Water & Air – Filter Systems News

Since we didn’t get much response from our Facebook fans about hosting an “eco-conscious” Halloween costume contest this year, we thought you might need some inspiration. We’ve scoured the web for some common eco-themed costume ideas and listed our top picks below. However, we’d still like to extend the opportunity for you to submit your green-themed costume idea for the chance to win your very own orange Vapur anti-bottle. If you haven’t been a winner in one of our previous weekly Facebook giveaways, this might be your golden opportunity! Just submit a photo of yourself, wearing your “green-themed” Halloween costume, along with a brief description, to selwa@filtersfast.com by Nov. 4 for your chance to win. We’ll post all pictures in a photo album on our page. If you’re having trouble coming up with an idea, this list should help get your creative juices flowing…

Compact Fluorescent Light Bulb

Wear all white and wrap a dozen or so inflated white balloons around your body from your chest to your hips in a “spiral” fashion, and voila! You’re an eco-friendly light bulb.

Mother Earth Overheating

Dress up as Mother Nature for Halloween and add some red face paint to give you that “heated” look. For an extra touch, carry a toy thermometer and a spray bottle full of water to spread the message that Mother Earth is overheated.

A Hobo

This one’s not so green-themed, but it is eco-friendly, because you won’t have to go out and spend money on another Halloween costume. Rather, you can look to your own closet for inspiration. That old box of worn-out clothes that was gonna go to Goodwill? Don’t throw it out just yet… wait ’til Nov. 1.

A Tree

Wear brown leggings and a green shirt. Collect fallen leaves from outside and attach them to your shirt. Now you’re a tree. Alternatively, you could be a…

Treehugger, instead.

Dress like a hippie, make your own tree prop from cardboard or paper mache, and walk around hugging that tree all night long.

The Pacific Garbage Patch

This one’s easy. Dress in all blue. Then use tape to secure plastic bottles, plastic bags, milk jugs, used beer bottles, and all types of other trash items to your body. The more you tape on, the bigger you’ll get, and since the Pacific Garbage Patch is about the size of Texas, that’s really the point.

Greenwashed (or Green Man)

Wear all green. Paint your face green. Paint your body green. Or if you’re a fan of the FX TV series It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, buy a Green Man costume and kill two birds with one stone. (Not literally – as that wouldn’t be very earth-friendly…) Green Man makes several appearances in the TV show, so don’t feel lame about wearing your costume again for several years to come, if you really want to be green.

Al Gore

Simple and classic. Wear a dark suit and don’t forget your prop – “An Inconvenient Truth,” under your right arm. It’s bound to start some interesting conversation.

Captain Planet

This one’s another classic. You can buy the already-made, ready-to-wear costume, or you can be really eco-friendly and make your own.

Willie Nelson

Get yourself a long grey wig and braid it into 2 long pigtail braids, if you’d like. Top it off with a bandanna, a cowboy hat and a fake grey beard, and you’re done… almost. Don’t forget the acoustic guitar. Write a country song about biofuels, and you’ll really impress your friends.

That’s all we have for now. Submit your ideas, and we’ll choose a winner next week. Good luck and Happy Halloween!

A bottled water tasting and food pairing event was recently sponsored by Sweetwater LLC at Joe’s Restaurant in Venice, CA on Aug. 12. The event featured a three-course dinner menu paired with six different bottles of water.

According to an article in The Earth Times, “Water is not just water.”  Like wine, water has different characteristics that it picks up from the land it travels through. Premium bottled water is not the same as purified water. Purified water is nothing more than municipal tap water processed through reverse osmosis, while premium bottled waters are meant to “enhance a fine dining experience,” an experience labeled by Sweetwater’s Jim McMahon  as “epicurean.”

McMahon also claims that they are not promoting the daily consumption of bottled water. Filtered tap water is for hydration and daily consumption.  This type of event, however, teaches patrons to pair premium fine botttled waters with various foods on rarer occasions.

This practice of enjoying bottled water is nothing new, but dates all the way back to the Roman Empire. But do you buy the claim that premium bottled water pairs with food in a manner similar to wine?

Perhaps you are familiar with the PUR line of pitcher filters, refrigerator filters and faucet water filters. Here in the U.S. we are fortunate enough to have had access to clean water for quite some time, along with the tools to filter out chemicals, such as chlorine, which make it that way. But those in the developing world have only recently been introduced to the technology that makes our water clean. It is part of the PUR line of products and it comes in the form of a powder, contained in a small four-ounce packet.

Each packet of powdered mixture is able to clean up to 10 liters of dirty water, removing 99.9 percent of intestinal bacteria, intestinal viruses and protozoa. The PUR packet has been proven to reduce diarrheal disease incidence – one of the leading causes of death in the developing world – by up to 90 percent.

