Breaking all the beverage container habits!
Posted on Wednesday, October 10th, 2007 at 1:36 pmThis post is written by ALex Eaves of STAY VOCAL, a C3 partner. It’s the first in our guest blogging series!
This month’s C3 campaign is not only extremely important, but seriously, it’s just such an easy habit to break! All you have to do is two simple things:
- Get a reusable bottle.
- Remember to bring it with you wherever you go.
Keep the bottle in your car, or keep it in your bike, or keep it in your bag or get two or three of them that you always have in each location. Then there’s almost no excuse for forgetting to use it. This is a practice I have been doing for a few years now and not just for water, but for all beverages.
In my car, I always have two of my STAY VOCAL travel mugs: one for water and one for coffee. (Coffee flavored water isn’t always thirst quenching.) I do this because I travel a lot and I don’t want to get stuck somewhere using a throw-away cup. Not to mention, my mugs have facts about container waste on them (see the picture below), so I like the servers to know exactly why I am using the mug.
As I have been drinking coffee for about 15 years and traveling the world for about seven years , I have been to a ton of different coffee shops. But being a New England native, most of the coffee I’ve had was from Dunkin’ Donuts. According to their website, “Dunkin’ Donuts is the world’s largest coffee and baked goods chain, serving more than three million customers per day.” But sadly, they are also one of the only chains to still use Styrofoam for their single serving coffee cups.
And most of their customers do not own and/or remember to use a travel mug or simply care how bad styrofoam is for the environment. So, we are promoting an email campaign to tell Dunkin’ Donuts to stop using Styrofoam and at the very least, change to paperboard, which is much more biodegradable. Visit Dunkin’ Donuts’ product feedback page to tell them to break the Styrofoam habit.
In the meantime, you can do your part by making sure to bring a reusable container every time you get coffee, water or any other beverage when you’re out. If you’re interested in getting one of our ReUse Travel Mugs, please visit our online store.
About ALex and STAY VOCAL:
I grew up in a small, sheltered suburb of Boston. But when I ventured out to the city for college, everything changed. After running a street promotions company for a few years, I began touring with many different politically active bands and organizations, but I wanted to do even more. So, in 2003, I started STAY VOCAL.
STAY VOCAL focuses on common problems and issues in the world today and presents positive ideas to help change them. By providing a variety of vehicles that embrace different fashions, styles, and humor, this company is here to help people get vocal. We want to help manifest a better future for everyone. Everything surrounding this company focuses on beneficial ways of thinking, advancing and getting involved. We are the voice of a progressive, positive world. On the web at www.stayvocal.com
I love the idea of just leaving a travel mug or two in my car/bike/bag! So simple…why didn’t I think of that?!?! So far, I keep a reusable mug at the office, and I also bring one with me if I’m going out for coffee or social events where beverages are served, but now I can take this idea one step further.
posted on October 10th, 2007 at 9:01 pmP.S. I sent my two cents to Dunkin Donuts about styrofoam!
posted on October 10th, 2007 at 9:09 pmI try to avoid throw-away cups and containers, but as a runner, I’m often dismayed by the gobs of plastic water bottles being handed out at road races. I was really encouraged last weekend at when, at the finish line of the Hartford Half Marathon in CT, instead of bottled water, race officials had set up an enormous 40-person water fountain. The officials estimated that the fountain saved them from handing out 10,000 bottles of water. Holy smokes! Apparently the device, called something like the Green Water Machine, was designed by engineers specifically for this race, but the idea could be applied anywhere and everywhere to cut down on waste. Unfortunately, I think the companies and vendors who make money off water in airports or shopping malls (even schools!) would probably put up a fight. How did these people ever convince us we needed to pay for bottled water in the first place?
posted on October 16th, 2007 at 1:29 pmErin, that is an amazing sounding contraption. I really hope more races and events, like the Olympics, take notice and put something like that in place. Unfortunately, bottled water companies probably contribute a lot of money to events. Ugggg…
posted on October 18th, 2007 at 1:37 pmDear folks at Carbon Conscious Consumer and New American Dream,
I’m responding to this post because I can’t figure out how to blog directly.
I recently received a suggestion (linking to C3)from a friend that I pledge to stop drinking bottled water, as an action to “cut carbon, eliminate waste, and help make a healthier planet.” At the time, I thought it somewhat unfortunate that the grand prize was a trip to a ski resort, since it seemed anachronistic, but aside from deleting that info in the message that I forwarded in turn, I thought little of it. However, my sister pointed out the irony that the prize for something that is supposed to improve the planet, especially with respect to water issues, is a trip to a place that glorifies conspicuous consumption, and, of all things, squanders precious water resources to make snow.
When this was pointed out, I was fairly disgusted. I wish you would reconsider. I can’t imagine how this makes sense, although I welcome any clarification.
Also, my reaction doesn’t stop me from acting on the pledge. In fact it’s something I have been doing for some, due to water rights issues in the news, joining campaigns against multinational for-profit corporations draining aquifers for bottling plants, witnessing seacoast resort communities pumping in water from rural farmland areas causing difficulties for irrigation of organic food crops on small family farms, and experiencing the effects of water shortages (especially potable water) when visiting friends in Peru.
