today is earth day, so the topic in question is PLASTIC!
plastic is ubiquitous these days, and plastic water bottles are everywhere! im sure we've all heard horror stories of how poisonous chemicals can contaminate your water, and the Times article on it did nothing but worsen my fears, so i made a little trip around the internet to find out more.
check out the bottom of your bottle! you'll probably find a triangle with a number inside. this denotes the type of plastic used in making the bottle. the most common numbers (based on a little survey of some classmates' bottles) are #4 and #7. luckily, #2, #4, and #5 are pretty safe plastics with low leaching. however, #7 contains a chemical called BPA (bisphenol A) which is very similar to synthetic estrogen. thus, it is easily taken up by our bodies and can cause all kinds of funny things including cancer and decreased testosterone levels. those hard plastic columbia bottles are #7s. luckily, nalgene makes bottles that do not contain BPA, so there are safe alternatives.
the plastic bottles that usually contain mineral water or soft drinks (i just checked the coke one in my fridge) are made of plastic #1. these are particularly harmful and its best if you use them only once (:
hope that gave you guys a clearer understanding of the plastics that we used everyday! take care!
