It is the little things that can make a huge impact....

A few weeks ago, Jason and I were heading up to the Shiitake mushroom party and we stopped at the gas station. I ran in and got a bottle of Smartwater. He made a comment about how he tries never to buy water or anything else in those plastic bottles. I thought it was strange, but didn't ask why. 

About a week ago, as I was buying some more Smartwater, it sparked my curiosity about WHY he chooses not to buy plastic bottles of water. I called him and asked. He said, "Watch the documentary "Tapped", and tell me what you think - I don't buy bottled water anymore because of the toxins and the waste that ends of in our oceans." 

That night when I got home, I watched the documentary, and decided to never buy a bottle of water ever again unless I had no other option. 

Some key things I can't stop thinking about after watching it:

*The city where they manufacture those plastic bottles (Corpus Christi, Texas)  is killing the residents of the town - they have an 84% higher birth defect rate than any other city in the states.

*The FDA has only ONE PERSON responsible for regulating ALL of the bottled water in the U.S. - ONE PERSON!!! - And in addition, if the water is sold in the state that it is bottled, it doesn't even go through the FDA's regulations because it doesn't cross state lines. The EPA tests our tap water hundreds of times a month to ensure the safety.

*Dasani water comes from Lake Lanier. While the state of Georgia was undergoing a water ban in 2008 and suffering from one of the worst droughts, Dasani was pumping millions of gallons from the lake for profit.

*BPA is found in almost ALL of the larger water cooler bottles, so even if you are cutting down on the amount of plastic you are using by going with the larger bottles, you are subjecting yourself to the deadly chemical linked to a host of problems, including cancer, sexual dysfunction and heart disease.

 * The "plastic stew" twice the size of Texas in the Pacific between San Fransisco and Hawaii that has at least 46 times more plastic than plankton!  The poor sea life are consuming this plastic because it is in such small pieces it is often mistaken for food. Check out The Great Garbage Patch.

I am a firm believer that my own baby steps towards being more aware about these issues can and will make a difference. I would also like to think that if we all decided to stop buying bottled water, maybe those poor people in Corpus Christi would have a better life if we didn't demand such convenience as consumers. I can proudly say that in the last week, I have not bought one single plastic bottle OF ANYTHING - and I was sold on Smartwater for years being better for you than most water because it "contained potassium and electrolytes". No significant change can be made overnight, but over time if we strive to be more in-tune with what is happening around us and ask questions, the generations after us might have a better chance of living in a non-toxic environment.