills. i didnt know that there was a bottled bill. i learned that a bottled bill is when the customes pay an extra cents per botttled and that only 11 states has bottled bills such was hawaii , massachusetts , new york and many more . in conclution i think that having bottled bill is important because people go and change their bottled for cents which in some way it helps the environment in many different way
ReplyDelete(` Nadine Gomez 6th pd`)
Plastic water bottles are things I see every day but I didn't know much about, how they came to me or what happened after I threw the bottle away. Which are the two issues about the water bottle industry that interest me most because there the ones that affects the environment directly.
ReplyDeleteWater bottles are made from plastic which comes from refined oil. That release lots of toxic chemicals in the environment, which can lead to terminal disease like cancer. That affects the worker and people who live around these factories. The create PET plastic stated in All you can drink water “PET was cheaper, lighter, stronger, brighter and clearer” That were the factors which made plastic bottles attractive to large companies, but the cold truth is that it bad for people and the environment.
After we consume and use the plastic bottles, which adds up to around 100 million tons of plastic each year, 5% of that is recycled. The amount that gets recycled is usually through bottle bills, like the one New York State has. Basically how these bill work is that when you buy a plastic bottle you play a 5 cent deposit usually included in the price of the product. After you're done with the bottle you can bring it back to reclaim your deposit, but this doesn't happen very often since. That gives for the “$140.9 million in unclaim nickels” (Resin) from Garbage Land . Therefore a lot of the bottles end up in landfills and even in Pacific ocean gyre; which is where a windrow of plastic forms. Basically a patch of trash that would go away for many years after we're gone because it takes plastic bottles up to 450 years to break down. Meanwhile fish and birds are eating pieces of this plastic that eventually poisons them, because there is no way for them to digest this materials so it stays in them and the toxic, enter their origins kills them and possibly hurt us that eat these fish as well.
Overall the two issues that I found more impacting about water bottles were about how its made and where it ends up. That change my view of how much does it really cost to buy a water bottle, because it hurts so many people and animals, I rather not buy any plastic bottles and drink tap water that’s what put in plastic bottles anyways. Because many companies use city and State tap water to fill there bottles, which makes it no different than the water in our homes except it has a label that usually says “Pure water” or “Taste great”. That is why I support tap water and reusable water bottles.
One interesting fact about this week topic which is water is that most of the bottled water company's promote their water and also while promoting it they say that tap water is not healthy. This I found interesting because I saw in a video and also read that bottled water company's water is 75% tap water which I found this very hypocrite for saying tap water is not safe when they use it to fill up their bottles. And in a test it showed that tap water was still cleaner than bottled water which I found this very interesting. Another fact i found interesting from the reading "Satan's Resin" was the bottled bill which is mostly that you deposit 5cents when purchasing the product in this case bottled products and you can get those 5cents back if you return the bottle. This was interesting because here in new york a lot of people don't really care about this.
ReplyDeleteThis week in Environmental Science, we continued to learn more facts about tap water, bottled water, and the ways that bottled water companies trick us into buying their products. In the reading "Satan's Resin," from the book Garbage Land by Elizabeth Royte, the most interesting fact that stood out to me was that "the eleven states with bottle bills recycle beverage containers at a rate of 70 to 95 percent, while states without bottle bills average 37 percent" (185). The bottle bill that is mentioned in this quote is when people are given a few cents back for every bottle that they recycle. The reason that this fact stood out to me so much is because I find it surprising how such a tiny amount of money makes all the difference in the world when it comes to recycling. Not as many people are willing to recycle in the other states where the bottle bill doesn't exist, probably because they aren't getting anything in return. I feel like these other states that don't have the bill should definitely think about getting it because its outstanding the impact that just 5 cents per bottle can make. The more states that pass the bottle bill, the more bottles get recycled, and the closer we are on the track to saving our planet.
ReplyDeleteAnother fact that stood out to me this week comes from the movie Tapped that we watched in class. During the movie, we found out that Maine has a law called absolute dominion, in which whoever has the largest pump has the power to obtain as much water as they can. This stood out to me because it was absolutely repulsive how the Poland Spring company was just getting all the water that they wanted even there wasn't enough water to go around for the actual people who live in the place. While places like the retirement homes were having a hard time obtaining water, the Poland Spring company kept on pumping all the water they wanted as the rest of the people in the city struggled. That just really showed me how these bottled water companies are willing to do whatever it takes to make money. They don't care about being nice or about helping the people and the environment around them. They are just greedy and want all the money they can get. It's this fact that makes me question whether I'm going to keep buying their bottled water in the future. I don't want to be buying water from a company like this. I don't want to be buying bottled water at all. I'm glad that this movie exists because it truly shows the horrors of the bottled water industry and shows us the truth about bottled water that we don't typically think about.
