It is a common misconception for many people that bottled water is safer than tap, plastic bottles get recycled, and no harm is being done to the environment in the bottling process. Unfortunately, that could not be further from the truth!So in case you either needed more reasons to stop drinking bottled water, or a few extra talking points when discussing with your friends, I have assembled 12 solid reasons to kick the bottled water habit:
 

• American tap water is among the safest in the world.
• As much as 40% of the bottled water sold in the U.S. is just filtered tap water anyway. Be sure to check the label and look for “from a municipal source” or “community water system”, which just means it is tap water.
• By drinking tap water, you can avoid the fertilizer, pharmaceuticals, disinfectants, and other chemicals that studies have found in bottled water.
• Tap water costs about $0.002 per gallon compared to the $0.89 to $8.26 per gallon charge for bottled water. If the water we use at home cost what even cheap bottled water costs, our monthly water bills would run $9,000.

Some say it is a greenwash, some say it isn’t. The leading climate change researcher, James Hansen, has already stated that any idea of a treaty there needs to fail as it will do literally nothing to stop climate change. “Summit talks so flawed that (a) deal would be a disaster” was said in The Guardian. So what is the hoopla over Copenhagen and its promise of saving the planet? From the Times Online:

It’s the last chance to stop global warming…until next time. The Copenhagen summit is part of a never-ending circus that is about so much more than just climate change.

Sadly, the author of that article (which is a must read for anyone who cares) hits the nail right on the head – these delegates have been doing the same thing for, well, 15 years at these summits – with barely any success or progress. What makes them think they will get much done this time?

The concept of “common but differentiated responsibilities” lies at the heart of the Copenhagen negotiations. This is a coded way of saying that only developed countries are expected to cut their CO2. China, India and other developing countries can go on increasing their emissions as long as these grow at less than the “business-as-usual” rate. With the planet-saving efforts of 190 countries being measured in two such different ways, there is boundless opportunity for accusations that some are not pulling their weight. When the circus rolls out of Copenhagen on December 18, the only certainty is that the big top will soon be re-erected in another city.

OK, so the title of the article I am going to link to doesn’t actually have a lot to do with “taking the private jet to Copenhagen” but it sure is catchy…and somewhat true. Instead, the article does a great job of pointing out the greenwashing and greenpocrisy of well-known “green” celebrities. A few fantastic tidbits from this Greenwash of the Week article include:

- John Travolta notoriously encouraged the British public to do its bit to fight global warming — after flying into London on one of his five, yes, five private jets (one of which is a Boeing 707).

- Oprah Winfrey, who preaches eco-virtue from her TV pulpit, travelled in a 13-seat Gulfstream IV private jet for years.

- Perhaps more egregious, because she is a much more in-your-face global-warming campaigner, is Dame Trudie Styler, film financier and wife of Sting. Not only do she and her husband run seven homes and travel between them in private jets and a fleet of cars, but in 2007 an employment tribunal revealed Styler was furious when her pregnant chef refused to travel 100 miles to prepare some soup and salad.

- Tom Cruise — who has campaigned for the LA-based environmental group Earth Communications Office — also has an air fleet and a licence to pilot his five planes.

- U2’s latest world tour … produces the carbon equivalent of the annual emissions of 6,500 British homes — or a rocket trip to Mars and back.

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The Good Human aims to be a destination that encourages people to be better humans through working to clean up the environment, being active in political issues and being more aware of one’s life and surroundings.