Quench your thirst - environmentally
Posted Tuesday, May 15, 2007, 6:26 PM by Lonely Planet
It's a sad fact that water bottles clog up water-ways. It can really get in the way of what would otherwise be a great travel snap. The question is, do we give this a second thought when we're buying bottle after bottle in destinations we've been told the tap water is unsafe to drink? Do we conveniently forget all about it when we develop our pictures and find we successfully kept all the rubbish out of frame? Do we have an option?
Sabrina Walasek is one traveller who advocates the use of water purifiers as a means of travelling responsibly:
"I was a middle-school science teacher for five years and focused a great deal on service learning, partnering with the community and building awareness around environmental issues.
In the past 8 years, my husband and I have travelled for a year at a time... twice! The first time we had an around-the-world ticket. The second time, we just got a one-way ticket to Japan. We went overland as much as possible (boat from Osaka to Shanghai, train to Mongolia, train through Russia and eastern Europe, boat from Croatia to Sicily then another boat from Sicily to Tunisia, etc.)
I have spent a lot of time in developing areas. I've seen the impact of tourism on villages and even big cities. I've seen heaps of plastic bottles in rural areas. It kills me.
I travel with a water purifier. I've found the MSR MiniWorks ceramic filter the best. It can be cleaned and handles a year's worth of water for 2 people without replacing filters. It screws onto your sports bottle. You simply fill up a sink with water, put the hose into the sink and siphon the water into your bottles.
Yes - it can be a pain and yes they are fragile. They will also seem expensive when you are saving for your trip, but it pays for itself on the open road. In china, bottled water is more expensive than beer.
The most surprising thing is that I have never encountered another traveller using one. Only a few people have approached me to ask what it was - most don't seem to have a problem with buying 3 bottles of water or more per day."
So, environmentally aware traveller... are you experienced in the ways of water purification? Any tips you can share?
And if you've got no idea what we're talking about check out some different water purifiers here and more here.
Labels: Sustainable and responsible tourism, Travelsnitch
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12 Comments:
Good piece. I live in Nicaragua - a very very beautiful country that is being ruined by litter.
At the same time we are wrestling with ourselves about what to do as regards our water supply.
Seems like I need a water purifier.
this is a great piece: good on you!
I'm glad someone wrote about this. Do you know where I can buy this in North America?
I never owned a Water purifier but i will...
But you know, in some countries, like, Nepal for example... travelers, and tons of them, buy water bottles even if it is known that these bottles are filled with the same water that you can get from the tap... So please, Nepal travelers, their is already enough of those bottle around and then the burn there garbage so... Lets think global warming too... I traveled there for 45 days i bought i bottle for 10 cents then filled it at creeks and taps in the city...
excellent theory and motivation but considering some of the dirty sinks i've seen in hotels and hostel rooms, i'd suggest, forget the filtering - and just drink straight from the tap... it might be safer!
in kathmandu, there is a small travel agency near the end of sat ghumti near paknajol (close to the via via) where they will refill your waterbottle with purified water for one third of the cost of buying a new bottle! bargain! this is becoming increasingly common around the city...what a great way to reduce the number of plastic bottles
I am glad to see the water issue is getting some increased traction in the blogs. Wise Bread has done a great job with some exposes on bottled water. In particular the Texas-sized "carpet of trash" on the Pacific seems to be resonating with people. There are so many ways as a traveler to filter your own water, make water safe, etc. that are cheap and portable now, it's just a must. (I added to the noise the other day in a post.) But I consider this topic very valuable noise ;)
http://www.marksdailyapple.com/the-plastic-of-our-lives/
I fill my bottle from the tap in the Philippines (though I may soon have to do it from a pump or stream) then use my steripen to zap the evil critters with UV. the only downside to this is that UV doesn't remove nonliving contamination such as heavy metals.
It's kinda funny how people look at me with a face that says "Are you sure?" when I ask them to fill my bottle from the tap! I explain my reasoning, which is the same as yours, and some people seem to get it. At the very least, I get a lot of "hey, that thing is cool!" comments.
I too have been guilty of buying lots of bottled water, at least I would buy a gallon at a time. And sometimes places will let you refill you bottle, but this is an exception.
My friend who has spend months in Indonesia recently always travels with water purification (she swears by her MSR MIOX). They have had some emergencies there, and water purification is nice to have. I have always carried 20 tablets on me (small and light) for emergencies. I have had a MSR Miniworks filter for about a decade which i have used for camping. It is not the most efficient, but easy to take apart, and doesn't brake. I plan to make it a part of my essentials to pack travelling too.
One downside to the common durable water bottles (Nalgene) is that they are made of polycarbonate, which releases bisphenol-A, which is like a synthetic estrogen, which you can read for yourself about on Wikipedia.
Great post this is something i thought about alot even in France recently when myself and my friend were buying bottle after bottle of water. I read a few of the posts on this and looked up Water Purifier's for travelling and came across the www.travelwithcare.com site which has a Water Purifier for just over £20.00, it says that it removes Biological & Chemical contamination making ALL water, except saline and makes water Totally SAFE to DRINK
it's also Pocket size. I have purchase 2 for the next time i go off abroad and thanks again for the post as it made me think.
Good piece. I live in Russia - a very very beautiful country.
I came across a great water purifier, bought it and LOVE it! You fill it up from the bottom which has a screen to filter out bigger pieces. The filter inside filters out 99.99% of pollutants and contaminants. It uses Ionic Absorption Micron Filtration System. The bottle filters 100 gal. of water, and only costs $26.00. The website where I found mine is
http://www.survival-gear-source.com , they have some other pretty cool things on there as well, a lot of different survival equipment. I would trust this bottle much more than I would that straw. Remember, never use a water purifier that requires a battery. They go dead at the worst times.
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