Tap vs. Bottled, which is the better overall choice?

Hello everyone!

So, for my 6^th blog assignment I was instructed to learn the pros and cons of tap water vs. bottled water.

The first part of this assignment involved me finding out where exactly my home’s tap water came from. So, what did it I find out? Well, after some research I came across that Riverside’s water is received from Riverside Public Utilities. It is essentially snow/rain water the starts out on our local mountains, and then flows downhill into underground aquifers.   From there the water is then filtered through a purification process that occurs naturally otherwise known as percolation. This is done yearly, usually after a storm.  Now, these water sources are located all throughout Riverside, and even San Bernardino. Source:http://www.riversideca.gov/utilities/pdf/wqar/2012/wqar-2012.pdf

The second part of the assignment had me researching tap (drinking) water standards and comparing/contrasting the results with bottled water standards. So, I found out the drinking water standards in California are some of the highest out of all the 50 states. There is actually an act that was passed by Congress in 1974 to ensure that all drinking water is free of harmful chemicals. Known as The Safe Drinking Water Act, it requires that each state carry our tests that are rigorous in order to ensure that the water received from each provide is safe to drink. Tests are carried out on a daily bases, and they make sure they meet, if not surpass all standards set by the act. The agencies that are in charge of regulating drinking water are the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

Source:http://www.riversideca.gov/utilities/pdf/wqar/2012/wqar-2012.pdf

 As for bottled water, much to what we have been taught to believe, it is not safer than tap water. It is controlled by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and doesn’t undergo nearly as much regulation as tap water does. More so, the FDA’s record for protecting out health is not the best. That alone is evidence to whether or not bottle water is really safe. The FDA only inspects the plants where bottled water comes from every couple of years. This is in comparison to the daily tests that our tap water undergoes.  Even scarier is that independent testing of 10 popular brands of bottled water found out that they contained around 38 pollutants and an average of around 8 contaminates in each individual brand.

Source:http://www.foodandwaterwatch.org/water/bottled/bottled-water-illusions-of-purity/

Lastly, I was instructed to assess the drawbacks of bottled water. We hear all the time how it is safer and more convenient than tap water, but as I just pointed out it definitely isn't safer. So, this leads me to convenience. Certainly the cost makes it less convenient than tap water.  In 2009 Americans on average spent 10.6 billion dollars on bottled water, and even more so they were paying 1,000 times more than what tap water costs.  To me, it seems less convenient to spend an average of 2 dollars on one small bottle of water that is only going to last a short time. Instead, you could opt for a reusable bottle and just fill it with tap water. This would not only save money it would reduce the amount of plastic being polluted. That is, because instead of being recycled about 75% of the water bottles that are purchased end up in places such as landfills, lakes and the oceans. It’s not just he plastic bottles that are bad for the environment, it’s also the fossil fuels that are used just to produce and transport the bottled water. In the United States alone the energy used is equal to around 32-54 million barrels of oil.

Source: http://www.foodandwaterwatch.org/water/bottled/bottled-water-bad-for-people-and-the-environment/

Overall, I say tap water is a much better choice than bottled water. You are not only saving money, but also helping out the environment. If you are still worried about the safety of your tap water, you can easily find out detailed information by searching for your town’s annual drinking water report. It is as easy as typing in the name of the town followed by “annual drinking water report”. If you are still uneasy you can opt for a Brita filter system, or something similar. This will still help in reducing the amount of plastic bottles polluted in our environment.

If you are interested, watch this short video about the story of bottled water J

Simply Put, Don't Litter.

Source:https://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn1/535975_484268148260868_726263761_n.jpg

What Do You Know About Your Favorite Food?

If you are reading this, then you are reading blog assignment #5. For the assignment I was prompted to choose one food that I enjoy. The requirements for this food were easy; it had to be something that I eat on a regular basis and/or something that my fellow classmates would possibly find unusual or interesting. It could either be a single ingredient product (an apple) or a multi-ingredient product (spaghetti). So, now I am sure you are wondering what I selected as my one food. Well that was easy, it is the multi-ingredient smoothie known as Naked (more specifically the green machine).

Now that I selected my product, I was further instructed to research this item and answer the questions provided in the assignment.  So, as usual I will begin with question #1 and work my way down the list. To make it easier, I will be providing the questions as well as the answers :)

1) If it’s a multi-ingredient food, what are the ingredients?  Figure out what each of those ingredients is (if it isn’t obvious) …preservative?  coloring agent?  etc.

