Bottled Water

I just finished reading Scott's April 30th blog where he is continuing a discussion about glass bottles and bottled water. Last week the news media made a big stink about one of the chemicals used to make plastic bottles and how it can cause cancer. Apparently there is enough proof of the cancer link that Canada has banned bottles made with it. That chemical is a real problem for plastic bottles. Scott started the topic because since the snow is going fast he has been able to use the trails by his house to walk with his dog Sweet Pea. He mentioned all the broken glass that is a danger to Sweet Pea's bare feet which is a valid point and would be solved by people using unbreakable plastic bottles. The real problem though is people littering. Glass or plastic, it doesn't belong on the trail. It has always amazed me to hear all these people talk about the environment and saving the animals yet somebody must be throwing those bottles, cans, cigarettes, mattresses, plastic bags, car bodies , etc etc . I get so mad when I see people flipping cigarettes out their car windows not only for how dumb it is because it could cause a fire but also because those things mount up. Our property runs for about a quarter mile along the Parks Highway and each spring I go out and pick up trash along it. Bottles, plastic and glass, and cans are mostly what I get but there are piles of cigarette butts all along the bike path and highway. We are smothering ourselves in garbage and killing our planet at the same time. Even properly disposed of plastic causes problems because the chemicals used to make them leach out into the land and then into the water. At least when glass is properly disposed of it breaks up in the landfill and just keeps breaking into smaller and smaller pieces to the point where it just becomes sand-like. The solution? One: get rid of people. No people equals no unnatural pollution. Okay, that will never fly so the only real solution is to educate people on the harm they are doing to their environment and that THEIR garbage does count. When I visit Finland I see how educating the people really works. They recycle and compost everything and they seem to try to avoid plastic as much as possible. When they go grocery shopping they take their own bags made of either cloth or heavy reusable plastic. If you need more bags you buy reusable bags at the checkout. Most soft drinks and beer come in cans or glass bottles that get recycled. I don't think there is a refund involved, they just do it. There is still litter along the road but nothing like here. You never see a grocery cart in the ditch because to use one you have to pay the equivalent of a quarter to unlock it but you get that back when you return it. I've seen them change from using things that were made out of wood or wood by products because it supported their forest industries, to people who use glass and metal for everything now. They still have wooden stuff but not for everyday things. We aren't very good about no plastic and recycling up here. There is very little recycling in Alaska at all and what is available is only in Anchorage and Wasilla/Palmer area. Willow landfill transfer point tried collecting recyclables for a while but now they only pick up aluminum cans. Mary stopped buying bottled water since we got a water filter and we do save our good plastic bags for Scott to use as doggy poop bags but that's about it. Each summer Mary has tried starting compost piles but they don't seem to get going very good up here.
Since Mary just got back from her monthly supply trip with about 36 plastic bags I better stop talking about recycling since it makes me feel like a hypocrite.