photo courtesy of photoxpress.com

Water On the Go

Americans are hooked on bottled water. In fact, in 2009 alone, Americans consumed 8.45 billion gallons of the beverage. We grab one and go…to the gym, to work, and to school. And why shouldn’t we? Bottled water is oh-so-convenient as well as healthy; our bodies need lots of it every day.

 The Good

In response to environmental concerns, some of the larger bottled water manufacturers have made strides to reduce the size of their plastic bottles, thereby using fewer resources to manufacture while also producing less waste. Furthermore, plastic water bottles are recyclable and can be easily tossed into your curbside bin or else brought back to the grocery store or recycling center. And if you live in one of the 11 states that has a bottle bill, you can even pocket a nickel for each plastic bottle you do return. In fact, bottle bill or not, Americans are recycling over 2 billion pounds of plastic water bottles every year. This must be good, right?

 The Not-So-Good

While any effort to recycle and reduce waste is good, the problem remains that while over 2 billion pounds of plastic bottles are being recycled in the U.S. each year, this number represents a relatively small recycling rate of about 25 percent. This is in contrast to paper recycling, which has a rate of around 50 percent. That means that at least 75 percent of post-consumer plastic bottles are being incinerated or thrown in the trash each year! To add to the not-so-good news, standard water bottles, which are made with PET (Polyethylene Terephthalate) materials are said to take about 500 years to biodegrade. Environmental watchdog groups say that we have so much plastic in our landfills that the breaking down process simply can’t keep up. As a result, some of this surplus washes away with the ground water and inevitably ends up in our oceans, threatening precious marine wildlife.

photo courtesy of photoxpress.com

Part of the Solution

There are things we can do to reduce the amount of plastic going into landfills each day, the first of which is to become a responsible consumer. Being mindful of how much plastic waste we create each day is a great first step, along with remembering to recycle consistently. We can set a good example for our children by teaching them how to responsibly dispose of their plastic containers and while making recycling fun. Allow them to collect plastic bottles around the house or out in the community and reward them for doing so.

The second step is to purchase water bottles that are made from biodegradable plastic. For example, ENSO Bottles has created the technology for a biodegradable PET plastic water bottle. ENSO’s “Bottles for a Healthier Earth” can be recycled along with other PET plastics, but are also biodegradable in landfill environments. ENSO’s promising technology, along with some mindful changes on the part of consumers, are both important parts of the solution to plastic bottle pollution, both now and in the future.

photo courtesy of photoxpress.com

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Rotaract is dedicated to making the world a better place, but might see the world from a slightly different perspective than Rotary. Rotaractors are between the ages of 18 and 30, and are typically very early in their careers. Although still fresh to the professional world, they are future leaders in business, politics and the community.

Those in attendance at the Rotaract Pre-Convention 2009 in Birmingham, England came from backgrounds including medicine, law, the U.S. Foreign Service, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, American Civil Liberties Union, Peace Corps, German Luftwaffe Office Corps, European royalty, consulting firms, investment banking, and a plethora of small businesses started by Rotaractors themselves. Rotaractors will be shaping the world, and they’re passionately involved in Rotary International to make that happen.

Rotaract needs the support of local Rotary Clubs, but doesn’t require hand-holding. A successful Rotaract Club must function independently – guided by Rotarians, but led by Rotaractors. Rotary Clubs can work to develop Rotaract Clubs by first identifying a solid group of sociable young leaders who are able to motivate and inspire both friends and strangers. These people are most frequently the children of Rotarians or those that have participated in Rotary youth programs. Once a core group has been established and the new Rotaractors have a basic understanding of Rotary International, service projects should become the primary focus. From there Rotaractors can participate in local and international service projects in partnership with other clubs and organizations, attend conferences around the state, country and world and even take an active role in the leadership of the global organization.

Each Rotaract Club develops on its own and finds its own causes to support. The Rotaract Club of Phoenix, currently the only Rotaract Club in District 5490, is best known for its annual Water Drive benefitting St. Vincent DePaul and other valley homeless shelters. During the summer of 2009 the club raised and donated 17 tons of bottled water (20,000 bottles) to valley homeless shelters; enough water to support valley shelters for an entire month. This project is possible thanks to the generous support of Rotary Clubs throughout Arizona, the Rotaract Clubs of ASU and East Valley and ENSO Biodegradable Bottles.

Phoenix Rotaract works on service projects throughout the year and has partnered with Project C.U.R.E., Friendly House, and UMOM. Additionally, the Club was recently represented for the second year in a row in Caborca, Sonora, Mexico for the PolioPlus campaign there. Currently, Phoenix Rotaract is working with Bridging AZ Furniture Bank on an estate sale taking place on the weekend of April 30 at the southwest corner of 32nd Street & Indian School Road in Phoenix. The Club has created an inventory system and catalogue of items being sold and is in charge of promoting the event across the Phoenix metropolitan area.

