Bottled water blues.Your cover story "Message in a Bottle (September/October 2003) draws ironic similarities to the SUV craze. Americans are not buying purity in a glass or open road freedom. They're buying urban cowboy images and feel-good escapes as they consume regular water and sit in regular traffic. Yukons and Tahoes bring you to the same imaginary land as Ice Mountain and Crystal Springs. However, in reality, these consumer choices cause pristine lands to recede re·cede 1 intr.v. re·ced·ed, re·ced·ing, re·cedes 1. To move back or away from a limit, point, or mark: waited for the floodwaters to recede. 2. further away. Jay Lustgarten San Anselmo San Anselmo (săn ănsĕl`mō), city (1990 pop. 11,743), Marin co., W Calif., near San Francisco; inc. 1907. It is mostly residential. San Francisco Theological Seminary is there. , CA I saw the photo of the pile of discarded bottles in your cover article. My goal is to have a national bottle bill of 25 cents per bottle in the not-too-distant future. I clean up beaches, some even uninhabited, and notice how many water bottles, most half full, we wealthy Americans toss out. It's crazy. Kathleen Savino EPA EPA eicosapentaenoic acid. EPA abbr. eicosapentaenoic acid EPA, n.pr See acid, eicosapentaenoic. EPA, n. environmental scientist via e-mail While your article did an outstanding job in exposing myths and unknown facts about bottled water, you failed to cover the product's good points. I have a background in natural health, and what you didn't stress was that certain bottled waters are in fact healthier than tap water. Some have beneficial minerals, vitamins or even an altered molecular structure. I am all for the environment, but my health comes first, so I drink bottled water when I am not at home. Also, it would be nice if water filters could be recycled as you suggest, but I am not going to drink cruddy crud·dy adj. crud·di·er, crud·di·est Slang Worthless, loathsome, or disgusting. crud·di·ness n. Adj. 1. tap water. John Tsevdos Brooklyn, NY We all know that government at many levels lies to us, from food safety to media freedom on up to the environment and foreign policy. Why then would Brian Howard For the American basketball player, see Brian Howard (basketball). For the English football player, see Brian Howard (footballer). Brian Christian de Claiborne Howard imply that what the authorities say about tap water holds any more true than what boners say? Everyone is watching out for themselves and eyeing the bottom line. Studies in the late 80s showed virtually all water systems and private wells were contaminated contaminated, v 1. made radioactive by the addition of small quantities of radioactive material. 2. made contaminated by adding infective or radiographic materials. 3. an infective surface or object. to some degree that was bad for health. And our political slide since has made things worse, not better. Normally very healthy, in 1982 I started having ominous problems. The Health Department said my water was fine, but they only tested for coliform bacteria coliform bacteria Rod-shaped bacteria usually found in the intestinal tracts of animals, including humans. Coliform bacteria do not require but can use oxygen, and they do not form spores. They produce acid and gas from the fermentation of lactose sugar. . So I got an independent analysis that showed a cadmium reading 10 times the (then) EPA threshold. I solved the problem and recovered my health by buying a simple countertop water distiller, which is safe and easy. Barry Parsons Parsons, city (1990 pop. 11,924), Labette co., SE Kans.; inc. 1871. It is a shipping point for dairy products, grain, and livestock. Manufactures include ammunition, wire and paper products, plastics, and appliances. Madison, FL |
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