This week, we learned several interesting facts concerning water bottles and their effects on society and the environment. The new things I learned changed my perspective on plastic bottles for the worst. In Elizabeth Royte’s “Satan’s Resin,” Royte discusses how bottled water companies manipulate their products in order to increase profits. She writes, “they [plastic products] add toxins to the environment. Unmixed streams are another matter: they actually can be refashioned into bottles and containers. But there isn’t much demand from their makers for recycle plastic. Virgin is so much cheaper" (190). I found this interesting because companies that know there are existing alternatives that can help decrease our carbon footprint on the earth are ignoring these possibilities. This made me think negatively towards bottled water industries because although the process to recycle plastic is more costly than making plastic out of unused materials, the fact that these companies are unwilling to sacrifice their profits for the well being of the environment seems selfish to me. Instead of doing something that will benefit future generations and nature, wealth seems to be more important to these industries.
ReplyDeleteSome other facts I found interesting this week were also regarding plastic water bottles and their effects on all organisms. Great amounts of garbage located inside currents called gyres affect the marine life around it. The chemicals in the plastic harm the marine life that consumes plastic products and we humans then eat these fish. This means that the chemicals found in these contaminated fish have a potential to harm us as well. Not only can humans be negatively impacted by plastic in our food, but also in the same plastic water bottles we drink from. Some plastic bottles contain toxic compounds such as PET and lead to several disorders in human health such as birth defects, cancer and even respiratory issues. Once again, these facts added to my lists of cons for plastic water bottles. I found it interesting how something that seems so simple can cause such severe consequences. It’s amazing to me how the manipulation of advertising bottled water industries present to society can make us believe something is so pure when in reality, it is the very opposite.
Overall, the facts I’ve learned have definitely made me lean more towards favoring tap water since it is not only apparently better for the environment, but better for my health as well. Although it is hard to break old habits, I think I will transition from drinking so much bottled water and move towards tap water, or at least find other alternatives for my drinking water.
This week was particularly interesting to acknowledge because we had a guest visit us and talk to us about New York’s water. At this point I was convinced that the water was safer in New York than the bottle industry was providing us, this is true because many water bottle industries are using propaganda to mimic themselves as safe New York’s tap water, which has high federal regulations and is proven to be safer, as it is tested daily.
ReplyDeleteIn Elizabeth Royte’s book Satan’s Resin she explains what happens in the life of a regular water bottle after it is disposed of. She explains that “’ [when] I first got to Madras, I went around to all the rag pickers, because they know everything,” said Lenard, who speaks in rapid fire bursts. “They’re very organized and hierarchical. Each family does a different resin: one does only PET; another does only HDPE”’ (Royte). She strongly indicates that after the bottle is disposed of, it is sent to other foreign countries to be sorted out. Not only is the plastic bottle harmful to the environment as it takes many decades to degrade, but it is harmful to humans and other animals because animals ingest these plastics and eventually we hunt for animals to eat, making plastic chemicals be in our bodies. Elizabeth Royte agrees by stating, ”OSHA health studies have shown that people who work and live near plants that manufacture plastics and the chemicals used to make them experience higher incidences of some kinds of cancer than other populations” (Royte), indicating how lethal these plastics and the chemicals can be to populations.
In class we received an individual assignment which was compiled from “The story of Bottled Water” and foodandwaterwatch.org/bottledwater, and in that assignment there were many facts that about bottled water. Generally teaching us where it came from. To my surprise, it came from the pipes and source we all get it from. The individual assignment informed us that “more than 45% of bottled water is actually bottled water” (Bottled Water Fact Sheet). This indicates how companies propagandized themselves clean over the years and fooling people into believing themselves as a “purer” alternative than tap water.
Ultimately the impression of me towards bottled water changed as now I know that more than 45 percent of the water in bottled water is actually from my tap, changing my perspective towards companies as well, seeing them as monopolies. Also worrying about the environment is beneficial because a majority of the bottles end up other foreign countries, which chemicals in them affect those who are around large amounts of plastic chemicals, affecting their health.
