SOFT DRINKS
Set against the backdrop of global environmental problems, a can of soda pop looks fairly harmless. But since the average American drinks nearly 45 gallons of soft drinks every year, far more than any other commercial beverage, the ingredients and packaging of this product do have an impact on the environment.
Unhealthy ingredients: The older brands of soft drinks, such as Coke Classic and
Pepsi, are basically highly processed expensively packaged forms of sweetened water.
Their ingredients are relatively harmless, but have almost no nutritional value:
• Carbonated water, filtered from a municipal water supply and then injected with carbon dioxide gas
• Corn Syrup and/or sugar
• Caramel color, made by heating corn syrup
• Phosphoric acid, extracted from phosphate rock with sulfuric acid
• Natural flavors
• Caffeine
The newer soft drinks, however, include a host of chemicals:
• Aspartame (NutraSweet), a synthetic, no-calorie sweetener now used in most diet soda pop, not known to be harmful to the general population but dangerous to those few people who cannot metabolize it
• Saccharin, a synthetic sweetener made from petroleum or coal-tar oils and sulfuric acid; a suspected human carcinogen known to cause cancer in animals.
• Sodium and potassium benzoate, preservatives derived from petrochemicals
• polyethylene glycol, a “softener” made from petroleum gases or natural gas
• Glycerol ester of wood rosin, a stabilizer extracted from pine using naphtha, a volatile liquid made from coal tar or natural gas
• EDTA, a preservative made by mixing sodium cyanide and formaldehyde with ethyleneiamine (derived from hydrocarbon gases)
BOTTLED WATER
Finding that tap water often tastes and smells awful, and worrying about contamination, Aniericans are increasingly turning to the bottle; we now drink over 1.7 bfflion gallons of bottled water every year.
The health benefits of drinking plenty of clean water are hard to overestimate. Water helps flush out toxins and keeps the kidneys and other organs working properly. A basic rule of thumb, drink four to six glasses a day, not including caffeinated and alèoholic drinks, which can remove more water than they provide. The main advantage of bottled water over most tap water is thai it tastes good, which encourages you to drink more.
Chemical contamination: Water is so easily contaminated—from bacteria, industrial wastes, heavy metals, or organic pollutants—that its purity is often difficult to assess. Even water that tests clean can later become polluted or can get contaminated during bottling—as happened when benzene contamination prompted a worldwide recall of Perrier bottled water in 1989. For water bottled in the United States, the government regulates both water sources and processing methods. Most bottled water, in fact, comes from deep, protected sources free of ongoing contamination.
Choosing Bottled Water: Ask the bottler for test results that prove the water is
contaminant free. Better yet, ask whether the bottler is certified by the International
Bottled Water Association. As of 1991 the IBWA requires certified water to test free of 181 contaminants.
TAP WATER
Most Americans get their tap water from municipal treatment facilities, but about 40 million drink water from their own wells. Tap water comes from a wide variety of sources-rivers, creeks, reservoirs, lakes, and groundwater aquifers- and its purity varies just as widely.
Harmful Contaminants:
The Environmental Protection Agency has identified more than 700 pollutants found in tap water. Below are just a few of the most prevalent:
• Microbes, including bacteria, viruses, and protozoan such as Giardia
• Nitrates, which cause oxygen-metabolism problems and are suspected carcinogens
• Organic and inorganic pollutants known to cause a wide range of serious diseases, including cancer
• Toxic, nondegradable heavy metals such as mercury, lead and cadmium
• Trthalomethanes, suspected and known carcinogens created from the chlorine used in Water treatment plants
• Radionuclides, including radon, uranium, and synthetic substances. The sources of contamination are numerous. Among them are:
• Agriculture, which pollutes rivers and lakes with nitrates from fertilizers and livestock waste
• Industry, which produces numerous water pollutants and is a major source of four toxic, nondegrading heavy metals: lead, cadmium, chromium and copper
• Urban storrnwater runoff which carries chemicals, oils, grease, garbage and dirt from city streets into ground and surface waters
• Municipal water treatment plants, often so overwhelmed by the pollutants and huge volumes of water they must treat that they discharge inadequately treated water
• Water supply lines and indoor pipes, whose toxic contaminants, such as lead from old pipes and lead solder on copper tubing, can leach into the water flowing through them
Bacterial contamination: Water from some individual wells and small systems has a high bacteria count. A 1984 study revealed that 28 percent of rural homes used water with coliform bacteria levels that exceeded the federal limit. These bacteria are common in the intestines arid are not harmful at normal levels, but can signal the presence of other harmful bacteria and viruses.
Your body: Your best defense against microbial contamination is a strong immune system.
COFFEE FILTERS
About three-quarters of America’s coffee drinkers use convenient — but wasteful — paper filters to make their brew.
WHERE TO FIND BETTER PRODUCTS
Metal filters (highly recommended): These filters are made of fine metal mesh; they’re reusable, easy to clean, and quite effective. Look for Braun’s 23-carat-gold, cone- shaped filter and other brands in gourmet, coffee, and department stores.
Cloth filters (highly recommended): These simple, inexpensive filters work well with pour through cones. You must rinse them by hand after each use and boil them periodically to get them really clean, but they save paper and money and add no taste to the coffee. Look for them in natural foods and coffee stores.
Unbleached paper filters (recommended): These light brown filters are just as sanitary and effective as bleached filters; the only difference is their color. They come in various sizes for both cones and automatic machines. Several brands are sold nationwide in coffee and kitchenware stores.
Bleached paper filters (never recommended): Some bleached paper filters do make good-tasting, sediment-free coffee, but their environment impact and health risks make them a poor choice.
