I'll admit it, I am a Facebook surfer. It's a quick and easy way to keep up with what friends are up to, find new fly patterns, link to fishing articles and even see what the latest shenanigans in Washington are. It's all fun and games as long as I don't get myself sucked into some of the pointless "discussions" over pointless subjects (political and otherwise) that most of us can't do anything about. But every once in a while a feed pops up that we can do something about.
Several weeks ago I saw an article about the Nestle Company renewing rights to continue pumping millions of gallons of water. the article and the ensuing discussion demonized Nestle. I was all worked up about it for a while then other matters stole my attention. Another article on the same subject popped up again this morning and it hit me, why are we pissed at Nestle? Nestle and other companies like it are simply filling a retail demand, a demand that we the people have created, the bottled water industry. Companies are in business to make money and as long as we keep feeding the beats that is the bottled water industry that industry is going to keep pumping billions of gallons of water into manufactured plastic bottles.
As anglers we may well have had a hand in creating the monster that is the bottled water industry, sure we're not the only demographic but every single serving bottle of water we consume is going to be replaced by a company like Nestle, Ozarka, Disani, Aquafina, and the list goes on. The big question here and the one that needs to be addressed by everyone who is upset about it is, what part did I have in building that multi-billion dollar industry?
I will admit that for years I bought bottled water by the flat to take on fishing trips because it was convenient. Stick a couple bottles in my waistpack and hit the river for the morning, drink those two and replenish at lunch with a couple more then slam a couple more on the drive home. That's 6 bottles a day. Over the course of a week of fishing I would consume as many as 42 bottles of water. That's 42 plastic bottles going either to the landfill or to be recycled. That's 42 bottles too many. Then my brain kicked in.
Instead of being pissed that bottled water companies are collectively pumping billions of gallons a year from sources that should be left alone and making billions of bottles that are either thrown out or recycled I decided to change my ways.
At first I saw it as an obstacle but really the solution is no more inconvenient than having to purchase and repurchase individual bottles and I don't have to worry whether the locale I'm in has recycling facilities. Believe it or not some municipalities still don't recycle! The solution is to simply plan ahead in a different way.
My choice is to carry refillable bottles and a re-purposed gallon milk jug full of tap water. The two 16 oz. bottles get filled at home or hotel along with the gallon jug. The refillable bottles go into my waistpack and get refilled from the gallon jug as needed through the day. This solution allows me to consume as much water as needed from municipal sources without using disposable bottles. There are also other solutions to the bottled water conundrum.
Friends I fish with have taken to carrying straws and bottles that filter water right out of a stream as needed. Companies like Sawyer and other companies have multiple solutions to suit multiple situations. This article gives some of the best choices for 2019. I mention the Sawyer systems specifically because some of my angling companions use them and have had great success.
These solutions to the bottled water conundrum are good not only on stream but also at work and at home. If you find your municiple water source less than agreeable, companies such as Lifestraw have solutions for that too. In bottle or tap filters remove bad tastes, odors and they have solutions that remove contaminants like bacteria and harmful chemicals. What's not to like about that? I use a Lifestraw around the house and enjoy not having to recycle those single serving bottles.
As we become more and more environmentally conscious it's time to start looking at where the real issues and solutions lie. I think if we start to think differently than we have over the last few decades we might start to find solutions to some of the questions that face our society are right at our own fingertips.