One fact that I found interesting during this week on Environment Science was that our oceans have a lot plastic. We are over using the things we have in this earth and when we don't have places to put them in after we are done with them we throw them in places were they don't belong. This affected out environment, the fishes living in that area are been affected by the plastic around them. In a video that Mr. Fox showed us during class a man cut a Fish that they just catch form the place they were swimming and inside the Fish there was plastic. Plastic is affecting the environment and the animals that live in that area. The second fact is that 40% of bottled water comes from tap water sources. When I heard this for that first time I was surprise because I was playing for water that was free and I can get In my house. Other thing that I didn't like was that a lot of brands show a picture of the environment to make people think that they get there water form those places.
ReplyDeleteOne interesting fact that caught my attention in one of Elizabeth Royte’s chapters in the book Garbage Land was the following, “Only between 4 and 6 percent of glass bottles sold in New York are refillable; the rest of the redeemed bottles are melted down and reincarnated as new containers” (186). The reason why this caught my attention is because I have barely seen a glass water bottle in New York and I didn’t know that the rest of the water bottles were melted and not being re-used. My thinking of the water bottles when I got rid of them is that people who work for the sanitation department would send the used water bottles to send them to the water bottle industries in order for the water bottles to be used again. However, the water bottle industries have made us think another idea. Therefore, this changes the way I have viewed bottled water. I would most likely reduce the use of bottled water and will use a refillable water bottle because the plastic in the water bottle destroys our environment when it is being thrown out and melted down.
ReplyDeleteAnother interesting fact that caught my attention was the following, “Ingesting other ingredients of plastic production con lead to birth defects and damage the nervous system, blood, kidneys, and immune system”(191). This quote built up my thinking of water bottles and is actually encouraging me to not even use water bottles and always use refillable water bottles. I find this quote really interesting because this is all new to me. I’ve always thought plastic would damage our environment, but I’ve never thought that plastic would do harm to individuals on the inside. This makes sense because plastic is made from oil and oil is not a healthy liquid to be in our systems. Also, when plastic is broken into pieces, the parts that are sharp can stay clogged inside of our blood vessels, for example. Overall, this really persuades me to use a refillable water bottle and use tap water more often. I would only bottled water if it’s really necessary to buy it at that moment.
This week's lesson just amazed me. It completely changed my view of tap water and bottle water. Also of the effects of empty bottles to our environment. According to Elizabeth Royte, in Satan's Resin, Royte stated, "According to the Container Recycling Institute, the eleven states with bottle bills recycle beverage containers at a rate of 70 to 95 percent, while states without bottle bills average 37 percent". This exemplifies, that 11 states out of 50, recycle bottles way more in comparison to the other states that don't have this bill regulated. I believe this happens because bottle bills offer money to the customers who give their empty bottles in return. This also shows that people who recycle these empty bottles want to maintain our environment safe. This relates to another quotation that surprised me which was, "Scientist estimate that plastic debris kills roughly 1 million seabirds and 100,000 marine animals like dolphins and sea turtles each year" (Floating Junkyard). This is important because if we don't recycle our bottle most of it end up in the North Pacific ocean. Garbage ending up there affects the water life because bottles have shown that they leach toxic chemicals and these chemicals might be eaten by the fishes. Since most of us eat fish, we also can get contaminated by these chemicals that can harm our system. These two quotations have changed my perspective on tap water and bottled water because now i prefer drinking tap water. With drinking tap water, we are able to minimize the us of plastic bottles and also tap water is basically free. Minimizing bottles is important because it would not harm our environment and our water animals.
ReplyDeleteRafael Ballenilla
ReplyDelete11/25
This week we continued to learn about NYC's tap water quality compared to the water quality from bottled water. We learned more of te negative things that bottled water has in comparison to what tap water doesn't have and how different and safer tap water is than bottled water. In "The Story Of Bottled Water" it stated that "47% of people drink bottled water because they are worried about health and safety" . What people don't realize is that "more than 45% of bottled water is actually tap water". This surprised me a whole lot because I always expected it to be water from hard to find places where these industries would filter it until its completely safe and pure. So people including myself have been paying money for water that is already given to us for free. What people also never knew is that "25% of the brands of water tested by the NRDC in 1999 had enough bacteria or chemicals in them to break state rules" . This is a SERIOUS problem in my eyes and in the eyes of people that actually know that this is happening with the bottled water they are purchasing. Bottled water has always been promoted by these big bottled water industries as "safer, more reliable than tap water". The other huge problem in my opinion is that "75% of empty plastic water bottles end up in the trash instead of being recycled". This is a major contribution being done once again by us humans into global warming and the pollution of planet earth. We trusted our states government and these big bottled water industries to recycle these bottled instead of disposing of them in an improper manor. Us as the consumers should take more of these problems into consideration and try in the smallest way to avoid buying water that is of poorer quality and is given to us for free in even better quality.