Since my selection is multi-ingredient I suppose it would be appropriate to inform you on what exactly is inside a green machine. First I will start by listing the fruits (or as Naked calls them, the “goodness”) which includes: Apple juice, banana puree, kiwi puree, mango puree, and pineapple juice. As for vegetables (known as the “boost”) a green machine incorporates:  Spirulina, Chlorella, Broccoli, Spinach, Blue-Green Algae, odorless Garlic, Barley Grass, Wheatgrass, Ginger root, and Parsley. Lastly, “natural flavors” were included. What are “natural flavors” exactly? Good question, I too was asking myself that. Upon research I found out that definition of “natural flavors” under the Code of Federal Regulations is, “the essential oil, oleoresin, essence or extractive, protein hydrolysate, distillate, or any product of roasting, heating or enzymolysis, which contains the flavoring constituents derived from a spice, fruit or fruit juice, vegetable or vegetable juice, edible yeast, herb, bark, bud, root, leaf or similar plant material, meat, seafood, poultry, eggs, dairy products, or fermentation products thereof, whose significant function in food is flavoring rather than nutritional”. To sum it up, certain products in the green machine are used just for taste/flavoring rather than for a nutritional value.

Source:http://ecfr.gpoaccess.gov/cgi/t/text/textidxc=ecfr&rgn=div8&view=text&node=21:2.0.1.1.2.2.1.1&idno=21

2) Where did your item come from?  (Chile?  Alaska?  Australia?  Right here in sunny CA?)

While researching my product I found out that my product comes from right here in California. It started out in someone’s home located in Santa Monica; in 1983 Naked started making homemade juices and selling them to people on the beach. From there it grew to the larger known company it is now. Even more, its products are widely distributed in all the 50 states, Canada, and the U.K.

3) How was it (or its ingredients) grown or raised?  (organic?  pesticides?  hormones?  Factory farmed?  wild caught?  etc.)

Finding out how the ingredients were grown was not an easy task. The product though has no artificial flavors/ colors, no preservatives, no added sugar, not from concentrate. While it is considered vegan/kosher friendly, it isn't considered certified organic. Also, during my product research I did find out that while it boasted “no GMOs” there were recent lawsuits filed claiming that their products did in fact contain hidden GMOs.  Whether or not those claims are true is something I plan to do further research on.

4) Who raised / grew / produced / manufactured it?  (small farmer?  major corporation? migrant farm workers? who benefits economically and who 

might be harmed?)

The product started out as something that was homemade, but the small company was purchased from Pepsi co., so now it is produced by a major corporation. The good part though is that the values of the company are still held up from what I read. Farmers, their families, and communities are said to benefit from the products partnership with The Rainforest Alliance (a nonprofit organization whose commitment it conserving biodiversity, and sustainability).

5) What are its environmental impacts?  (How was it produced?  How is it packaged?  How was it transported to you?)

The bottle that the product is stored in is made from other bottles, and will be used to make new bottles when you’re finished with it.  They’re bottles are also square, which is supposed to be more efficient. As for the bottling facility and corporate offices, they also boast be green. They were awarded LEED status for their environmentally friendly buildings; they have over-sized windows for natural light, they reuse and compost waste, and they also use solar panels to provide their needed energy.  The products are however transported via trucking, which releases carbon emissions into the air.

6) What health effects might it have?  (Is it healthy?  Is it unhealthy but tasty?  How do you know about these health claims?  How do you know that they are accurate? 

Green machine is healthier than most things, especially since it contains a lot of greens (which an average person doesn't consume enough of). So, it is a good way to consume the needed vegetables and vitamins to maintain a healthy diet. However, it isn't a low calorie food and it does contain natural sugars. They health claims are advertised on the products website, and you can see the ingredients for each individual type of Naked. The health claims seem to be accurate because a green machine does contain a lot of vegetables, and if you consume at least one bottle you are consuming those vegetables. As for evidence I haven’t found any.

7) Include any additional information or answers to any additional questions that occur to you as you do your research.

Doing my research I was interested to find out some of the answers I couldn't find just from research, or from the website. So, I figure that next step is to email the company these questions. I am hoping for an email back. The questions  I am going to ask include how their fruits and vegetables are grown, where they get those products from (who grew them), and if any research was done about the potential benefits of the product. They aren't considered organic which makes me wonder if they use pesticides, or anything on their ingredients.

