AB InBev is the umbrella company that manufactures Budweiser beer. In a previous article published on 03 December 2010, WaterWideWeb interviewed Hugh Share AB InBev’s Global Director, Beer & Better World. Share said, “High quality water is fundamental to our business. It’s the principal ingredient in our beers and soft drinks”.
Water conservation efforts are vital to protecting the market for AB InBev products and ensuring that consumers can enjoy Anheuser-Busch products responsibly well into the future.
Brewing a beerable future is contingent upon the use of best practices in water conservation, cooperation with other leading industry experts in reduction goals, and implementing a comprehensive sustainable business plan.
“Our global water usage target is 3.5 hectoliters of water for each hectoliter of production by the end of 2012”, confirmed Share in the interview on 03 December 2010.
Reportedly, there was a 6 percent decrease in hectoliter water usage per hectoliter of beer production over the 2009 baseline. An AB InBev press release noted that the 6 percent reduction is out of a total 18.6 percent that the company aims to achieve by reaching its 2012 Better World target of 3.5 hectoliters of water per hectoliter of production.
For beer drinkers, news of successful water conservation efforts by AB InBev is a piece of good news indeed. In order for consumers to enjoy AB InBev products responsibly, it needs to be brewed sustainably.
Of course, keeping consumers happy is only half of the equation with respect to sustainable food and beverage products. Return on investment, protecting brand reputation, and increasing profit margins is the other half of the sustainable business equation.
The cycle of sustainability requires that buyers, sellers, and manufacturers commit to natural resource management. Without water, there can be no beer. Without beer, America would be a very different place.
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]]>There are several codes for water quality control in beauty products. There are also various types of water, including distilled and thermal water, that are in high demand as major cosmetic ingredients.
Consumer safety is a key concern for companies producing beauty products. Billions of dollars are spent on beauty products that are used by Americans every single day. So who is working to keep us safe? Why is water such a sensitive ingredient?
Water quality in beauty products is largely monitored by the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Guidance on Cosmetic Manufacturing Practices.
Only water that does not test positive for toxins, microbes and other pollutants can be used in beauty products. Standards set forth by the FDA, the USP, and the EPA are crucial to protecting consumers who purchase and use beauty supplies on a daily basis.
The Good Manufacturing Practices outlined by the FDA are guidelines for water quality. Other companies use the U.S. Pharmacopeia (USP) standards for ensuring consumer safety with respect to water quality in beauty products.
In the beauty industry, a product is only as good as the water used to make it.
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]]>Beiber asked fans to donate to http://www.charitywater.org/ , an organization that provides clean drinking water to people in developing countries by using bio-sand filters, drilling bore holes for water wells, and more.
This high profile talented teen is aware of the social issues that result from lack of clean drinking water. Beiber’s birthday wish launched a social awareness campaign that engaged young adults and fans in a movement to bring clean water where it is needed most.
Beiber said, “Together, we’ve made a big difference for many causes. Did you know that about 4,500 kids die each day from waterborne disease? By building clean water projects for villages that need them, we can prevent this!”
Initially, Beiber sought to raise $17,000 in honor of his seventeenth birthday. But as of yesterday, the amount donated to charity: water was almost double that. A report by Look to the Stars tallied the birthday boy’s wish at a total over $31,000.
For fans that couldn’t give to charity:water, Beiber still encouraged them to do a good dead. “Even if you don’t have $17 to give, I just ask that you go out in your community and try and make a positive difference. Even the smallest act of kindness can go a long way.”
From WaterWideWeb, Happy Birthday, Beiber! And thanks for doing your part to save lives by promoting charitable donations for clean water.
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]]>Ideally, water professionals should have access to the same data points at any given time. Then, lobbying for effective water management policies would be based on shared, reliable and transparent data sets.
The Berkeley Water Center (BWC) at the University of California at Berkeley partnered with the Microsoft Company for roughly five years to develop a global eScience water tool . Together, the two entities embarked on a Water Cyberinfrastructure model that has since been automated.
Professor James Hunt, Co-Chair of BWC, highlighted the importance of such a project to WaterWideWeb. “In resource dominated discussions, no one’s talking from the same foundation. They don’t have access to the same data. With this tool, you can start from the same foundation and the analysis tools are transparent.”
