Share and Voice: Boxed Water

Photo from: boxedwaterisbetter.com

Okay, Boxed Water, this is completely crazy.  I understand that the people who came up with this idea are trying to be environmentally friendly, trying to get rid of disposable plastic bottles, but are they nuts?  Since learning about the sale of bottled water and what it really means to our environment I have become pretty frustrated with the companies that are bottling up something that should be free and selling it for profit.  I think that selling water is unethical and very selfish.  With that said, I think that the creators of this product were probably informed about how bad disposable plastic bottles are for the environment and came up with the first solution they could think of to get rid of them, but are uninformed about the effect the sale of water has on the environment.  They do say that they care about the world's water supply and they donate 10% of all sales to world water relief foundations, and another 10% goes to reforestation efforts.  As you scroll a little further down their "Environment" page they note that since they are still starting up their company they haven't been able to afford to donate anything quite yet.  Like I said, I think their idea is crazy and I also think that selling water is unethical, but, take a look at their website for yourself and tell me what you think.

Fact Sheet: Heat Island and Smog Reduction act of 2011, bill H.R.51

What is the issue?

• The Heat Island Effect and smog are affecting areas around Federal facilities.

What is a Heat Island?

• Heat islands are areas that are hotter than nearby rural areas, resulting from greenhouse gas emissions.

Heat Islands cause:

• Increased summertime peak energy demand 
• Increased air conditioning costs
• air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions
• Heat-related illness and mortality
• Poor water quality 

What is being done to fix this?

• There is a bill proposed called the Heat Island and Smog Reduction act of 2011, bill H.R.51. 
• This act requires each federal agency, by April 1, 2012, to develop a heat island reduction plan for all federal property and facilities under its possession or control that are located in an area designated under the Clean Air Act as being in nonattainment with national ambient air quality standards for ozone.

The act requires each plan to include measures to:

• Maximize tree cover on federal property
• Increase solar reflectivity through techniques such as roofs with solar reflectivity
• Vegetated roofs
• Paving materials with higher solar reflectivity. Requires the Administrator of the General Services to submit annual reports to specified congressional committees assessing agency progress in developing and implementing such plans.

The bill passing will lead to:

• Reduction of energy demand
• Lower air conditioning costs 
• Less air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions 
• Fewer heat-related illness and mortality
• Better water quality