From the University of the District of Columbia:
“UDC Releases Bottled vs Tap Water Taste Test Results” (Green Living DC)
Tag Archives: water
Water, before the hurricane
This photo, of any empty bottle water aisle in Washington, D.C. is a bit disappointing, if completely predictable.
My solution, based on more than a few times through a hurricane, is to keep a covered dutch oven full of water on the stove, the electric kettle full and a pitcher in the fridge. And I’ll doubt I’ll have to depend on those.
I also make sure all the outstanding dishes and clothes are washed. (Clean clothes are no substitute for a shower should there be a real shutdown, but it does make making-do happier.)
Be safe.
Mi ne bezonas plastajn botelojn!
Those who know me personally know I’m trying to learn Esperanto. Here’s a good reason!
Ne trinku botelakvon!
That is, “I don’t need plastic bottles” and “Don’t drink bottled water!”
D.C. water — tastes good (as bottled)
Good news today for D.C water. It’s often reviled for having poor quality and worse taste; indeed, I get kidded for bypassing the office filter for the tap. But in a blind taste test, the local tap just beat bottled water and many people have no opinion. (My thought, cold water will beat tepid water, whatever the source.)
Look, Mom, no bottles!
Good D.C. news: MOM’s Organic, a small D.C.-based grocery chain is giving up on bottled water.
Details from the Washington Post, via Tapit.
“The Story of Bottled Water”
A great video; a follow up to The Story of Stuff. The video is more than eight minutes long, so I suspect it’s use is best for those who are already convinced to make a case, rather than sugesting your indifferent friends to watch it.
The matching site also has other resources, including an annotated script.
Bottled water makes Episcopalian agenda
An interesting item among the legislation already submitted to the Episcopal Church’s General Convention. That body meets in July. If passed the measure would resolve to “ask the Church to restrict, starting immediately, the use of bottled water at General Convention and at other Church-sponsored activities.”
Four bucket dishwashing system
Nancy McLauchlan (Words few and savory, seasoned with Grace) included this tidbit in her review of western Friends meetings. (Broad-brimmed hat tip: QuakerQuaker via Twitter)
Redwood Forest Meeting (Santa Rosa, CA) has adapted a “Four Bucket†system of dishwashing to hygienically wash the dishes and not waste water.
This is church administration at its most basic: getting a basic function accomplished well with available resources and established values. Or perhaps I’m a bit biased since putting a large kettle on to boil was a usual task in my first pastorate, “to scald the forks” after church suppers. There was no hot water heater in the fellowship hall.
I have seen the four bucket dishwashing system in practice exactly once: more than a decade ago in a hostel in San Francisco. So I Googled for details. There aren’t many to be had.
The four buckets, according to Colorado River and Trail Expeditions — which uses the protocol in its outings — are
cool soap, hot soap, hot rinse, clorox rinse. The items are scrubbed in the first two buckets, rinsed in the third, and sanitized in the last bucket.
See their site, look for “cleanup”, for more details and a photo.
How big should the basin be for a given sized group? How much soap or bleach? I don’t have answers for these questions. Do you?