So, I applaud the values that motivated this latest c3 challenge, while I bemoan your choice of “carrot.” Best wishes on aligning your prizes with your values.
Christine
posted on October 19th, 2007 at 9:26 amBelfast, Maine
I grew up in Sun Valley, Idaho as the youngest daughter of a family that lived paycheck to paycheck. I didn’t notice. Everything I needed was nestled in the magic of that setting. From stargazing to snow angels, Sun Valley was where I found my New Dream.
Nevertheless, I appreciate Christine’s comments about our grand prize this month (the condo). As you might have guessed, there is an enormous amount of time and energy that goes into finding generous supporters who will donate at this level and more importantly, prizes that we believe are in line with our values. We worked hard to find a number of non-material prizes. I believe your disappointment is justified, but I do invite you to think about it with a different lens, one we used when selecting the prize.
Sun Valley is nature’s gift and there are many ways our grand prize winner can lightly approach their time in that magical setting. For those who live in Sun Valley or visit often, I suspect they are the most in need of the very basic lesson that everything we do has an impact on our environment - even bringing our own mug.
Thanks for your comments,
Lisa Wise
posted on October 21st, 2007 at 8:52 pmExecutive Director
New American Dream
I’d like to draw attention to the water shortage in our own country. northern georgia and northwest south carolina are running out of drinking water. folks have actually been banned from watering their lawns in half of georgia. which is probably a good thing.
I’d also like to tell you about several things i’ve run up against since taking the pledge:
1) i ordered bottled sparkling water at a restaurant before i realized what i had done. it’s not plastic bottled water but it’s still bottled water. so next time i will order club soda, if i must have bubbles, because that comes from the tap at the bar
2) how i solved my dilemma about having drinking water when traveling by air. i posted something on facebook about this issue and everyone thought i was aasking about what to do on the plane. i was wondering what to do once i arrive on the other end and i’m thirsty! i found my solution on line at aquasana, where i bought a travel water purifier. size of a sport water bottle, very light, with filter in it, replacements available.
3) at the same time i quit drinking diet coke, for health reasons, and realized I’m now also *no* using a lot mroe beverage containers. I’m nto ready to quit caffeine, so i started making my own tea at home, sweetening with stevia (natural no calorie sweetener).
posted on October 22nd, 2007 at 10:22 pmThere is a problem with the call for people to run to the tap for drinking water. I travel a lot for work, and I have to tell you that water in most major city hotels tastes terrible! It may be certified as safe…but either due to distribution or souce water issues…the taste is really off putting. You can barely brush your teeth with some of this stuff, never mind make a cup of tea. At home I use a reverse osmosis system with a charcoal filter, and I get great tasting water. No need for bottled water. So…why not advocate that hotels, airports, and other public spaces install these type of systems for free dispensing for refilling hand held containers (i.e. not 1 or 5 gallon containers) if you really want to advocate for a change in behavior. You’ve missed the mark for many of us if you don’t address the taste issue! I can’t even get drinkable water in half the restaurants due to this issue. Identify the issue before advocating a solution that misses the mark. It’s not the bottle…it’s drinkable water in public places we need.
posted on October 27th, 2007 at 11:37 ami’d love to take the pledge. but the tab water in my area (north san diego) tastes awful. I use a filter but it still tastes bad and has this “muddy/earthy” taste to it.
In the future i will install a reverse osmosis filter but in y current apartment this is not possible.
posted on October 29th, 2007 at 4:27 pmI also travel a lot for work (about 45 weeks/year), and for years have always kept with me a stainless steel coffee mug, a Nalgene water bottle, and lately, a stainless thermos for coffee.
I drink a lot of coffee, and it has always seemed wrong to me to throw away 3 disposable cups per day, so I started carrying my own mug. Sometimes the office coffee is okay, other times, it’s as undrinkable as the tap water it’s brewed with. That’s where the thermos comes in - one for now in the mug, and another in the thermos for later. It stays hot all day!
As for water, I hate to say it, but in the airport, I usually buy bottled water, then dump it into the Nalgene. It seems silly, but at least this way I empty the bottle while I still have time to find a recycle bin. But when I get to the client site where I’ll be that week, I buy a 2.5 gallon jug of water, and use that to fill my water bottle. But recently, I’ve made a discovery. There’s usually a water cooler with either 5 gallon sping water or even better a reverse osmosis filter right in the hotel! Here’s the secret: it’s in the gym.
posted on December 7th, 2007 at 9:46 amStainless steel bottles, free of toxic plastics, with tap water seem to be the best bet.
It’s important to fight for cleaner water before it hits your tap. Producing, selling, using, and disposing of personal water filters ultimately is not environmentally friendly.
A national organization with easy ways to get active on legislation is Clean Water Action. The group acts on both national and state levels and has a good track record. They are also involved in climate crisis issues as well.
posted on March 13th, 2008 at 9:11 pmHi there, I agree with using reusable bottles. Check out my video in which my girlfriend and I inform people on the harms of bottled water. Im sure youll find it entertaining, and if you wish to use it in your blog that would great!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JWO_5lKVBAA
-Livan
posted on March 20th, 2008 at 10:05 am