At the Lawrence Berkeley National Lab, researchers are putting specific data points together in one place, a data cube. Information available via the Water Cyberinfrastructure tool includes hydrological data from the U.S. Geological Survey, information from local agencies in California, meteorological data and more.
Currently, the tool provides key water points about California’s resources but could easily be expanded to include information about all of the United States, assured Hunt. “The Water Cyberinfrastrucutre Project is unique because the synthesis of data from various sources allows users to do what they want compared to other specialized software.”
The role of centralized data sets that collect and generate reports about water information is increasingly important to the world of water, especially in California. Understanding complex water systems and how they change over time is a vital element in efficiently managing water resources.
In the example of the Water Cyberinfrastrucutre Project, a combined effort from the world of academia and the private sector provides valuable data to better understand issues related to water. Increasing demands on existing water and forecasting decreasing amounts of it require specialized and accessible systems such as the Water Cyberinfrastructure Project. These systems allow scientists to assess the changes that are occurring in California’s watersheds over time.
Adapting to changing climates and appropriately revising current water policy is contingent upon hard facts; coherent environmental legislation can happen if scientists and experts share data in an organized and uniform way.
With the Water Cyberinfrastructure project, the physical and technological sciences are collaborating to ensure a sustainable future. But to make it there, a manageable infrastructure is essential. If the BWC Water Cyberinfrastructure project expands beyond California, it will enable policy makers to implement effective policies about water management that affect the lives of generations to come.
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]]>If you are concerned with water-related issues, have domain specific experience, write and interview well, and wish to contribute to this socially conscious forum, please join our volunteer team. Please send your resume, cover letter and a writing sample that would be appropriate for the categories listed on our website to: [email protected].
This position is a pro bono position and compensation is not offered at this time.
]]>Five months later after the explosion, after numerous struggles, the government proudly declared that the well was stopped on September 19th after various tests demonstrated that the cement pumped into the well had created a successful seal. While today the leackage is finally contained, the ocean is far from being oil free as “nearly five million barrels of oil had gushed from BP’s well, according to estimates by government scientists, an amount that outstrips the estimated 3.3 million barrels spilled into the Bay of Campeche by the Mexican rig Ixtoc in 1979” (Source: http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/o/oil_spills/gulf_of_mexico_2010/index.html?scp=1-spot&sq=bp%20oil%20spill&st=cse). Indeed the oil has been spreading faster than ever and by June it had managed to gild over the cost of Mississippi, Alabama and Florida. As it reached the shores, desperate and surprised tourists began to pack their bags as worried fishermen stared at the ocean with a cold shiver. As biologists rescue brown pelicans, the economy of the local towns is at risk: entire villages survived thanks to fishing activities. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service estimated that close to 4, 676 birds have been collected and the majority of those were found dead, while over a thousand birds were visibly oiled. The traumatizing species have been put into rehabilitation centers until they are cured and their bodies are strong enough to be self-sufficient. The birds are just one of the many types of species that have been deadly affected by this accident. Today it remains impossible to estimate with full accuracy the damages of the spill.
Skeptical of the declarations made by the federal government, any independent scientists and scholars are launching their own private researches in order to evaluate the real damages. A report conducted by the University of Georgia in collaboration with the Georgia Sea Grant seems to declare that the amount of oil remaining is much more superior to the one reported by the federal government: “in fact 70-79% of oil not captured at the wellhead by BP still poses a threat to the ecosystem. That’s 2.9-3.2 million barrels of oil still in the water.” (Source: http://www.treehugger.com/files/2010/08/80-percent-oil-from-gulf-oil-spill-remains-in-water.php). According to scholar it is false to believe that the remaining oil had simply dissolved into the water and was therefore harmless. Charles Hopkins, director of the Georgia Sea Grant sustains the reports that declare that the remaining oil is composed of dispersed micro-droplets, some with additional dispersant coats and other residuals particles. The scientists reminds us that the word “dispersed” needs not to be mistaken with the term “gone”. This is a serious misinterpretation often pushed forward by the news and mass media coverage’s. The portraits is not all negative, as some shades of positivity reflect upon the black sea: due to the favorable currents, the oil has been prevented from reaching the Atlantic Ocean.
