Blogging today and went over my vacation pictures. I think that the water bottle is going to be the downfall of the USA. We did something about the cans now we need to do something about the water bottle. As you can see from the picture that the trash in washington is composed almost entirerly of water bottles. Water bottles that do not compact in the trash because they are of a heavy plastic. How much harder would it be to use the same machines that we use for pop for the water bottles. Several of the flavored waters have return amounts. Yes it would be a hassel but for a better future I think its nessasary.
Also its a shame that people can't use the public fountains anymore. They are just not clean enough for anybody anymore. We everything to be single use and covered. Its a good thing in moderation. But the public foutains should be clean enough to use. Maybe if the city made each vendor put out two trashcans and be responsible for the waste from those two cans. The city would have the money to pay to clean the bathrooms and the fountains. P. S. the bathrooms under the Lincon Memoreal were gross and had toliet paper everywhere. My little niece found a nickel under the toliet though. The family made her wash it in the sink before she put it in her pocket.
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I've said it before, and I'll say it again: recycling is not the answer. It's just as ecologically unsound as landfills or dumps (if not more so). What people really need to start doing is reusing. When you finish a bottle of water, fill it back up again. Tap water isn't going to kill you...often.
--Mike
I wasn't aware that recycling wasn't good for the environment. However, I agree that water bottles should be re-filled. My mom bought me a 4-pack of gatorade a few years ago and every single day since then i just fill up the bottles from the tap. I have not died yet. I know that some areas don't have drinkable tap water, but it seems that most people who buy bottled water don't actually need to in order to survive. It's out of pure convenience.
Mike-
That reusing will not work in Washington. There is no place to refill the bottle. Why do you think thoose stands near the capital stay in business. Because on the 10 or 20 mile walk around the monuments you get thirsty. So you buy a water at the beginging the middle and the end. All of which must find a home in a trash can and not the ground. The issue here is not recycling. Its getting rid of the garbage. And how best to allocate the responsbilites for the trash. Lastly, the issue is how to reduce the trash. And why wouldn't putting a desposit on the bottles work? In Lansing we have water bottles along the sides of the road (somtimes) but no cans or bottles with a desposit on them. No those quickly get picked up by children and the homeless. Why shouldn't they get paid for picking up the trash? Nothings free.........
You don't have a sink at your house? Are there no sinks in the bathrooms?
--Mike
mike I don't live in washington and the vistors going there don't either. So there are no sinks in the outof doors. ITs a lot like a fair except there are no bathrooms. And the bathrooms under the Lincoln Memoriral I would not fill a water bottle in. I wouldn't even sit on the seat. Definatly a hover method bathroom.
I guess that only applies if you're only visiting the monuments. The Capitol Building has decent bathrooms (Congress probably made it a law) as do most of the other government buildings in the city. Plus, you have to eat sometime, and chances are (unless you're buying from those shady hot dog vendors on the mall) you'd go to somewhere with a decent bathroom.
--Mike
peppermint-
not to change the subject but bottled water often tastes better then tap. I know in Lansing, MI the water people put so much chorline in the water that you just what to throw it back up. And even then they say 6 months out of the year to boil it. They call it bad water advisorys. Personally I think our pipelines are getting old. And I think they are still replacing lead lines that are hard to get to.
That's true. See, I like the taste of my tap water here, so I forget that reason for buying water. But yes, I know when I go on vacation to the Jersey Shore the water tastes like chlorine/chemicals. But that said, many people will buy bottled water even if they like their tap water.