The PUR packet was developed by Proctor & Gamble (P&G) in collaboration with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC). Dr. Allgood of P&G started the Children’s Safe Drinking Water Program after a touching visit with a woman in Kenya seven years ago, turning the distribution of the PUR packet into a nonprofit effort. To date, they have been able to produce more than one billion liters of clean water for children and families in over 40 developing countries. The packets are smaller and easier to ship than plastic water bottles, for faster distribution.

The packet is easy to use: Simply pour its powdered contents into ten liters of water and stir for five minutes. Wait five more minutes for the large dirt particles to settle, and pour the water over a clean cloth into another container. The cloth will filter out large particles of dirt, leaving you with crystal clear water. Wait another 20 minutes before drinking to ensure that all of the microorganisms are killed.View Dr. Allgood’s demonstration of this, here.

The United Nations General Assembly is considering a draft resolution declaring safe and clean drinking water and sanitation a fundamental human right. The draft was presented by the Bolivian government to the General assembly on June 17 and will be developed by member states over the next several weeks. The final text will be presented to the President of the General Assembly for consideration by the end of July.

Maude Barlow, founder of Blue Planet Project, urges the swift passage of this resolution in a letter written to all UN ambassadors. Barlow claims that “this would be one of the most important things the UN has done since the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.”

Is this really what it’s going to take for everyone across the globe to get safe, clean drinking water and sanitation? A formal, written declaration? Barlow states that “it’s time politics caught up with reality.” But this declaration clearly shows that politics makes reality. In order for something that should already be a reality to become one, a group of world leaders must first agree to it and sign it into practice. Is it just me, or is something wrong with this picture?

We just wanted to share this news: the Charlotte Mecklenburg Utilities Department was recently awarded the 2009 EPA Region IV Safe Drinking Water Act Excellence Award. This announcement is significant for us, because our offices are located in Monroe, North Carolina, just minutes outside the Mecklenburg County line. It’s great to know that our very own city is being recognized for its consistency in providing excellent drinking water treatment and safe delivery to local residents.  But if you think this gets you out of needing to buy a water filter, think again…

Most municipal water treatment plants use chlorine to disinfect water, and this often produces toxic byproducts that can be harmful to the body in large quantities while negatively affecting the taste and odor of your tap water.  We’re sure that Charlotte is no exception to this widely-accepted policy. A water filter can help reduce or eliminate these toxins, leaving you with fresh, great-tasting, odorless water. Faucet water filters, pitcher filters, and refrigerator water filters are great for this purpose. Since showering with chlorinated water can dry out your skin and lead to upper respiratory problems, it’s a good idea to invest in a shower water filter as well.

Please visit our forum to ask any questions you may have about ways to improve the water quality in your home.

What do you look for in a water filter pitcher? Sleek design? Advanced technology? Affordability?

Manufacturers of water pitcher filters take these factors into consideration when marketing their products.  Perhaps the most well-known pitcher filter on the market today is the Brita brand, with $5 billion in sales. Seven out of ten pitchers sold to consumers bear the Brita name. With so many alternate brands on the market, it’s only natural to wonder why.

In 2000, Brita sold sole rights to its brand to the Clorox Company. Seven years later, the MAVEA brand was launched by former Brita CEO Markus Hankammer. With a newer, contemporary, stylish design, the MAVEA Elemaris pitchers are priced at $32 to $40. Clorox-owned Brita carafes range from $11 to $32, with its latest, comparable upscale design priced at $23. (Is it safe to assume that the top priority for consumers is affordability?)

Nick Vlahos, vice president of Clorox’s Brita division thinks so. However, Hankammer argues that as these pitchers become less trendy over time, good design becomes more and more of a necessity. MAVEA pitchers have a rubber base and soft-grip handle, with a sleek design that looks great on any dinner table. MAVEA also claims to be ahead of the game in filtration technology, with a unique oval-shaped micromesh filter that prevents carbon fragments from escaping into the water. (I’m sure we’re all familiar with those tiny black dots…).

Brita and MAVEA are not the only water filtration pitchers on the market today. Many companies that manufacture water filters have pitchers somewhere in their product lines, including GE, Culligan and PUR. Each of these brands has something unique to offer. With so many options, how do you go about choosing the best one?

• Find out what’s in your water. The reduction of chlorine taste and odor, along with chlorination byproducts, is a given with most water filter pitcher brands. Some pitchers also reduce microbiological cysts, heavy metals, pharmaceutical traces, and agricultural and industrial pollutants.
• Pick a price point. Obviously, affordability is a major priority for most consumers. How much are you willing to spend?
• Look for the design that best suits your needs. How much space in your refrigerator are you willing to sacrifice for a water filter pitcher? Will you use your pitcher while entertaining guests? If so, how important is appearance? Some pitchers have an opening in the lid to allow for convenient, one-handed refills under the faucet.

These steps are in no particular order. Which of them do you consider most important? (Hint: take our latest poll.)

