I remember the first time I saw a bottle of water for sale, thinking it was the most ridiculous thing I’d ever encountered. Who would actually PAY to drink water when they could get it for free at home? That’s just crazy! I drank out of the faucet every single day, or the garden hose in a pinch, and there was obviously nothing wrong with me. But there they were, plastic bottles of water lined up in a cooler next to the Fantas and Tabs, happily purchased by the same people.

Back then, even the most optimistic capitalist couldn’t have guessed where the water bottle industry was heading. Thirty years later it’s a part of regular life.

But the damage from the bottled water industry isn’t just to our intelligence and our wallets; it’s also to the world we live in. Our environment is being impacted, the actual surroundings that we depend on to sustain our lives. Our human fish tank is getting terrifically cloudy because of the plastic water bottles we buy and discard so thoughtlessly.

How big is the bottled water industry?

There are 50 billion water bottles consumed every year, about 30 billion of them in the US There are 1,500 water bottles consumed per SECOND in the U.S.

2011 was a high point for bottle water sales, where 9.1 billion gallons were sold, or 29.1 gallons per person per year, the highest in sales and volume in history.

What does it take to manufacture the water bottles?

It takes three times the volume of water to manufacture one bottle of water than it does to fill it, and because of the chemical production of plastics that water is mostly unusable.

We use 17 million barrels of oil each year just to produce all of those water bottles.

To put it in perspective, that’s enough oil to keep a million cars fueled for a whole year! The Earth Policy Institute factors the energy used to pump, process, transport and refrigerate our bottled water as over 50 million barrels of oil every year. That’s an insane amount of resources for something that is a completely unneeded.

Another way to think of it: when you pick up a water bottle at the supermarket, hold it up and imagine it filled ¼ with oil. That’s how much in fossil fuels it took just to manufacture it! Even the environmental impact of delivering all that bottled water is profound, both from overseas and distribution to stores all over. It takes in the US a fleet of 40,000 18-wheelers just to deliver our bottle water every week!

What’s the environmental impact?

Water bottles are made of completely recyclable polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastics, but PETs don’t biodegrade they photodegrade, which means they break down into smaller fragments over time. Those fragments absorb toxins that pollute our waterways, contaminate our soil, and sicken animals (which we then eat). Plastic trash also absorbs organic pollutants like BPA and PCBs. They may take centuries to decompose while sitting in landfills, amounting to endless billions of little environmentally poisonous time bombs.

According to the Ocean Conservatory, plastic bottles and plastic bags are the most prevalent form of pollution found on our beaches and in our oceans — every square mile of the ocean has over 46,000 pieces of floating plastic in it.

Ten percent of the plastic manufactured worldwide ends up in the ocean, the majority of that settling on the ocean floor where it will never degrade.

But don’t we recycle?

Eighty percent of the water bottles we buy end up in landfills, the absolute worst place for them to be. That means roughly for every 10 bottles we drink, only two end up in the recycle bin.

Our national US recycle rate for PET’s is only 23 percent, which means we throw 38 billion water bottles into landfills a year.

That’s $1 billion worth of plastic that should end up in the “recycling stream” where they can be reused as carpeting, synthetic decking, playground equipment, and new bottles and containers.

Isn’t bottled water safer and cleaner?

No. In fact, all the majority of evidence shows that it’s worse for you. Plastic leaches into the water it holds, which has been linked to health issues like reproductive problems and different types of cancer. Harmful hormone-disrupting phthalates leach into the bottled water we drink after as little as 10 weeks of storage, or much faster once the bottles have been left in the sun (like in the car.)

Tap water isn’t perfect either because the purity varies depending on where you live, but the same could be said for bottled water. The National Resources Defense Council conducted an intensive study of bottled water and ascertained that 22 percent of the water tested contained contaminant levels that exceeded the state health limits.

New York city has the safest, cleanest tap water in the whole country, and San Francisco draws its public drinking water supply from nearby Yosemite National Park, so pure they don’t even require it to be filtered.

Does it taste better?

In blind taste tests people have trouble differentiating between tap water and bottled water, and it’s virtually indistinguishable once poured through a simple filter.

Your best bet is using tap water run through a good filter on your kitchen tap or drinking container, which will yield you the cheapest, cleanest, most convenient water source.

Is bottled water a rip off?

You know how you pay $3 + for a cup of coffee that probably costs 20 cents to make? You look like a financial genius making that purchase compared to the economics of bottled water. Bottled water costs well in excess of 1,000 times that of tap water, even with a filter.

Eight glasses of water, the recommended daily amount costs about $0.50 cents out of the tap, but about $1,400 if you bought bottles!

To put it in scale, if all of the water you used around the house for showers, dishwashing, watering the plants, etc. was bottled water your monthly H20 bill would be about $9,000.

Did you know that up to 47.8 percent of the bottled water we buy is actually just repackaged tap water?.

The greater cost to all of us as a society, country, and interconnected world community is the environment.

What is the ripple effect?

780 million people around the world, more than twice the population of the United States, don’t have access to clean, safe drinking water.

