Fatherly wisdom

Perhaps the wisest thing my dad ever said to me was that “the best camera is the one you have with you”. Well, now that I’m a ripe old 30 I can finally say that he is right! That’s why everyone should have a certain phone camera doohicky.

Besides that, though. I think his second best advice was not truly recognized for its genius, especially at the time. He sent a mass email to all of his friends, which he never does, espousing the virtues of tap water and the evils of bottled water. Now there are many news stories and bloggers everywhere ranting about the waste and non-necessity of our obsession with water in a bottle. Some cities are even heavily discouraging bottles for use in the government buildings.

I found his email from back in 2004 and have pasted it below. Enjoy!
(btw, it took just two words: “fred” and “water” for the message to pop to the top of the list of old email. awesome)

Here it is, unedited:

Hi Everyone,

If you are like me, you have overdosed on politics, so here is a little tidbit that impacts your planet and your daily life that you may not have given much thought.

If you accept the “general wisdom”(whatever that is), you would expect that bottled water is more healthy than the free kind you can get from your tap. DON’T BELIEVE IT!!!!!

Here are five reasons you should eschew bottled water except in cases where portability is an issue:

1) It is incredibly expensive. More than gasoline. More than beer. More than cheap wine. What are you buying? As you can imagine, the water itself is virtually free, so you are essentially paying for marketing, packaging and transportation. It takes gasoline to haul around that water to the store you buy it from, and every additional gallon of gas we use just puts more money into the hands of our “friends” in the Middle East;u you know, the ones who want to destroy us.

2) You don’t know what is in it. Unlike municipal water systems, there are no standards for bottled water in the US. That’s amazing but true. The standards for tap water across the country are very strict and the water is tested daily. When is the last time you heard about a water borne outbreak of anything in this country? Don’t remember? That’s because they are very rare indeed.

3) Every plastic bottle you use is waste. True, some of it is recycled, but much is not and even the recycled variety is not an efficient use of our planets resources.

4) Most bottled water is not fluoridated. This is not much of an issue for older people, but children should have fluorine in their water to help prevent tooth decay. They don’t get it from bottled water, but they do from tap water.

5) Even if you think you are drinking only bottled water, you are not. Every time you get a drink with ice or coffee at a restaurant, you are drinking tap water. Don’t worry. It’s safer than the stuff you are paying for.

Still not convinced? In an article from the Nov 2 Wall Street Journal titled: Bottled Water isn’t Always Pure, a study of bottled water shows that many types have levels of bacteria and fungi much higher than those of municipal water supplies. Next time you are ready to pick up that box of bottled water, put it back and spend the money on something that has some real value, or give it to your favorite charity.

Regards,

Fred Bradshaw

This article is from the most recent issue of the Sierra Club newsletter…. so maybe my dad is an environmentalist after all!

Thanks, pop, for the good advice!