Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Plastic Bottles

Yesterday I watched a documentary entitled Tapped. It was fabulous. I appreciated the excellent information, its beautiful photography, sensitive narration, good use of silence with just visuals, and its overall stimulation. I found it very provocative.

What I want for Christmas and all the year is for people to STOP drinking bottled water. There are many valid reasons for changing our behavior. First, the water is acidic, highly oxidizing, and very costly. The cost per gallon exceeds that of gasoline!

In many cases the quality of the water is no better than what comes from the public water supply, which is highly regulated and frequently tested. Bottled water, on the contrary, escapes governmental scrutiny! Citizens assume that because it's bottled and has a fancy name and label that the contents is safe and sanitary. Not necessarily so.

What disgusts me is knowing that several of the largest bottlers (Nestle via Poland Springs, CocaCola, and Pepsi) actually use the public water supply. We citizens are footing the bill and then buying the water from these conglomerates.

As Tapped pointed out, some locales are experiencing major droughts. Yet these companies continue to take water from lakes and springs while the neighborhood must limit its use of water or go without! One such community is Atlanta.

It bothers me to see that the precious resources in Maine are being taken from the community without compensation. The cost of water for Poland Springs, a meager 4 cents per bottle. The profit, about 160%.

And the bottles themselves pose more problems. Do you know how much petroleum goes into their manufacture and distribution? Enough to fuel 10,000 vehicles daily.

Then there's the issue of health. People living close to companies that produce these plastics develop cancer at higher than average rates. Here's another Love Canal happening in Corpus Christy, TX. These families are experiencing devastation both health-wise and financially.

Those of use who drink from these bottles also risk exposure to carcinogens. It turns out that polycarbonate also leaches chemicals just like PET plastic.

Finally our environment cannot handle the mountains, no acres of plastic bottles that are clogging streams, rivers, even the ocean. There is a place in the Pacific twice the size of Texas that consists of tons of plastic bottles. There is a beach where instead of sand, these is a mixture of plastic particles. Landfills are overflowing with plastic waste.

Sadly, less than 30% of plastic bottles are recycled in the US. Europe has a higher rate. Where the 13 states have passed legislation requiring deposits on plastic bottles (mainly soda), recycling increases to more than 50%. In Michigan, the only state to put a 10 cent deposit, the rate is 95%. However, most states exempt water bottles from this law!

The industry pretends that the solution is curbside recycling, but less than one in four of us in the US have such access. Thus we toss them away randomly and most wind up in the waterways. It takes over 1000 years for them to degrade. In the meantime, the fish eating the plastic pieces are getting sick and die. We who eat such fish also risk these plastics accumulating in our bodies.

Can you see the disaster brewing? It's here. Please stop buying bottled water (soda too). Let's be mindful of our legacy to the next generation as well as protecting the health and environment right now.

Wednesday, December 16, 2009

First Demonstration

Thanks to my friend Patti who suggestions and organized this event, I gave my first presentation on Kangen water. It was a hit! I'm very happy.

About 3 weeks ago, Patti and I attended a demonstration and we both had similar reactions. While it was very informative, it seemed overly complicated and long. We both thought it needed to be simplified and shortened.

Although Patti has not yet purchased her own machine, she loves this water and comes regularly to my home to refill her jugs. She suggested that I do a demonstration and she would invite all her friends. I developed the copy and she sent out 40 invitations.

In the last week, I began telling a few of my friends about the event and knew that they would be coming too. Then I began to prepare for this evening.

First I wrote out my "speech". I find that this helps me organize my thoughts and plants some phrases in my brain so that when I speak extemporaneously, I know where I'm going and what I want to say. I shared my written speech with a few friends and got feedback. One woman, whom I recently met, suggested that the best way to do this type of presentation is to begin with stories. She said, information tells but stories sell.

So I abandoned my original script and followed her suggestion. Since my own stories seemed a bit weak, I asked my sponsor if he would share his via telephone. (He lives in Florida whereas I reside in Massachusetts.) I put him on speaker phone and he told about having a liver transplant that required him to take lots of immune-suppressant medications. As a result, his kidney function was gravely compromised and he was informed that he would next need a kidney transplant. However, he began drinking large amounts of Kangen water and his health was restored. Rather than 20 medications, he takes just 3 and no longer has kidney problems.

