A Solid Dose of Science

In late 2009, the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality released a Life Cycle Assessment of Drinking Water Systems: Bottled Water, Tap Water, and Home/Office Delivery Water. The report is 500 pages of pure, awesome, straight-up science. I was recently introduced to this study in a workshop called Reduce, Reuse, Recycle: Zero Waste Strategies to Improve Your Bottom Line through the University of Oregon’s Sustainability Leadership Program. It was taught by none other than Dorothy Atwood, an Associate at Zero Waste Alliance. Dorothy and her friends at the Zero Waste Alliance beautified the results of DEQ’s study and transformed them into pretty, easy-to-decipher graphs. These graphs illustrate the different impacts determined by your choice between drinking out of a disposable plastic water bottle or a reusable drinking container.

This first graph shows a very minimal difference in impacts between recycling a one-time use plastic water bottle and throwing it away. This is not an anti-recycling graph - this is a realistic look at plastic recycling in Oregon.

This graph clearly shows the best possible choice: tap water in a reusable drinking container.

This graph is a big part of why I do what I do at Trash for Peace. Recycling is not the answer. Recycling is a last resort; implemented when good planning and design are absent. Tap water is the way to go, and reusable containers solve some significant problems. Unfortunately, making the best choice in terms of negative impacts will get a little harder.

This controversial local story (Portland Votes to Add Fluoride) was echoed nationally (HuffPost reports) as Portland surrenders its title as the biggest U.S. city to not fluoridate its water.

Fluoridated tap water has the potential to justify one's decision to choose bottled water - despite the overwhelming scientific evidence that reusable containers and tap water are superior. Protect your ability to make informed choices at: Don't Fluoridate Portland's Drinking Water.

- Andrew Judkins