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Pic #2: GIANT Maggi noodle billboard on the side of houses in Asia no doubt...
SC*AR (Schwarz Army)
No longer stock ride height, rolling as low as a daily driver in New England should without worrying about breaking an oil pan. :up:
^^ I got tired of filling my damn Brita pitcher as I drink alot of water. I've been drinking from the kitchen tap for over a month now. I'm thinking about at least getting one of those that connect to the tap though, for good measure.
It does make you wonder how we got here though. I know some people that give their dogs filtered water, and even make foods that require boiling with filtered water.
Buying and tossing out new bottles of water is bad for the environment: According to the Container Recycling Institute, 90 percent of all plastic water bottles end up in landfills instead of recycling centers. But is reusing your own water bottle any better for you? A lot depends on the bottle.
As a general rule, it's never a good idea to reuse single-use plastic water bottles, as their design makes them difficult to clean and therefore prime breeding grounds for bacterial growth. But some refillable bottles can also pose problems. Certain varieties of the popular, colorful Nalgene water bottles are made from Lexan, a polycarbonate plastic (usually indicated by #7 in the recycling triangle) known to leach low levels of bisphenol A (BPA), a suspected hormone disruptor (see The Bisphenol-A Debate). Because BPA leaching can increase as your bottle ages, it's prudent to set some limits on reuse.
A 1999 study of polycarbonate baby bottles published in the Japanese Journal of Health Sciences found that new bottles, washed gently before using, leached 3.5 parts per billion (ppb) of BPA into water, while extremely worn and scratched bottles leached levels of BPA as high as 28 ppb. In another study, published in the March 2005 Food Additives and Contaminants, exposing bottles to high heat and storing ethanol and corn oil in them for 240 hours resulted in BPA migration of as high as 64 ppb. Additional studies need to be done, but in the meantime, the presence of BPA in all our bodies may be one reason to guard against adding more. "Levels of 0.1 to 10 ppb of BPA, which are orders of magnitude above what can affect humans, are currently found in U.S. bodies," warns Frederick vom Saal, lead author of one of the studies on BPA's acute and long-term effects.
With that in mind, we decided to survey our readers to find out how they handle their Nalgene polycarbonate water bottles.
First, to gauge Nalgene's popularity, we asked readers to tell us which, among 10 types of water bottles--aluminum, stainless steel, Nalgene's Lexan polycarbonate, glass or other plastics--they preferred. Of the 1,029 respondents, 330, or a little less than one third, chose Nalgene polycarbonate. These 330 readers were then asked about the care and usage of their bottles.
We found considerable potential for wear and tear, as 55 percent of respondents had been using their Nalgene bottles for more than 18 months. In fact, only 30 percent said they replaced their Nalgene bottles "a few times a year." But 60 percent said they replace theirs once a year.
On the other hand, only 18 percent of our respondents washed their bottles in the dishwasher, where harsh detergents can scratch the plastic and high heat can increase the potential for leaching. Fifty-two percent hand-washed their bottles with dish soap and water, while 25 percent rinsed their bottles in warm or cold water without using any soap at all. (Nalgene Outdoor recommends that their bottles be cleaned in warm soapy water or in the top rack of the dishwasher, away from the heating element.)
A third of respondents said they drank water from their Nalgene bottles even if the water had been inside it for 24 hours or more, which may be a concern, as longer exposure and increased heat can lead to slightly higher levels of BPA. Indeed, 36 percent of respondents noticed a change in the taste of the water inside a Nalgene bottle after it was left out in the sun or if water was held in it for a long time.
i agree with the water picture, but i live where theres a well. i go to the Glacier water despenser at the local food markets and fill up my own 5 gallon jugs for $1.25
yeah kind of weird about the nalgenes, but apparently the ones that are the milky white plastic don't have the same problems.
sigg aluminum bottles FTW! aluminum, but "A ground-breaking interior lining is 100% effective against leaching and combats residue build-up, so your SIGG"
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