This week, we have viewed many interesting facts about the topic between tap water vs. bottled water. We have read and viewed many facts about this topic. But the message of the readings and videos is bottled water has changed the view of tapped water. Tapped water is free and reliable to everyone is the city or any other area. But bottled water has started to take advantage of that power we have with tapped water and making people pay for free water. They might make it slightly better but in the end of the day it’s water.
ReplyDeleteSome interesting facts were the difference between tapped water and bottled water. The huge difference was the number of tests done to the water they use. Tapped water is part of the water and needs to have to be tested more than 100 times a day. With a full report of the water test. While bottled water get tested but with fewer tests than tapped water and to an addition, their report aren’t require and never report anything to their commission department. Even though bottled water might have a better taste but we can’t be sure about them, because they might have added some chemicals that aren’t require and might affect us.
From the reading, “Garbage Land: Satan’s Resin”, I learned plastic products are the “the hardest to destroy”. They mention plastic takes time to take out, it can get burned but with a time. Plastic won’t shrink anytime soon because the time it requires to disappear and the number of plastic products coming from different destinations.
Plastic might become a huge factor and many might want to limit the number of plastic being distribute. But this idea, it will take time and will require some steps. Like the first step might be having to make few changes with the bottled company and diminishing the size of the bottled companies. Having them is great but is making the people waste water even though they distribute great quality fresh water. But they are making many plastic that aren’t needed.
Bottled water and tap water have kept me shocked since the first day we have been learning about this topic. Tap water is claimed to be healthier than bottled water. Bottled water is basically tap water but companies have experimented with it too much. Plastic bottles contain certain chemicals that can be released to the water causing it to get contaminated. I am not saying that it is undrinkable but choose wisely. It has always been said to recycle. Most of us have been doing our job and good deed. But the recycling treatment plants are not. They do not recycle the plastic bottles that we the people recycle. The companies want us to recycle so bad that they labelize the bottles either at the front or in the back of the bottle stating “PLEASE RECYCLE”. Instead those treatment plants dump the plastics and let them pile up in landfills and oceans. One would think that they are doing a good deed by recycling by helping the environment but if they are not recycling it by making a somewhat new version of water bottle then what is the point of recycling because the plants are just harming our environment by just littering/dumping the plastics in our five ocean currents. Its just best to say use reusable water bottles and fill it up with some water either from the faucet, brita jug and any filter.
ReplyDelete“Currently, an estimated 11 million tons (and growing) of floating plastic covers an area of nearly 5 million square miles in the Pacific Ocean, 700 miles northeast of the Hawaiian Island chain and 1,000 miles from the coast of California” (gyrecleanup.org). The plastics are polluting our oceans. One way to perhaps cure the pollution and recycling are bottle bills.
Bottle Bills are effective at encouraging recycling because the people get to be sustainable (protecting the ecosystem). It funds recycling programs. “In the six other states with bottle bills, unclaimed deposits go toward recycling education or administration, alcohol treatment programs, or the state’s general fund” ( Royte,183). This shows that if you have the bottle bills then our environment will me more sanitary people will follow the rules more often to recycle even though most plants do not recycle.
From Elizabeth Royte “Satan’s Resin” Garbage Land a quote I found most interesting was when she mentions where you 5 cents go if you don’t collect them. Until then I haven’t given much thought toward where the 5 cents went. “What if I bought my cola, walked offstage with it, and never came back? Who would keep my nickel? In New York, Connecticut, Oregon, Vermont and Delaware it’s the distributors. In the six other states the with bottle bills, unclaimed deposits go to …state’s general fund” Before reading this I had no idea what the location of the 5 cents would go if nobody unclaimed the money but know after its clear depending on the state it goes to the seller or state programs.
ReplyDeleteMy second quote comes from the Floating Junkyard reading which talks about plastic located in the Pacific Ocean. “Moore had sailed into an area of swirling water currents known as The North Pacific Gyre. Much of the garbage that ends up in the Pacific Ocean gets trapped in this enormous whirlpool like region” I found this interesting because it explains why it’s difficult to clean oceans when the trash is always circulating. This changed my thinking on how easy it is to clean oceans, I knew it was difficult but not this difficult. Also most of the plastic harms the living organisms there contaminating them from the chemicals plastic releases.