Another member of the team told his story via telephone. His father had died from acid reflux. Following in his footsteps, he too was diagnosed with the condition and found himself on various medications. The problem was so severe that his whole life revolved around taking these drugs. Once he started drinking Kangen water, the symptoms disappeared. Now he is drug-free and has no acid reflux.

I shared a couple of stories of women I have helped by sharing this water. One had acid reflux that required daily medication. Within 3 days, she was able to stop all drugs. The other person had severe morning sickness well into her 5th month of pregnancy. Within 2 days of drinking Kangen water, the morning sickness resolved and she is doing fine.

I've found that my weight has redistributed by drinking this water and my body is able to let go more easily of extra pounds. Moreover, the slight aches and joint pains that I was unaware were there, disappeared entirely, and then came back during the 5 days when I was out of town during Thanksgiving. Now I know for sure that the water benefits me.

After these stories I did several demonstrations. The first was to show the amount of anti-oxidants contained in Kangen water in comparison to other types of water. We used tap water, Penta, Poland Spring, SmartWater, VitaminWater, Fiji Water, Sprite, and Pelagrino. All of the other waters had positive ORP readings, meaning that they actually contribute free radicals and help age the body more rapidly. Kange water had negative 350 ORP reading, meaning it contains lots of anti-oxidants that neutralize free radicals.

The next demonstration was the pH level. Most of the waters are acid with the exception of Fiji and tap water, which were both neutral, even a bit alkaline. Kangen water was highly alkaline, and it quickly alkalized the other waters, except for soda and Pelagrino.

It was the last demonstration that was most impressive. Using a cluster of tomatoes, I soaked them in plain tap water and strong Kangen water. I test for chlorine. Tap water is loaded with chlorine. After "cleaning" the tomatoes, the soaked tap water test negative for chlorine, whereas the Kangen soaked water was "dirty". Where did the chlorine go? Obviously, it was absorped by the tomatoes! So the tomatoes actually washed the water rather than the other way around. It made us all think about what kind of pesticides and acid rain are on our produce, as well as what we might be eating.

If you want more information about Kangen water, go to
www.EnjoyThisWater.com

My audience gave me feedback at the end and I appreciated their support. Thanks!

Friday, December 11, 2009

Super Charge Me

This week I attended a movie/lecture at Harvard University featuring Jenna Norwood and her movie, Super Charge Me. In contrast with Super Size Me, which documents one person's journey eating 30 days exclusively at MacDonald's, Super Charge Me shows Jenna's adventures eating raw foods for 30 days.

What prompted her to begin this path was her desire to look ravishing in a chorus girl costume that she hoped to wear for Halloween. When she tried it on months before the event, the mirror reflected back unattractive bulges. That motivated her to do something. Coincidentally a few friends had recently experimented with raw foods, which caused her to do some research. So she enrolled in a 21-day detox experience at Optimum Health Institute in San Diego. When she completed the program, she continued eating raw for the full 30 days.

Before beginning this month, she consulted her doctor and had various tests performed. The same battery of tests were repeated at the end. As expected, she lost about 15 pounds. Most of her blood work showed vast improvement. There were two exceptions: iron and B12 levels.

As a person who has been eating no animal products for many years, B12 levels could be a concern. However, as I've researched the topic, I've learned that many people, not just vegans, have low B12 levels. So I recently decided to add a sublingual supplement.

The point of the film is that eating living foods is a viable option and can lead to improvements in overall health. My own experience substantiates this conclusion.

Following the documentary, Jenna appeared and answered questions. I learned that she formed a raw food community in Sarasota, Florida, where she hails. So upon return, she began to meet like-minded people and participate in potluck get-togethers. With the prodding of her new friends, she eventually taught food preparation and later opened a raw food restaurant. Sadly the new building where the restaurant was going to be housed had a major flood and so this venture is temporarily on hold.

I liked how Jenna responded to people's inquiries. Although it was apparent that she advocates for raw food, she also is supportive of other choices. She admits that she has strayed several times, even though she feels better when eating living foods. I appreciated her comment to one questioner, "Just try it and judge for yourself."

As I listened to the audience reflect on this documentary, I recalled one quote that the movie cited from Margaret Mead. To paraphrase, it's easier to change a man's religion than his diet. So true.