This Fourth of July, some environmentalists are ditching the traditional red, white and blue patriotic fireworks display in favor of a greener option. The environmental pollution caused by fireworks has been a concern for several years, but the smoke in the air is even more potent this year in La Jolla, CA. An environmentalist group is suing the city in an effort to stop the fireworks display, which is of particular concern because it takes place near one of the most biologically important marine areas in California.  The court hearing was set to take place today.

Fireworks contain toxic heavy metals that are linked, not only to air and water pollution, but also to cancer and respiratory problems. And this does not just affect the La Jolla community. Many people around the country will celebrate with fireworks this Independence Day, despite the potential harm to personal and environmental health.

If reading this doesn’t make you want to do away with the fireworks altogether, perhaps you should look into other, more eco-friendly options.  This list of creative ways to celebrate the Fourth of July bypasses the typical fireworks display in favor of more educational ways to mark the day’s importance, like visiting a local cemetery in honor of war veterans or throwing a patriotic-themed potluck party. If you must insist on lighting some fireworks, consider the nitrogen-rich variety, which produce less toxic fumes and smoke.

Just because the BP Oil Spill hasn’t made its way to your state doesn’t mean you have to miss out on the black water that’s sweeping across the gulf. Thanks to the good folks at OilSpillWater.com, you can now purchase a sealed, glass bottle of oil and water to serve as a souvenir and reminder of one of the nation’s worst environmental disasters.

If you can’t tell by now that the site (and our description of it) is rather tongue-in-cheek, you need only read the barely-visible print at the bottom of the site’s home page: “Oil Spill Water is a novelty gift that is included with your donation.”

Jeffrey and David Shiffman, according to a piece from NBC Miami, are selling these bottles for $9.99. Half of that will go to support Reef Relief, the International Fund for Animal Welfare and the International Bird Research Center. Where does the other five bucks go? To cover costs, apparently.

Personally, I think this is a great way to build awareness and raise funds for some organizations that seem to be doing good things in the gulf. I’m a little curious why it takes five dollars to mix an ounce of oil with an ounce of water.

More serious collectors looking for a genuine sample of water from the gulf should look elsewhere, as these bottles contain used motor oil mixed with real ocean water. The two brothers were initially shipping oil taken from the gulf, but that got expensive. By simulating their own bottled oil spill water, they are cutting costs in hopes of passing more of the donations on to the three organizations.

We don’t think the fact that the oil spill water is fake will deter many people from buying it. After all, people continue to buy bottled water from exotic springs and streams, even when 40% of bottled water is nothing more than well-marketed tap water. At least this bottled water is drawing attention to an environmental problem, rather than creating one.

We just got in our first shipment of Vapur water bottles, and we’re proud to announce that we’ll be giving one away for the first week of our new contest to help people buck the bottled water trend. I can think of no product more equipped to do just that than the Vapur Anti Bottle.

So why does Vapur refer to this water bottle as an anti bottle? Well, it does just about everything traditional bottled water can’t.

Most importantly, it’s reusable. You can’t say that about most plastic water bottles, as many contain Bisphenol-A (BPA), a compound that can leach out of the plastic and into your water. BPA has been associated with a variety of neurological and hormonal neurological issues, as well as several cancers.

Clean, filtered water and a regular reusable water bottle are all you need to kick your bottled water habit — but the Vapur Anti Bottle is far from regular. When empty, you can flatten, fold, or roll up a Vapur water bottle to store it in the tiniest of spaces. The water bottle also comes with a carabiner, so that you can easily attach it to a backpacks, purses and camping equipment.

If you’re a bottled water addict, then a Vapur water bottle is just what you need to kick that nasty habit.

You can enter to win through the Filters Fast Facebook page, by retweeting about the contest on Twitter, or you can do both to increase your chances of winning. For instructions on how to enter, see below.

How to Win a Vapur Water Bottle on Facebook

Simple: All we want you to do is “like” us on our Filters Fast Facebook page. Click on the “like” button just one time and you’re entered for every one of our weekly contests, including the grand prize drawing for a $250 Visa gift card on September 1. The drawing for the first Vapur bottle will take place on July 9.

How to Win a Vapur Water Bottle on Twitter

1) Make sure you follow us @FiltersFast so we can get in touch if you win.

2) Post the tweet below to your own Twitter account to help us spread the word about the contest.

RT: I want to win a @Vapur anti bottle from @FiltersFast so I can buck the bottled water trend!

3) Leave your @twitter_user_name in the comments section below .

*Please note that the Twitter contest is separate from the Facebook contest. We will give a Vapur water bottle away on Twitter on Friday, June 25. By entering the Twitter contest you are only eligible to win the Vapur water bottle, but you will not be entered to win the weekly prizes or the $250 Visa gift card grand prize. To enter these contests, you just have to “like” us on Facebook! You can enter both contests.

Stay tuned for more giveaways! We’ll be giving out a weekly prize for the two months leading up to our grand prize drawing, in which someone will win a $250 gift card! See our Buck the Bottled Water Trend contest for more details.