Karla Arroyo
ReplyDeleteEnvironmental Science
Mr. Fox
11/25/12
This past week in Environmental Science we learned more about the harm that plastic water bottling does to the environment. The things I learned changed my perspective on bottled water for the worst. In Elizabeth Royte's "Satan's Resin" from Garbage Land, Royte describes the manipulative techniques that water bottle companies use in order to increase their profits. Another thing that was captivating was from Royte's "Satan's Resin" was that “Only between 4 and 6 percent of glass bottles sold in New York are melted down and reincarnated as new containers.” When I found this out, I was surprised because there are a lot of campaigns in New York City and around the nation which promote recycling and in reality, it is virtually the total opposite. In the distance, there is also another national perhaps worldwide issue which derives from bottled water. This issue involves ocean gyres. The threat that bottled water presents to gyres is that since we live on a hydrosphere- water keeps flowing. With that being said, water that is disposed into bodies of water ends up in gyres in the North Atlantic, which adds up to the existing pollution in the world. Another major threat that bottled water poses to gyres is that the bacteria in it travels and can end up in oceanic organisms- such as fish. The sediments and bacteria that a bottle of water can carry along, can end up inside a fish. This is a major threat because some humans fish and if they eat a fish with sediments inside, it can potentially harm that person. In sum, what we have learned this week definitely changed my perspective on bottled water. It's crazy how a plastic water bottle can pose a threat to an ecosystem and make us waste unnecessary money, when we have free, healthy tap water at home.
This week we continue talking about the difference between tap water and bottle water.I learned how bottle water company trick buyers thinking there water is pure then tap water but in theory they use tap water and trick buyers to buy there water product. I also learn how there various plastic in the ocean especially in the Paciic ocean , this is important to know because the fish eats the plastic and is later shown in there body and guess what most peoole eat seafood. This concern the people because plastic has toxic which gets into the humans stomach and can cause cancer. According to Garbage Land " satan's resin" " only between 4 and 6 percent of glass bottles sold in New York are melted". This is important because its showing that these bottles being melted causes pollution so not only are people wasting money on free products , but the world is also being affected.
ReplyDeleteThis week class helped me improve my knowledge in the actual facts of tap water. In class this created a debate on whether bottled water is good for the people. We all heard each other opinions and we did some reading. In the article “Story of bottled water” there was a quote that attracted my attention a lot mostly because it related to my classmates and some of my friends / the article stated that “"47% of people drink bottled water because they are worried about health and safety” This quote shows the amount of lack of knowledge of people and tap water. We even took a step further and we did some background research on how not only plastic bottles but plastic over all affects our environment and how sadly it’s all ending up in our oceans. This also relates to the topic of how much bottled water is consume because I have the idea that bottled water is bad for the earth and if people don’t educate themselves about tap water, the oceans are just going to keep getting filled with plastic. This week also read part of the book "Satan's Resin" from Garbage Land by Elizabeth Royte to help us get a better clear idea of our argument. When we was reading this chapter we was also learning about bottle bills and I saw a quote that really caught my attention mostly because it showed me what’s being done about plastic and other recyclable resources “"the eleven states with bottle bills recycle beverage containers at a rate of 70 to 95 percent, while states without bottle bills average 37 percent" This quote shows that’s something is being done to try and help out keep plastic off the oceans. It also shows that not the whole nation is fully supportive of the idea but my main concern is why? The cost might be kind of high but the long term positive effects are many.
ReplyDelete1. One fact that I found interesting about the reading “Satan’s Resin” by Elizabeth Royte was that our nation consumes more than its share of natural resources, we create the most waste, and then we send it to be processed in countries that fail to protect their workers or their environment from industrial pollution. Basically not many people are protecting their environment by recycling or not polluting the air and we as humans are the reason to blame for all the waste that is affecting our waters that surround us.
ReplyDelete2. Another fact that I found to be interesting was the bottle bill which I never knew about for when yu purchase water bottles in groceries. Id say bottle bill is most effective towards the people because most states in the country recycle more than 50% of plastic bottles and they also benefit because they are earning money for returning plastic bottles and helping the environment to prevent it from being polluted or end up in our waters , into sea creatures which most of them are sources of food that humans eat.
This week we learned more about bottle water and went more in dept on what happens to the plastics we use everyday. I know learn from the the reading "Satan's Resin" by Elizabeth Royte that plastic bottles are more difficult to recycle unlike paper , cardboard and glass.See the thing is that it is more cheaper to buy new plastics then to buy the recycle ones. I also learned that the consumers also don't want to buy recycled plastics because of the thought of drink for the same plastic as another person in the world and you don't know really who that person is at all.It made me think of the time when my friend gave my other friend a straw from Starbucks that said it was recycled. Of course my friends exchange the straw to the regular one and i remember that there were fewer regular straw then the recycled because everybody takes the regular straw.
