The True Cost of Bottled Water

Convenient, environmentally-damaging, expensive?

In 2009, the Australian town of Bundanoon voted to ban the sale of bottled water in an effort to reduce the use of resources and amount of plastic ending up in landfill.

On the 1^st January, 2013, a new law came into place in Concord, Massachusetts which banned the sale of bottles of water smaller than 1 litre. 

Some of the locals have declared the ban pointless because they can buy water in the neighbouring town.

I disagree.

The media impact of the Bundanoon ban in 2009 meant that GLOBAL bottled water sales dropped 10% that year. It brought the wastefulness of bottled water to the attention of people around the world.

The Environmental Issue

The environmental impact of bottled water is astonishing. The majority of water bottles can be recycled, however more than 75% of them end up in landfill. The UK is set to run out of space in landfills by 2018, but clearly recycling is still not used frequently enough to allow 13 billion plastic bottles of water to enter the waste chain each year.

One small (1 litre) plastic bottle is made of 162g of oil (from petroleum products) and SEVEN litres of water! This means the carbon footprint of one litre bottle of water is 100g of carbon dioxide (CO²), which is unacceptably high compared to 0.3g of CO² produced by the production of a litre of tap water.

The Financial Issue

Bottled water costs up to 500 times as much as water from a tap. The World Health Organisation has stated that it is not aware of any potential health benefits of drinking bottled water, so why do people buy it?

Thirsty? Bring a refillable water bottle when you go out. 

 

Marketing? Stop being such a consumer sucka (as Mr. Money Mustache would say!)

Don't let companies take you for a ride. In 2012, supermarkets admitted to selling “filtered” bottled tap water at a massive profit, something Coca-Cola received a massive amount of flak for back in 2004.

The Bottom Line

There's nothing wrong with UK tap water! Think yourself lucky to live in a country where hygienic, healthy water can be obtained freely in your own home for less than a third of a penny per litre!

And yes, I do live in an area with hard water!

So what do you think? Would the planet benefit from a ban on small bottles of water (allowing larger ones for storing water for emergencies)? It might not be possible in countries with poor sanitation, but surely if safe tap water exists it is ridiculous to pay for a plastic bottle of the stuff!

Check this out if you fancy a laugh:

Why is Jimmy Carr's Tax Avoidance Not Illegal?

Jimmy Carr was in the news today for using a K2 tax avoidance scheme. This is basically where an individual resigns from their UK job, then signs with an offshore company who receive the individual's salary from the UK company. The offshore company then pay the individual a small “wage” (which they pay a small amount of tax on) and give them a large (tax-free) “loan”. 

Many people in this country earn minimum wage, yet still have to pay 20% income tax on anything they earn over the tax threshold (currently £8105 per year). Low-income families face a multitude of financial struggles, yet tax avoidance in the high income tax threshold (over £150,000 a year) was as high as 30% last year. This means that some people earning hundreds of thousands of pounds a year are paying less tax than the average UK family. How is this legal?! 

According to the BBC, tax evasion is the criminal act of avoiding paying the income tax you owe, whereas tax avoidance is the legal practice of paying some dodgy accountant to use offshore accounts to reduce the amount of income tax paid by the UK's richest to as low as 1% (much higher than someone earning minimum wage for a full-time job). What exactly is the difference here?? It sounds like two names for the same thing, but if your account does his job well you can get away with it!

The Prime Minister declared Jimmy Carr's tax avoidance “morally wrong” (yet refused to comment on recent OBE-awarded Gary Barlow's use of another scheme currently under investigation by HMRC). Income tax is used to fund vital services like the NHS, education, the police and social security. Perhaps Jimmy Carr and others do not use any of these services (although I can't imagine he wouldn't call the police if his mansion was being robbed!), however do they expect the rest of the country to shoulder their share of the cost of keeping the UK functioning? It is incredibly unpatriotic and, I would agree, morally wrong.

Mr. Carr has since withdrawn from the tax avoidance scheme, calling it a “terrible error of judgement”. I call it ironic, considering his jokes about other people's abuse of the UK economy!

I just hope that the government's plans to stop tax avoidance in the rich goes further than just cutting their income tax rate to 45% (from 50%). Surely that's just going to earn less money from those responsible enough to pay their dues.

What do you think? I am outraged!

Charitable Giving on a Budget

When you're barely keeping your head above water it seems inconceivable to give money to charity, even if you'd really like to. I'm here to tell you that there are a lot of different ways to make a difference without breaking the budget!

• Do you have an old mobile phone you no longer want or used printing ink cartridge? Even if it's broken, many companies will recycle it for you for free. Recycle 4 Charity let you choose who receives your money, paying £1 for an ink cartridge and up to £70 for a working phone.
  
  
  
• What do you do with old pairs of glasses? Did you know that 10% of the world are disabled or disadvantaged because they don't have access to spectacles? Many are excluded from school and cannot see properly to work. If you get a new pair of glasses, please don't throw the others away! Take them to your optician and they will send them to Vision Aid Overseas free of charge.
  
  
• Have a bit of a spring clean and donate old clothing, CDs, DVDs, games, ornaments or even furniture to your local charity shop. Most places are always in desperate need of new stock. Charities range from animal welfare to medical research to global humanitarian groups, so you can choose who you want to support.
  
  
• You can make a donation in someone's name as a birthday or Christmas present for someone in your life who wants to help too, but perhaps can't afford to make a donation themselves. Oxfam have a great range of clutter-free gifts that allow you to provide water, food, education or shelter to people in need.
  
• Many people save their copper coins but even with a full piggy bank you are left with little reward but a lengthy trip to the bank to get it changed to more usable tender! Why not donate your 1p and 2p coins to charity whenever you pass a collection box? It'll be a quick and easy way to make a small difference.
  
  
• What about taking part in a sponsored event, or organising your own? Most charities have a link on their websites for information on events and how to help. You might even get to try something you've never done before – skydiving, anyone?
  
  
  
• Volunteer! You can find out about a huge range of volunteer work in your area using Do-It. From conservation work to working with the elderly, from charity shop work to helping to run a youth centre for children; pick a charity you feel best suits your concerns about the world and then go out there and make a difference.
  
  
• Many charities rely on small monthly donation. A £2 a month donation to Oxfam provides food for people that need it most, at a cost of £24 a year to you.

“We cannot do great things on this Earth, only small things with great love.” 

Mother Teresa

Umbrellas Make You Poor and Lonely

I hate umbrellas.

Umbrellas are wielded by selfish people desperate to carve themselves three feet of space on a busy pavement with no regard for the eyesight of others. Do NOT get me started on people using those five foot golf umbrellas in towns...

Even excluding their antisocial properties, I put it to you that umbrellas are the opposite of frugal. If you live in the UK you're used to being pelted with rain. But think; when was the last time it was raining but NOT windy? Watching people wrestling with inside-out umbrellas is one of the best parts of a rainy day! However, turn an umbrella inside out a few times and it's ruined.

Alternatives? Invest in a quality raincoat (and even waterproof trousers if you want to keep extra dry). It will you save money in the long run and you can't look any worse than the brolly-tamers.

You're also far less likely to blind me.