Of course the water bottle you don’t buy isn’t going to end up with them, but everything is interconnected, from trade policies and use of fossil fuels, to environmental impact and irrigation, and ultimately damage to food-producing industries like agriculture and fisheries. Already, pollution is estimated to be one of the biggest causes of death around the world, affecting more than 100 million people per year, more than epidemics like Malaria and HIV.

The U.S. consumes natural resources, like fossil fuels, and pollutes the environment at an alarming rate. Though less than five percent of the world’s population, we consume more than 25 percent of the resources and produce 30 percent of the trash and environmental pollutants.

Not only are we severely harming the land, air and water around us, but the rest of the world has to pay the price for our thoughtless over-consumption, and soon our children and generations to come will be tirelessly cleaning up our mess.

However, it’s not all doom and gloom — just like the water bottle phenomenon took off within a short time, as did cell phones and other trends, a cultural shift can start creating solutions with lightning efficiency.

Garden Show of the Year 2016

AGBR is participating yearly in the Garden Show and it will be participating again this year 2016. It is held from February 25 – 28, 2016 at the Bahrain International Convention & Exhibition Centre The Bahrain International Garden Show (BIGS) is being held under the patronage of His Majesty King Hamad Bin Isa Al Khalifa, King of Bahrain and the support of Her Royal Highness Princess Sabeeka Bint Ibrahim Al Khalifa, Wife of the King of Bahrain, President of the Consultative Council of the National Initiative for Agricultural Development Since its establishment in 2004, Bahrain International Garden Show has become a platform for experts and enthusiasts to further develop their expertise and knowledge with the latest best practices in the industry.

AGBR has always seen a wide interested in their products at the stand. Beside meeting potential costumers it is also an occasion to meet exciting costumers and to introduce them to our new team and updated them about the new developments with the product and the company.

This year the Garden theme will be Tree Care. Tree Pruning and Trimming are essential in maintaining trees’ appearance and overall function. Trees are not just cosmetically pleasing to the eye; they also serve vital purposes such as: Providing oxygen and shade; Providing privacy; Preventing erosion; and Providing Scenic beauty. Arborists all over the world have made it their career choice to care for trees to insure their health and longevity.

The Bahrain International Garden Show will highlight the skills required for proper tree care including pruning, structural support, treatment for insects and disease, and watering and nutritional problems. Tree removal is sometimes necessary in cases of dying trees, storm damage, or new construction or renovation. The show will host a number of experts in the field to share their skills and experience.

Trees need water care and protection just like any living thing. It is our shared responsibility to help preserve them for the health of our planet.

We would like to invite all our exciting costumers to meet us at the show for a cup of coffee or tea and a little surprise and we are ready for any visitor that would like to have a qualified and professional solution for any problem they are encountering with their quality of water.

AGBR is participating in other exhibition as well like Gulf BID, Modern Home and the Water and Power exhibition to reach a wide range of visitors to provide them with the opportunity for good quality of water.

See you at the show!

Bahrain water consumption soars

Water consumption in Bahrain is almost double the international average, said an environmental expert.

More than 400 liters are being used a day compared to the norm of up to 265 liters, said Public Commission for the Protection of Marine Resources, Environment and Wildlife senior environmental specialist Rehan Ahmed.

Ahmed was speaking on the occasion of World Water Day (WWD), which was highlighted at the Bahrain Polytechnic in Isa Town.

WWD is observed on March 22 and this year’s theme is Clean Water for a Healthy World.

The annual growth rate in water use is about eight to 10 per cent, but groundwater levels are falling at a rate of around a meter a year, which has been happening for 30 years, Ahmed said.

‘With no major surface water sources, the ground water levels are under great pressure because of rapid population growth, expanding industrial and commercial sectors and deteriorating climatic conditions,’ he explained.

The environmentalist said Bahrain’s priority should be water conservation or to reduce the use of water.

Ahmed said practicing water conservation would decrease consumer’s monthly water bills and reduce environmental pollution.

‘Water conservation is a key link between balancing current and future water needs,’ he said.

‘In Bahrain, we have access to an abundance of water and we’re accustomed to having it available at the twist of a faucet. In order to ensure adequate water resources for our future needs, we must urgently put conservation measures into effect now,” he added.

‘The water we receive from the tap includes the cost of retrieving, treating, pumping and delivering water. This over consumption also put further financial pressure as the waste water has to be collected, treated and disposed environmentally.’

Ahmed said water conservation could also reduce the amount of water required to be processed by wastewater treatment plants, again preserving infrastructure and also reducing the amount of waste discharged to water bodies.

He said sound water use practices could make consumers more resilient during times of drought, low rainfall, negating the need for mandatory interventions.

Mr Ahmed recommended several ways to conserve water in the home, including adopting water-saving technologies and changing habit patterns.

‘Every home should install low-flow shower heads, low-flush toilets and waterless urinals to save large volumes of water,’ he said.

‘People should also install water waste or recycling systems that allow the reuse of grey water for flushing toilets or for the garden, and recycling of wastewater through purification at a water treatment plant,” Ahmed concluded. – TradeArabia News Service