Great analysis Arlo, Tow points specifically.
The value of our "convenience". And Our tendency to "post-rationalize" the indefensible. Two major psychological "failings" we face. Ian On 6/23/07, ARLO J BENSINGER JR <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > [SA] > I do know earlier in the trip I did stop to buy a bottle of water at a > convinent store. I knew this convinent store was on my route, and I waited > for > this particular place to stop. > > [Arlo] > Consider this. According to the cost-analysis given here > (http://www.triplepundit.com/pages/askpablo-exotic-bottled-water-002401.php), > which looks at the "true cost" of producing and moving a bottle of water from > Fiji to San Francisco, it takes approximately 8.5 ounces (243 grams) of gas to > produce/move this one bottle of water. That's about .06 gallons. That puts it > about one gallon of fossil fuel for each 16 or so bottles of water moved from > Fiji just to San Francisco (remember once you distribute within the US, you > are > adding more fossil fuel to the mix). > > According to the San Francisco Chronicle > (http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/01/21/BUGE7NL8RA1.DTL), > "more than 180 million bottles of Fiji Water were sold last year". The amount > of fossil fuel consumed just to make and distribute these bottles to San > Francisco is about 11,250,000 gallons of fuel. > > And that's just Fiji Water, and that's just to San Francisco. > > Looking at the totality of bottled water produced and consumed, Earth Policy > Organization (one of those commie, anti-American, evil enemy of freedom > groups) > noted "making bottles to meet Americans' demand for bottled water requires > more than 1.5 million barrels of oil annually, enough to fuel some 100,000 > U.S. > cars for a year. Worldwide, some 2.7 million tons of plastic are used to > bottle > water each year." > > I have suggested to those in my area to use home water purification systems, > or > distillers, to lower the cost and impact of consuming water, while still > getting good, clean water to drink. But these require larger upfront > investments, and so many are unwilling. Using reusable containers to carry > your > own water, rather than disposable bottles, is also an idea worth encouraging. > > But as I said, we are a people of hindsight, not foresight. We can't be > inconvenienced or bothered to think about tomorrow, or about larger waste and > resource management issues. Hell, I'm an evil commie tyrant for simply > suggesting the idea that we should be concerned about how we are using and > disposing resources. > > [SA] > This static pattern wasn't open to springs as being a place to stop for water. > > [Arlo] > Getting a bottle of clean water from a convenience store in a pinch is > something worth keeping. But our practice should be informed by larger impact > concerns. Stay as local and resuable as you can. And if you happen upon > polluted or undrinkable springs in the forest, report them to the PA DEP (or > your local state agency). We should not settle for a polluted world where > drinking from springs makes you ill. > > In closing consider this. > > If one bottle of water is 12oz, that's about .09 gallons and cost is about $1. > > For gas, at $3/gallon, .09 gallons would cost you about 27 cents. > > Bottled water is about 4 times more expensive than gasoline, which is mined, > refined, shipped, and subject to political turmoil. Water is "the single most > abundant resource on the planet" (Dennis Miller). > > > moq_discuss mailing list > Listinfo, Unsubscribing etc. > http://lists.moqtalk.org/listinfo.cgi/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org > Archives: > http://lists.moqtalk.org/pipermail/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org/ > http://moq.org.uk/pipermail/moq_discuss_archive/ moq_discuss mailing list Listinfo, Unsubscribing etc. http://lists.moqtalk.org/listinfo.cgi/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org Archives: http://lists.moqtalk.org/pipermail/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org/ http://moq.org.uk/pipermail/moq_discuss_archive/
