Whenever the environment, climate change, and renewable energy are mentioned, we are invariably told we need to lower carbon emissions and adopt carbon-neutral lifestyles and business practices. But what is carbon neutral exactly?

To put it rather simply – Carbon neutral encompasses any activity which will reduce or reverse carbon emissions (Greenhouse Gas Emissions). Carbon Emissions are in part quite natural. However, many aggressively man-made carbon emissions are unnecessarily impacting the environment – the manufacture of plastic water bottles being of significant concern.

While many industries are establishing ‘green’ practices and seeking ways to produce environmentally friendly products, and governments are actively working within the guidelines of the Greenhouse Gas Protocol (GHG Protocol) advanced by the World Business Council for Sustainable Development and Natural Resources Institute, the focus is also on communities and individuals to reduce their carbon footprint – the number of carbon emissions they produce.

Going carbon neutral is not always easy or practical. Some people have no choice other than to drive their car to work. However, these same individuals may still work to live more eco-friendly lives by purchasing locally grown produce, thereby cutting down on the negative impact of transportation ‘food miles’ from distant markets, buying locally manufactured goods, planting trees and gardens, and so on.

The Negative Carbon Impact of Bottled Water

Forty-five billion plastic bottles for drinking water are manufactured, transported, and exported every year, driving up the levels of harmful Greenhouse Gas – estimated at 62g of emissions per one-liter bottle. The bottles also create 124 million cubic meters of landfill and pollute the environment, as less than 1/3 of drinking water bottles are recycled.

When you’re traveling, the use of environmentally harmful bottled water has to be balanced with the undeniable need for sources of healthy drinking water in places where there is no clean tap water, there is bacterial water contamination, the presence of Cryptosporidium or Giardia in the water, and sometimes with no adequate water sanitation.

Bottled Water Is Not the Only Solution

Bottled water is not the only solution to clean drinking water when you’re traveling. Hygienic, cheap, and close to carbon-neutral Sure Aqua water purification products, using micro-filtration/ultra-filtration technology, are the answer.
Sure Aqua strives to provide solutions to allow you to reduce your carbon footprint. By using Sure Aqua products and eliminating the purchase of bottled water, it’s estimated an average family who usually drinks bottled water could quickly reduce their carbon footprint by around 3.2 tonnes of CO2 each year.

The carbon footprints we leave today will affect our world well into the future. Sure Aqua provides a safer, greener way for you to reduce your carbon emissions and safeguard your health.

The most environmentally friendly way to achieve clean filtered water as you travel is through a safe, economical Sure Aqua filtration product. There is no need to cart purchased bottled water with you – you can conveniently fill up at municipal taps and drink through the filtration products as you go – saving your money, your health, and the environment.

Environmental Impact of Bottled Water

Figures quoted in Beverage Digest indicated more than 2.6 billion cases of bottled water were sold in the U.S.A. in 2018 (that’s around US$25 billion in sales that year), while figures in the UK indicate over 23 billion bottles of drinking water sold in 2018.

Most startling is that only 3 billion of the 13 billion were recycled. This is of significant concern as water bottles are made of a non-biodegradable product which creates serious landfill issues and leaches water poisons into the air if incinerated.
But the environmental impact starts long before purchasing as the manufacture and global transport of plastic bottles for water results in substantial CO2 emissions contributing to the industry’s ever-expanding carbon footprint. Estimates indicate 4 liters of water and 90 grams of oil are used in the manufacture of each one-liter plastic bottle.

Multiply that by the 45 billion plastic bottles manufactured globally, equally around 33 million tonnes of water bottle plastic each year, and the environmental impact becomes frightening.

With the often declining drinking water standards and water pollution in many Western countries, the unsafe water supplies in many emerging nations, and mainly due to aggressive advertising, drinking bottled water has come close to being the accepted norm. But this may not be the source of healthy drinking water, we believe, with many now asserting commercial water bottles are a potentially hazardous health and eco cocktail*.

Antimony trioxide, a potentially toxic trace element, is used in the manufacture of water bottles. Researchers in Germany (as reported in the Environmental Science and Technology Online) who tested 132 brands of bottled water from 28 countries found when the bottles were left for six months at room temperature, the level of antimony increased by up to 90% in some instances.

Sure Aqua Products Are Clean, Green – Reduce Carbon Footprint

Our Sure Aqua products are environmentally friendly, chemical-free water filters that can be carried conveniently in your pocket/backpack and are a re-usable and inexpensive alternative to bottled water. Paying many times over-over when replacing the purchase of bottled water.

The Sure Aqua products (filtering up to 500 liters) drinking water filter removes 99.9999% of waterborne bacteria and contaminants, including Giardia, Cryptosporidium, the Sure Aqua Bottle (filtering up to 1000 liters), and Sure Aqua products+ (filtering up to 1000 liters) removes bacteria and viruses from municipal supplies without any harsh substances, and without the unpleasant taste experienced when using chlorine and iodine-based products. Sure Aqua products provide environmentally friendly drinking water and, being so compact, and it can be carried conveniently anywhere in the world – leaving no carbon footprint as it goes.

Water Purification Sure Aqua Products Reduce Your Carbon Footprint

It’s estimated about 27 million tonnes of plastic goes into water bottle manufacture annually, with around 90 grams of oil and 4 liters of water needed to manufacture just one 1-liter bottle, subsequently creating around 62 grams of Greenhouse Gas per bottle – or approximately 5,000 grams of carbon emissions saved for each Sure Aqua products used or 10,000 grams for each Sure Aqua Bottle and Sure Aqua products+.