In order to support these projects Phoenix Rotaract is developing a series of fundraisers. The Club is selling tickets to the opening weekend of the Arizona Diamondbacks for the Saturday, April 10 game against Pittsburg. Additionally, the club is planning an outing at the Scottsdale Drive-In for fall 2010 and is developing a volleyball tournament. Supporting these events and Phoenix Rotaract allows the Club to send members to local, national and international conferences, send members to Mexico to participate in PolioPlus projects and supports causes like the Water Drive.

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Beaver Falls and Greenwood , British Columbia won silver and bronze respectively. Although both are first time entrants, British Columbia has an almost permanent place in the tasting’s municipal winners circle.

The Canadian – U.S. rivalry was reversed in the purified category when Kittiwake Pure from Newfoundland topped Crystal Mountain Water of Huntsville, Alabama. Hometown water, Berkeley Springs took the bronze.

Although bottled water came literally from all over the globe to compete, the top five medalists were all U.S. waters including two bottling Berkeley Springs water. Judged Best Bottled Water in the World was Ecoviva, Roscommon, MI which also boasted a 100% biodegradable bottle. The silver was won by Eldorado Natural Spring Water, Eldorado Springs, Colorado. International entrants included for the first time water from Brazil and China as well as ones from New Zealand, Macedonia, Italy, Japan, Bosnia and Ecuador. A total of 49 bottled waters were tasted.

Two special awards were given this year to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the water tasting. The Bottled Water Web is honoring Sweet Springs Natural Mountain Water of Gap, WV, winner of four gold medals, a feat that has not yet been matched. The American Water Works Association is presenting a top winner award to Mission Springs Water District of Desert Hot Springs, California for their six medals won over the years. Marilyn McKay, Administrative Officer of Mission Springs, was on hand to accept the award.

More than 200 people watched at the Country Inn in Berkeley Springs on Saturday night as a dozen media judges spent hours tasting more than 125 waters from 24 states and ten foreign countries. There were 44 municipal waters from 12 states and Canada. “We have double the number of cities and towns competing in the tap water division from last year, “ said Klein Rone, “and seven former gold medalists.

Bottled water came literally from all over the globe to compete, including for the first time water from Brazil and China. The Brazilians and Chinese competed against other international waters including those from New Zealand, Macedonia, Italy, Japan and Ecuador as well as long time festival favorite, Bosnia. A total of 49 bottled waters were tasted.

Winning sparkling waters were all international with Dobra Voda of Kratovo, Macedonia taking the gold and previous gold medal winner, Canadian Gold of Marchand, Manitoba coming in second.

Arthur von Wiesenberger, author and founder of BottledWaterWeb.com once again served as the event’s watermaster. “This is the longest running and largest water tasting in the world,” he said. “The grandaddy of them all.” .” Klein Rone was delighted at the crowd and the array of water officials who came from as far away as China and British Columbia to attend the event.

The crowd was interested in the peoples’ choice packaging competition where it was their votes that chose which of the 17 entrants was the most alluring. “This is another record number,” said Klein Rone. The overwhelming favorite was the silvered column of Bling from Los Angeles. “We’re especially pleased with their win since they have our gold medal on the bottle,” said Jeanne Mozier, one of the event founders. Within the winning Bling bottle is previous gold medal water from English Mountain in Tennessee.

Conclusion of the daylong water tasting is the famed “water rush” where the audience is invited to take home hundreds of bottles of water sent as part of the judging. “I spent about nine hours arranging all the waters in a display,” said Mozier. “The crowd spent less than ten minutes making it all disappear. It’s like a Tibetan sand mandala,” she laughed. Most popular among “rushers” this year was the cobalt blue glass bottle of Climax water. The champions of the rush were a couple who travel from New York City every year especially for the water tasting.

The dozen media judges selected by Klein Rone from print, radio and the Web were instructed by von Wiesenberger to look, sniff and taste each water under guidelines like those in a wine tasting. The waters were rated for each attribute including appearance (it should be clear – or slightly opaque for glacial waters), aroma (there should be none), taste (it should taste clean), mouth feel (it should feel light), aftertaste (it should leave you thirsty for more). Waters were tasted in four separate flights over two days.

The 21st annual Berkeley Springs International Water Tasting is scheduled for Saturday, February 26, 2011. For more information on Berkeley Springs or its water tasting, call 1-800-447-8797 or check online at www.berkeleysprings.com.

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