Need A New Years' Resolution? Stop Drinking Bottled Water

New Years is a time for resolutions that are generally aimed at self-improvement; lose weight, quit smoking, get a girlfriend/boyfriend/, lose a girlfriend/boyfriend.  OK--these are all well and good but, let's face it...4 out of 5 times these resolutions just don't work.  I think I have tried all of them (except for me lose weight was gain weight) and most have been a failure.  Except for that one time I resolved to start flossing...

Anyway, how about resolving to do something to improve the world in 2011.  It's very simple as you don't have to cure world hunger or end war or anything like all.  All you have to do is stop drinking bottled water.  Seriously.  It is one of the most wasteful habits of mankind.  Here's a few simple and scary facts:

• 1.5 million barrels of oil a year are used to make the bottles 
• That's enough oil for 100,000 cars in the US to drive around for one full year
• Every week nearly 40,000 18-wheelers are tooling around the US to deliver bottled water
• More than 80% of bottled water containers in the US are not recycled
• It can take 7 times the amount of water in the bottle to actually make the bottle!!!

So, despite the green label (yes Poland Spring--I'm talking to YOU), bottled water is incredibly wasteful. But it's also totally unnecessary too. Tap water is held to much higher standards than bottled water. So get yourself a nice stainless steel thermos, fill it up in the sink and resolve to do your part to make the world a better place.  And forget those boyfriend/girlfriend resolutions.  Just remember...a good planet is even harder to find.

The Greenest City In The World?

As the Copenhagen Climate Talks continue today, there was a report issued that global warming is not slowing and that the last decade is the warmest on record in 150 years. So what can you do to keep the planet cooler? Move to New York. According to an article in City Scoops, New York City is one of the greenest cities on the planet.

Even with all those twinkling lights that are on, the city's per capita greenhouse emissions are a third of the rest of the country. If NYC was a state, it would rank 51st in per capita energy consumption. The reason is twofold; much smaller living spaces and, the most obvious one, no cars. The article also states that the city intends to lower greenhouse emissions by a third in the next twenty years.

Despite the city's green ranking and real greenness with so many parks, there is still one little problem regarding the future--the city is at sea level. As glaciers melt and oceans rise, Manhattan is likely to find itself battling the ocean more than the sun. And suddenly, those 6 floor walk-ups will have a lot more value.