In the U.S.A. alone, approximately 30 billion plastic water bottles are made each year, requiring more than 17 million barrels of oil. Despite the International Bottled Water Association advising bottles can be recycled up to 100 times, less than a quarter are recycled, meaning ongoing use of natural resources.

With many thousands of people drinking bottled water when they travel, and even in Western Countries where municipal water is comparatively clean, converting to a drinking water straw will reduce CO2 pollution by thousands of kilograms, per person, per year.

Who said an individual couldn’t make a difference?

Sure Aqua Products are Far Cheaper than Bottled Water

Water contamination is a serious issue that causes thousands to die every year. The causes of water contamination are wide and varied, meaning anyone can be affected, and there is a wide range of effects.

The most dramatic of these effects is cancer. Several water contaminants have been shown to cause cancer, and unfortunately, many are familiar.

One typical example is asbestos. Asbestos is a naturally occurring fibrous mineral. It has been mined to be used in thousands of products because it is extremely resistant to heat and chemicals. Unfortunately, asbestos can lead to highly contaminated water. This is usually the result of industrial wastewater or the gradual erosion of materials that contain asbestos, such as concrete pipelines, in water supply systems.

Other chemicals and minerals that can cause cancer when ingested through contaminated water include chlordane, PCB, radium, radon, toxaphene, trihalomethanes, uranium, and volatile organic compounds. Of course, there’s no need to swear off water altogether.

These contaminants are not harmful in minimal doses and can be easily avoided with a sound water purification system.

Less severe but more common are instances of gastrointestinal illness as the result of contaminated water. The most common contaminants to cause gastrointestinal illnesses are cryptosporidium, giardia, and E.coli. Contaminated water containing cryptosporidium, giardia, or E.coli is usually the result of sewage pollution, often carried into the water supply by precipitation.

Cryptosporidium is a single-celled parasite that inhabits the intestines of both humans and animals. Those who have consumed contaminated water containing cryptosporidium will have diarrhea for up to two weeks. Although this is unpleasant, it is only dangerous for people who are already in a vulnerable physical condition, especially anyone who is pregnant or has HIV, AIDS, or cancer.

Giardia is the other most common gastrointestinal illness. Like Cryptosporidium, giardia also causes contaminated water through the feces of humans and animals.  Drinking contaminated water containing giardia causes giardiasis, which is a common cause of diarrhea.

The third and most serious common cause of gastrointestinal illness as the result of contaminated water is E.coli. Although there are numerous harmless types of E.coli, the strain 0157:H7 causes several deaths each year in North America alone.
Like cryptosporidium and giardia, E-coli also contaminates water as the result of feces. Between two and seven percent of all people infected with E.coli experience hemolytic uremic syndrome, a condition that destroys red blood cells and leads to kidney failure. The hemolytic uremic syndrome is most common in children under the age of five and the elderly. The size of the harmful E.coli strain is minute (it is only 0.5 to 3 microns), making it too small for many water filters to catch. All Sure Aqua products are effective in filtering out E.coli.

Cancer and gastrointestinal illnesses are not the only effects of contaminated water. Contaminated water can also lead to liver and kidney damage.

To avoid getting sick from contaminated water, make sure you always have access to safe drinking water by investing in a sound water purification system.

Causes of Water Pollution  Sewage Pollution, Industrial Waste, and Household Products

Most people know that a lack of access to safe water is a huge global problem, but many struggles to understand the causes of water pollution. In its purest form, water should simply be the chemical compound H20: hydrogen and oxygen molecules. Many different things can be potential causes of water pollution, and each has varying effects.

Water pollution can either be point source pollution, meaning that it comes directly from a specific location, or non-point source, meaning pollution that comes non-directly from vast, nonspecific areas.

One of the significant causes of water pollution is sewage. In most Western countries, sewage is sent through long pipes to sewage treatment facilities. In developing countries, sewage often goes untreated and is sent out to the sea, polluting the marine environment and making it potentially dangerous to swim or fish.

However, it is essential to understand that all countries have sewage pollution. Sewage pollution can occur when the sewer lines become cracked or blocked, when sewage pumping stations fail and when sewage overflows. Overflows are particularly common in wet weather as rainwater fills the pipes.

Why is sewage pollution a problem?

Sewage pollution carries pathogenic protozoa such as giardia and cryptosporidium, which can be seriously damaging to human health. Sewage pollution also contains harmful detergents that are a significant cause of water pollution.

Another major cause of water pollution is chemical and industrial waste. Many factories and power plants dispose of non-organic, non-biodegradable waste by channeling it directly into streams and waterways. This can have a toxic effect on marine life, and surrounding ecosystems as the chemicals take many years to break down.

Nevertheless, even organic waste can be a cause of water pollution. Waste from slaughterhouses, fisheries, pesticides, and crude oil companies use the microorganisms in the water to biodegrade. This depletes this level of oxygen in the water, tipping the natural balance causing water pollution.

Rubbish is another cause of water pollution. Usually taken into the waterways due to domestic waste, illegal dumping, wind or stormwater run-off, rubbish adds chemicals to the water, harming plant and animal life.

However, rubbish isn’t the only household product that is a cause of water pollution. Household products like soaps, detergents, dyes, and shampoos add to wastewater, contributing to the contamination of streams, lakes, and rivers.

So, what can you do about water pollution? Make sure you’re careful about the chemicals you put down the sink. Try to buy organic soaps and detergents, and opt for natural dyes and cleaning products. You can also make sure to re-use your grey water in the garden by installing a greywater system or simply using a bucket.

You can also lobby your local council for better water treatment facilities if you feel water pollution isn’t being dealt with adequately and get involved in community clean-up events.

On a personal level, make sure you have access to safe water by investing in a sound, verified, and proven water purification system.