Why I Don’t Recycle

[Williamsmith]

I did some further reading regarding the plastics used in our culture. I would venture to guess 95% of people are like me....they have no clue what that bottle they just purchased is constructed of. I am going to refer to one website as a resource. Honestly, I can’t vouch for their veracity and true knowledge but it seems reliable.

There are 7 different categories of plastic containers indicated by the number with the “chasing arrows” symbol found on the bottle.

1. Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) - water bottles...should not be reused as it could leach carcinogens.
2. High Density Polyethylene (HDPE) - milk jugs....safest form and commonly recycled.
3. Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC) - plumbing applications......not commonly recycled.
4. Low Density Polyethylene (LDPE) - grocery bags......used by a lot of people for collecting household trash and not recycled.
5. Polypropylene - five gallon buckets and cereal liners....pretty safe to reuse. Doesn’t get recycled much.
6. Polystyrene - clam shell “to go” boxes at restaraunts....not recycled and almost all end up in the landfill.
7. Polycarbonate- and a whole hodgepodge of catch all plastic mixes. A real unknown group.

http://learn.eartheasy.com/2012/05/p...y-the-numbers/

So I started wondering what those “eco friendly” water bottles are made of. I mean, I fork out extra money to buy the high end stuff because they have a green cap and the company wants to save the planet.

Aquafinas “Eco-Fina” is simply a bottle that has thinner walls than it used to so they can claim they use less plastic in its manufacture. It’s still the same plastic. What it does is save the company money in manufacturing as they designed the bottle with more ridges that stiffen the bottle.

Dasani - Coca colas entry into the love the planet contest. This bottle is made up of 70% PET and 30% plant material. The plant material is sugar cane and molasses. That’s fine but what does the increased demand for sugar cane do to the countries that grow it. Do they cut down more trees to make room for sugar cane production? I’m not sure that’s a good model going forward.

Then I got to regretting being involved in the whole bottled water consumption deal. After all, I’m getting municiple water from some other location that takes three times the amount of water to get in the bottle by the manufacturing process, involves trucking it all over the country, requires petroleum products as a delivery system, is a health threat if it remains too long in the bottle due to leaching, sits in a landfill forever (maybe it can get reclaimed someday). I have to haul it from the store home and use up valuable storage space on my shelves. AND....I am paying premium prices for something that is already delivered to my faucet.

Yesterdya, I purchased two 500 ml aluminum thermos. One for me, one for wifey to take in her lunch bag. These keep hot and cold liquids at temperature for 12- 24 hrs. Cost- $16. My transition plan is to use gallon jugs of water until I get the home water tested. Once the quality is assured, then move to completely tap water.

[SteveinMN]

You're welcome, Williamsmith!

We have good (treated aquifer) water here (moderately hard) but I still filter at the kitchen tap because my (non-scientific) study says we descale pots, coffeemakers, etc. far less often than we likely would with moderately-hard water. I don't notice a difference in the taste.

[catherine]

Wow, I am so impressed by your interest and research into this topic! Thanks for informing the rest of us as well! Kudos for making this change. Information can be empowering.

[Chicken lady]

Williamsmith. My boss is trained as a chemist. She says if you’re going to buy water in containers - buy “distilled”. Then you know it is just water.

my car is going to be recycled. My “new” car is “flex fuel” equipped. I feel like i’ve accomplished something just by buying it instead of someone who won’t do the research on e85 and would feed it that either through mistaken impressions or the desire to save money.

i has to say “no thank you” to five bottles of water while we were car shopping. Dh finally said “yes” at the last place, and the guy brought me one even though he acknowledged when he brought it that I had said no. I didn’t touch it, and when we finished our paperwork I told the salesman that that was “an extra bottle that someone had just brought out.” So hopefully it got put back or used by someone else who was going to use one anyway.

i am reenergized to tackle remaining plastic issues at our house.

[frugal-one]

The water here has lots of lead in it. If you let a glass sit, the sediment is about an inch thick on the bottom. The water from the tap is cloudy. So, we literally HAVE to filter the water. A Pur (on the facet) filtration system does the job.

[Williamsmith]

I’m off to the extension office to pick up my water test kit. I have to admit I am energized by my wife’s encouragement in this effort. Usually, my ideas are met with an eye roll and “that’s nice dear, but .....”. This time she reminded me that I was the one who abandoned drinking the water from our well (at the old house) and started buying water. In my defense, I coached baseball for ten years and bottled water by the case was convenient for traveling long distances to tournaments and such.

But, it’s time to explore a better way. This will benefit my budget, be a step toward simplicity and minimalism. I took a look in my extra storage room and on the shelf discovered that yep.....I had saved the Brita filter container I used to keep in the fridge for my water supply.

[Williamsmith]

The water here has lots of lead in it. If you let a glass sit, the sediment is about an inch thick on the bottom. The water from the tap is cloudy. So, we literally HAVE to filter the water. A Pur (on the facet) filtration system does the job.

How often do you test the water? That doesn’t sound healthy. I’d be buying my water in jugs. Mr. Paranoid.

[frugal-one]

How often do you test the water? That doesn’t sound healthy. I’d be buying my water in jugs. Mr. Paranoid.

I live in a small village that tests the water. They send us the results yearly. It is evident that the lead is filtered out by our method. The filter when full is very heavy. Also, the water is very clear and tastes great.

[BikingLady]

Chicken Lady,

I asked last month my friend at Ford about the E85 Flex Fuel option. Overall she told me less up front cost at pump, lower miles per tank. So to do the math on MPG, not really a savings.

[Chicken lady]

It looks like savings at the pump. And there is a lobby to argue that it is environmentally friendly. But actually, driving on corn ethanol is a huge environmental step back.

so, yeah, I have no intention of putting that in my tank.

this morning I intruded dh to the idea of a reusable bottle for his lunch juice (for years he took a can of soda and recycling the can didn’t bother me. Then he switched to canned juice “drinks” but now he is drinking straight up juice and it comes in plastic bottles. I have to work on the idea slowly.