As the months have passed by and the gushing well has been stopped, many journalists and media coverage centers seem to have forgotten about the most damaging oil spill accident in the history of the United States. Yes, the well has been blocked but public opinion needs to remember that the problems haven’t yet been solved. Professional and financial aid is still need in order to limit the damages and save what is left of the wildlife.
]]>Oh! You scared me Mrs. Goldendiamondy!! I feel like you are always sneaking up on me…Or maybe you just like playing hide in seek…? Well, Mrs. G. today is not a good day for me to play and have fun. I am sad and I don’t feel like listening to your usual advice. Of course, you know her now, she just wouldn’t have and decided to tell me everything she knew about Miss E. Let’s call her Miss E. for now, it is less painful and it also has a sort of secret agent feel to it. Anyways, Mrs. Goldendiamondy that the world on the aisle 5 of the superstore is that Miss E. has fallen madly in love with Bamboo B. ! Isn’t that name SO ridiculous?!!
What does Bamboo B. have that I don’t have?!? Maybe, he is older, maybe he is one of those new and hip bottles made of 100% recyclable plastic?
“No my poor child, the Bamboo water bottle is fresh, innovative and most importantly environment friendly” said Mrs. Goldendiamondy with a shrug. She went on and even told me that the Bamboo has a cool modern design with an exterior made out of wood as an outside shell protecting the inside element of the bottle that is made out of glass. The bamboo exterior protects the bottle from breaking up into a million pieces if it falls. Well what is a regular plastic bottled water suppose to do against the superman of bottles???! I have lost my battle!! The Bamboo B. is invincible! You can reuse it as many times as you like! All the other bottles seem to be talking only about Bamboo! Apparently a customer that came to visit the superstore even dropped Bamboo B. on the hardwood floor and Bamboo B. survived without a single scratch! That is not fair! I can’t compete against a glass water bottled, let along a super bamboo glass bottle! Bamboo B is like the Batman of bottles!!! This is not fair! Miss E. is a traitor! She replaced me so quickly with the next best thing! The other thing that truly worries me is that all customers seem to have fallen in love with Bamboo! They point and stare and keep on saying: “Look at this new bottle!! It is SO eco-chic! I need to buy one! Plus who needs plastic bottles anyways?!! They are SO not trendy anymore, a plastic bottled water is so 1995!”.
This is ridiculous!!! I am as much “ECO- CHIC” as Bamboo! Actually, I am super CHIC! Whatever that means…!
I need to come up with a master plan… A secret plan to get rid of Bamboo B! Muhahahaha!
TO BE CONTINUED.
Source: http://inventorspot.com/articles/sporty_and_green_bamboo_water_bottle
]]>As they move, glaciers slowly remodel their environment thanks to process of erosion and deposition. “A glacier can “carve” a valley, wearing away rocks and soil through abrasion and plucking up and moving large pieces of rock and debris” (Source: http://nsidc.org/glaciers/story/move.html ). A glacier’s life is put on hold when it stops growing in size and starts to move “in retreat”. A glacier’s retreat is mainly caused by increased temperature, evaporation and strong winds. Ablation is a natural part of a glacier’s life “as long as snow accumulation equals or is greater than melt and ablation, glacier are maintained” (Source: http://nsidc.org/glaciers/story/retreat.html). Over the past century an increasing numbers of glaciers have retreated and are slowly disappearing. For the past several years the world climate has been getting considerably warmer, increasing temperatures, rising sea levels are stirring controversy and debate amongst environmentalists.
