Tonight's CBS Evening News Reporter Request!

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Permalink Reply by Katrina on July 8, 2009 at 11:21am

Thanks for the info! My family quit buying bottled water a couple of years ago - opting for re-fillable alternatives like the Klean Kanteen and thinksport bottles. We try to avoid baby bottles (fairly easy since I breastfeed) and even use the small Klean Kanteen, Thermos or Sigg bottles instead of sippy/straw cups.

We have also gotten rid of our plastic food storage containers in favor of using glass storage containers whenever possible. We try to use the glass containers and stainless bottles for packing my husband's lunches and the kids snacks.

My husband has become such an advocate that he talks to people at work about the dangers of plastic drinking containers!

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Permalink Reply by Pamilla deLeon- Lewis on July 8, 2009 at 11:23am

I stopped using bottled water a few years ago. I stopped initially because I was concerned that we were being sold hydrant and regular boiled water- some with a fizz ( Perrier). My aunt, who never bought a bottle of water period- said she thought it was criminal for the government to allow such a thing, pointed out to me how lazy we'd gotten as a society. Why can't you boil your own water? she asked in exasperation. You boil it , put it in the refrigerator in a bottle if that is how you want to drink it. She also pointed out to me that I didn't know what was being added to it.
After her little talk with me, I came to the same conclusion- it a waste of money. Needless to say I invested in a refrigerator with a filter & voila...No more bottled water. I was also concerned about the plastic in which water was being sold...I'm a breast cancer survivor so you understand my concern. Bottled water is a rip off. Ever heard the one about the French man, the German and the Norwegian...German said- Americans are so materialistic and wasteful; The French man said- bet if we bottled water in a fancy container we could sell it to the Americans... Sure we can, said the Norwegian- let me get to work on the commercial....& folks the rest is history... Ban bottled water it's a rip off and dangerous to our health. JMHO.

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Permalink Reply by Rosemary Nickel on July 8, 2009 at 11:26am

I haven't totally thrown out the plastic bottle water usage, but it is SEVERELY limited. I purchased some supposedly safe plastic reusable water containers from a local sporting good store. However, I didn't stop using water bottle because of the plastic issue. I stopped years ago because there is no fluoride in the water and toddlers don't get it in their toothpaste. I will forward your info on, I know this is a hot topic!

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Permalink Reply by Joanna Trusdle on July 8, 2009 at 11:29am

Hi Megan

I just sent off my email.

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Permalink Reply by Keonte' on July 8, 2009 at 11:45am

Oh yes, the great bottle water debate. I sent an email for sure.

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Permalink Reply by Evelyn Vincent on July 8, 2009 at 12:02pm

I am delighted that Kelly Wallace is doing a segment on plastic and bottled water! I emailed her too. People need to know that we can't do these types of things and not expect to pay for it dearly at some point down the road.

I have never bought bottled water unless I was parched and had no other options. My reason: it tastes disgusting and may years ago (long before the unfavorable plastic science we have today) I felt having food or beverages in plastic would turn out to be harmful - turns out I was right.

I also do NOT drink municipal tap water either, as it's like trading one evil for another - that too has turned out to be a wise choice.

What I do instead is I filter my tap water then store it in the fridge in recycled "glass" bottles, or I go to local springs with my canvas bags filled with my glass bottles and fill them up with "real" spring water. I also use this filtered or real spring water for cooking because why would I want to cook with water that I wouldn't want to drink???

I also use paper or organic cotton bags for my fresh produce - I don't want my food touching plastic whenever I can help it.

I feel that doing all of these things, and more, has helped me remain much healthier than my peers and the population in general. I wouldn't trade these extra steps for plastic conveniences for any reason whatsoever, period.

The other thing I think about regarding plastic is all of the toxins being put into the environment in the process of making them. If you haven't seen the 20 minute video on the Story of Stuff I highly recommend watching it, http://www.storyofstuff.com It is by far the best documented and presented piece of material I've seen to date - it is excellent.

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Permalink Reply by Mignon on July 8, 2009 at 12:21pm

I contacted Kelly and told her the following:

I do still buy bottled water, BUT only because we live in an old house in an old country town. The town's pipes bust regularly. I know we regularly have one on our street bust. You can see when they are being patched that the uncovered pipes have some serious deterioration. Also, our normal water color is brown allegedly caused by plant deterioration (tannins or something like that). The town has no money to replace the entire town's water piping system and it still wouldn't fix the brown water. It wouldn't matter if all the pipes were replaced and the water system didn't ever break down and it was proven to me that the water consistently didn't have contamination - there is just no way I am interested in brown ice cubes in a clear glass with brown water.

So, I have the choice of drinking brown water with deteriorated plant material in it and pipe deterioration or I buy bottled water.

I hope the FDA gets a handle on the bottled water really quick for families like ours who don't have a choice but to buy water.

I'm stuck choosing the lesser (I hope) of two evils.

Don't get me started on washing white clothing.


Mignon :)

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Permalink Reply by BeesKnees on July 8, 2009 at 12:26pm

This tax might be a good thing...there has been some movement towards creating a water trust fund and the idea is that since these bottled water companies don't "make" water (they take it from nature) the tax is supposed to go back towards funding stewardship efforts made by providers of this service.

I don't buy the bottled stuff anymore...our town has great water but I know not everybody is so lucky. That Pur filter is a good idea in that way.

Glad this segment is being done, good job CBS.

Libby Jordan said:

Thanks for sharing this! I've been in the anti-bottled camp for awhile now. Not only am I concerned about the toxins in the plastic, I also see it as a recycling nightmare and, in my hometown, they're now talking about adding a 5 cent per bottle charge as they do with soda. Crazy!

Keep up the good sharing and Peace!

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Permalink Reply by Dark_Priestess on July 8, 2009 at 12:55pm

I'm emailing her! And I'm glad the national news media is finally picking up on the toxins in plastic bottles!

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Permalink Reply by Beverly Dixon on July 8, 2009 at 1:26pm

Thanks so much for the information. I emailed her. I stopped buy bottled water do the harm plastic causes to my family. It has saved us a ton of money. We bought BPA free water bottles & a Brita Pitcher with a filter. The water taste great. I look forward to participating in this.

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Permalink Reply by Danelle Hoffer on July 8, 2009 at 2:10pm

I'm a Mom concerned. I started my company CynerGreen because of my concern over plastic water bottles and the dangers of BPA. It was time to spread the word about this increasingly scary issue. We now manufacture stainless steel, safe, tested, reusable water bottles for kids and adults. We also work tirelessly to educate the public, companies, schools and anyone that will listen about just how many plastic water bottles are tossed into landfills each year as well as the definition of BPA and what it can do to harm your body. Did you know this year alone that number has already reached 73 billion? BPA is Bisephenol A, a harmful indocrine distruptor that releases harmful toxins into your body. Read the reports just released this week by Harvard - it's alarming. If we dont do something now to protect our children, who will?

Attachments:

• Slide Show Bad Plastic.pdf, 1.9 MB

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Permalink Reply by Grace E. Mauzy on July 8, 2009 at 2:26pm

My email to Kelly

I am sure you are set for this evening,
but I am a mom who has spanned the bottled water
era.

My eldest is 25 and my youngest is 9.
I have always said that in most cases bottled
water has many detrimental effects.

it is always interesting to see that
at sometime consumerism
is thwarted by health.

Anyway, glad to know that the bottled water
idea is being seen for some of what it is worth-
nothing but money in the pockets of the
water bottlers.

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