Researching the product was an eye-opener. That is, it is surprisingly hard to find out detailed information about the product. That seems like something that shouldn't be hard to find, but I had troubles. It’s also interesting to find out the back story of the product, and to see how its evolved through the years. I will continue to consume the smoothie, but I am a little disappointed that there’s a possibility that the company uses GMOs. 

Product Website:http://www.nakedjuice.com/

Something cool :)

Evolution at its finest; A yellow-bellied three-toed skink

Source: http://images.nationalgeographic.com/wpf/media-live/photos/000/254/cache/skink-evolves-live-birth-eggs_25436_600x450.jpg

This Lizard is evolving from egg laying to live birth....very interesting article that I recommend reading.

Article: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2010/09/100901-science-animals-evolution-australia-lizard-skink-live-birth-eggs/

How sustainable is our campus???

For my fourth blog assignment I was told to determine how “green” my school campus is. The first part was to think about all aspects of the campus (classrooms, grounds, cafeteria, waste removal, bathrooms, transportation to/from, etc.) when determining this.

Factors that I think would determine “greenness”:

• Water use throughout the campus
• Waste production
• Energy use in the classrooms, bathrooms, outside lights (air condition use also factors into the overall energy use).
• Pollution/emissions from transportation/ littering
• How much waste is recyclable?
• Paper use
• Access to information about sustainability/ encouraging “greenness”
• Student involvement
• Local foods/ organic available? 

The second part was to see what other campuses have done in regard to these issues, and more. Doing research I found out that Brown University received an “A”. You can even read their entire report (http://brown.edu/Facilities/Facilities_Management/docs/sustainability_report_2011_final.pdf) and see how they do in each category. For example, on page 33 they assess bottled water purchase and even supply a chart that demonstrates the decline in plastic bottle usage, which overall reduces trash usage.  Overall that usage was reduced by 83% in four years.  

You could also read the grade report, http://www.greenreportcard.org/report-card-2011/schools/brown-university, which shows the grade for each factor. They received an A in all but one, the A’s include that following factors: administration, climate change & energy, food & recycling, green building, student involvement, transportation, investment priorities, shareholder engagement. Their one factor that didn't receive an A was endowment transparency, and that factor received a “B”. A big thing Brown has done is they reduced greenhouse gas emission by 17% since 2007 and aim to reduce them by 42%by 2020. They also spend 20% of their food budget on locally purchased food. They have standards so that their buildings are “green”, and they are big on student involvement.  They encourage students to reduce their ecological footprint by offering incentives for carpooling and recycling, and students aren't the only ones involved, so are shareholders and administration. Overall they received their A because they do a lot to be a “green campus”.

http://www.brown.edu/about/brown-is-green/sites/brown.edu.about.brown-is-green/files/images/Brown%20Survey%20Postcard.JPG

Lastly, we were told to do a detailed assessment of one aspect from our own campus. For this part  I decided  I would assess our cafeteria to see how "green" it was. For this assessment I would start by examining trash production, and exactly how much of that trash was recyclable. I would go through each trash can in the the cafeteria, and possible even right outside. I would keep track of the different types of trash and report my findings. Next, I would assess how much (if any) of our food supplied by the cafeteria is locally purchased ( doesn't come from more than say 250 miles away). I would also find out if there are any options for organic foods, or anything that is a healthy alternative to pizza. After that I would examine the packaging, distribution, cooking, etc of that food. Lastly,  I could examine energy use. 

The people I could find out detailed information from would be the Riverside City College Green Committee team. RCCD started a Green Initiatives back in 2009 and they have a website with the people in charge of the program, so these are the people I would question. http://websites.rcc.edu/greeninitiatives/ I would do this assessment over a time period of a week, so that I could see the total numbers for just one week, and  I would get permission first from the administration. I would let them know what I wanted to do and why  I wanted to do it. If they weren't for it at first  I would persuade them as to why finding out the information would be good, and hope that they'd give me the go ahead. 

This task wouldn't be an easy one, and a lot of research would be necessary before even starting it. I think it would be beneficial to sketch out a plan, and find out the route that I would have to go to get permission/involvement,  so that I get useful and dependable information.