ReplyDeleteThen their is also what we learn in class. The bottle bill that eleven states made it into a law. That law increase the rate of those people recycling in the bottle bill states. I say that all threw out America we should pass that bill in every state for our goal of American becoming a greener nation.It better serve off our future generation and some people can make it as a career or even to earn extra money on the side. It can keep some of the plastics out of land filled and oceans .
One fact that I found interesting was that plastic in the ocean is killing sea life. The plastic in the ocean is harming is harming us as much as is harming the sea life because we eat those fishes that are in the sea.Something else interesting I found was “ 100 million tons of plastic are produced each year- and we only recycle about 5 percent of this.” The bigger question is where does all these plastic bottles end-up. Of Course nobody ask themselves this question because they don't know the facts behind bottle water. The recycle water bottles end up in landfills or in the ocean where is harming the animals. plastic products are not sustainable because it takes a long time to remove them from earth. It takes 540 average years to break down plastic beverage bottles. It takes 15 years to remove plastic bags from earth. Many of these products end up in people's backyards such as India. Many of these plastics aren't use for a long period time, their only used for about an hour or even minutes. We should invest reusable bottle waters. Not only are they safe but we aren't creating windrows in beaches, backyards or in the ocean. According to "Satan's Resin" from Garbage Land by Elizabeth Royte “ Litter alongside roads,rivers, and farm fields had begun to accumulate.” Only 11 states have bottles bills, and only 6 out of those 11 bottle bills accept water bottles. In states like Michigan there is a 95% of people actually recycling due to this bottle bill program. Of course some people don't have bottle bills because they can't afford it.
ReplyDeleteOne fact I found interesting from Elizabeth Royte’s book was, “In the six other states with bottle bills, unclaimed deposits go toward recycling education or administration, alcohol treatment programs, or the state’s general fund.” The bottle bill was meant to make people recycle plastic. They would make a deposit of 5 cents or more when they purchase something, and they would get it back when they return the product to recycle, but if people don’t, either because they are lazy or because recycling methods are not easy, reachable or convenient, then the state keeps the money, and I think that’s a genius plan in the state’s part since most people do not recycle. It’s an easy way for the state government to obtain money in another way other than taxing. According to Royte, New York retained $140.9 million in unclaimed nickels. If the bottle bills continue to be used, it can be a beneficial element to the state, but for us, it is a deposit we will never get back. So with that taken into account, I don’t think I will be buying bottled drinks as much as I used to when I can get free drinks through my filter at home. It is not smart to make a deposit if you know you are not going to claim your money back.
ReplyDeleteAnother fact I found interesting was from “Tapped,” toxic compounds, such as benzene, can be found in bottled water that disintegrate from plastic, which come from oil companies, and can be harmful to humans. It’s to know that the water some think it’s safe is actually harming them and causing disorders such as cancer, organ problems and birth defects. This fact should come as a wake up call for all people, buying bottled water can hurt not only your wallet but your health.
This past week we have learned about bottled water and tap water. Additionally, we have compared bottled and tap water. In the upcoming week we have to prepare an ad campaign that will persuade the audience to start drinking tap water rather than bottled water.
ReplyDeleteA quote that I liked from the reading “Floating Junkyard” was “These items are getting used for an hour at most, and they can end up in the environment for hundreds of years”. This quote made me realize how much harm all Americans are doing to our environment, oceans and most of all marine animals. This changed me thinking of bottled water because I thought that bottled water was healthier than tap water and I never knew it was harming the ocean in such a bad manner.
Another quote that I liked from Elizabeth Goyte’s “Satan’s Resin”- Garbage Land is “The organization’s underlying message is that individuals, not corporations who produce single-use containers, are responsible for trash, and that individuals must change their behavior, not manufacturers”. This exemplifies how the message of individuals’ changing their behavior on where they display their trash has been going on for a while. This message also led to ad campaigns and other commercials that provided statistical exemplification like how there was a fourteen-ton increase in new plastic production during the years 1995 and 1996.
This week we have learned about the differences in tap water and regular water. Something I found interesting was how some store they have machine so you could recycle your bottles and you would get 5 to 10 cents back. Only 11 states have bottle bills and some people got access to recycle bottle and instead the got to recycle themselves.
ReplyDeleteKevin Nunez