Bottled Water Reaches $15 Billion Mark

Today, it was announced that we are now paying $15 billion annually for bottled water and yes, I buy my share of it too but I did a little research and found some interesting statistics.

The NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council) tested more than 1,000 bottles of 103 brands and found the following:

1/4 of bottled water is bottled tap water.

Much that claims it is "spring water" is brought to the surface by a pump in a well and is then treated with chemicals.

5 brands were sent to a microbiologist to be tested for bacteria and there was no difference in bacteria content in the bottled water and tap water.

Bottled water regulations are inadequate to assure consumers of purity or safety.

Everest water is not from Mt. Everest. It is from Corpus Christi, Texas. Glacier Clear water is not from a glacier in Alaska, it is tap water from Greenville, Tennessee.

Dasani and Aquafina are both reprocessed tap water.

On a final note, a taste test was conducted in NYC and testers were to rate water tastes as bad, average or great. K-Mart brand (which was also the cheapest) won. Aquafina (which is reprocessed tap water) ranked second, Iceland Spring and plain tap water tied for third and Evian (most expensive) ranked dead last.

So, if there is no evidence that bottled water is healthier and there is no evidence that it tastes better, I guess we are just spending $15 billion a year on hype!

But if buying bottled water makes us drink more of it, which we all know is good for us, I say, "carry on!"

Remembering Hazel

My sister-in-law's mother died last night shortly before her 96th birthday! The last seven years of her life were spent in the same nursing home and in the same room where my mother spent her last three years.

Being residents of the Alzheimer's unit was never without interesting moments. While it is sad to watch a loved one's world get smaller and smaller as the disease strips them of their ability to remember much to talk about, there are still many fond memories of their life as "roomies".

They had separate closets but it didn't really matter a whole lot because if they saw a dress or sweater they liked, they just put it on! They both wore dresses and hose every day because that was the daily attire of their generation.

The could entertain themselves for hours looking at a newspaper, reading the same story over and over. They frequently read to each other - the same story, of course.

They could also be in the same room with little conversation taking place but they somehow knew if one needed something and the other one was quick to report it.

Mother and Hazel were friends and they were bound together by a strong family relationship. They were fighters - both living much longer than most of us and they milked all they could out of life on this earth.

Thank you, Hazel, for a life well-lived. You will be loved and fondly-remembered by all who knew you.

A Great Idea !

For the past 30 years, my son has been in a wheelchair and I have watched scores of times as able-bodied people have parked in handicapped spaces, jumped out of their car, and run in a store, taking up the only space in the lot so they wouldn't have to be inconvenienced ! Other than trying to control my utter contempt for the perpetrator, there has been nothing else I could do ----- until now!

Check out this site: www.caughtya.org. You can now just take a picture with your cell phone of the license number of the person illegally parked, send it to this site anonymously, and they will do the rest ! Incidentally, they are always illegally parked unless their vehicle has a tag, or handicapped sticker clearly visible.

This is Really "Off the Chain"

You may have noticed that I like my new expression "off the chain" (stolen from my son-in-law) but there are some things that defy comprehension and this is one of them ----

According to MSN, Paris Hilton's orange-colored prison jumpsuit and underwear are on sale on Ebay - the togs she rejected because they didn't fit properly! I imagine it would be hard to find prison attire which would fit as properly as the designer clothes to which she is accustomed. Wish I could help the government get rid of its surplus clothing but I think I'll just save myself the humiliation of trying to fit into it.