Scientists like Hugh Kieffer are monitoring and studying climate change by keeping track of the melting of glaciers. “The global scale combined with a long study period will give the scientists the broad perspective needed to determine whether worldwide changes in climate are actually taking place” (Source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/05/010529235344.htm ). After only a couple of months of studies, the melting of glaciers all over the world is providing an important evidence for the alarming presence of global warming. Growing or shrinking are normal steps that can take part of a glacier’s life and shouldn’t alarm everyone. The situation becomes more unusual when most glaciers are doing more shrinking than growing all over the world. For instance, the Columbia Glacier located in Prince William Sound, has become the world’s fastest melting glacier. It is sliding into the ocean at a “rate of 80 feet per day and has thinned up to 1,300 feet in places during the past 25 years, dumping 2 cubic miles of ice into the sound annually” (Source: http://www.livescience.com/environment/060324_glacier_melt.html ). In certain situations, a glacier can weaken so much that at a point it simply collapses entirely. The most serious consequence of this glaciers’ disappearing is the alarming rise of sea levels. Within a couple of years, the rising sea levels could submerge coastal regions, putting at risk beautiful and unique cities like Venice. In the Antarctic Peninsula, ice shelves are connected to the continent while they are already floating on water, keeping in place the sheet of ice of the Antarctic continent. When the ice shelves break off, this renders the situation easy for glaciers to drift off into the sea and cause a rise in the sea level.
Up to now, European glaciers have been the ones more at risk of disappearing due to the consequences of global warming. Since the beginning of the 19th century, the Pyrenees lost two-thirds of their ice cover. Moreover, more than half of the glaciers in the Alps have already disappeared. “Often called the water tower of Europe, the Alps contain 40% of Europe’s fresh water supply. The dramatic disappearance of ice on the Matterhorn last year has prompted the need for the border between Switzerland and Italy to be redrawn” (Source: http://www.mnn.com/green-tech/research-innovations/blogs/top-7-disappearing-glaciers). An additional example of this somewhat tragic situation is the case of the famous Glacier National Monument in Montana. According to the latest reports the area has lost more than 50% of its glaciers.
Global warming is the main cause for the disappearance of glaciers yet; one needs to keep in mind that pollution is in great part responsible for glacier recession. If public opinion seems to be pleased about warmer winters and a more pleasant weather, this change comes with more severe consequences. Global warming is threatening the balance of various precious eco-systems, impacting on the life of glaciers and sea levels. A major attention needs to be paid in regards to the conservation of our planet. Wreckless behaviors and pollution will have a serious impact on our future.
]]>Amused citizens were staring at the lake as the black balls rolled rapidly down the hill and quickly transformed the blue lake into a completely black canvas. In order to protect this important potable water supply the water needed to be shaded absolutely “because when sunlight mixes with the bromide and chlorine in Ivanhoe’s water, the carcinogen bromate forms, said Pankaj Parekh, DWP’s director for water quality compliance” (Source: http://articles.latimes.com/2008/jun/10/local/me-balls10). Bromide is normally present in ground while chlorine is used to neutralize bacteria. If you add sunlight to the mix, the combo becomes dangerous for humankind. In theory the rates of bromate were not high enough to be official dangerous for the health of the local citizens, yet the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power still preferred to take the extra precaution.
It took around half an hour to unload the black balls “from 190 giant bags into the 10-acre, 58-million gallon water resevoir that serves 600, 000 people in downtown and South L.A.” (Source: http://gizmodo.com/5015148/400000-bouncy-black-balls-invade-reservoir-to-save-los-angeles-from-cancer-water ). The only alternative in order to clean out the lake would be to drain the entire wet land in order to fully clean the bottom of the lake to remove all traces and bromate particles. Until this longer and more complicated alternative is put into action, the black balls are a temporary solution for the next couple of years. The black balls are non-toxic and UVA resistant insofar they won’t melt, degrade or release chemical substances when exposed to sunlight. Each little black ball is shipped directly from Allentown, Pennsylvania. “The amount of balls needed is so large that ‘Orange Products’, has dedicated itself to solely producing the required balls for Invanhoe Reservoir” (Source: http://greenlineblog.com/2008/08/ivanhoe-reservoir-solving-a-problem-illustrating-another/ ). Each unit costs 34 cents for a total bill of around $ 2 million. These balls are also commonly called “bird balls” for the simple reason that they are usually used as a netting to keep birds away from farms or manufacturing facilities. The balls are also a way to cover a land with pollution or industrial waste in order to prevent birds and other animals from landing on the surface and getting intoxicated. In addition, the balls prevent water evaporation in a somewhat “natural” fashion.
Environmentalists and the local population are not very pleased about their lake turning black. The owners of gorgeous houses and villas by the lake fear that their properties would lose value on the market. Environmentalists claim that the black balls haven’t been fully tested and that their long-term effects on the environment and the fish could be harmful. Opinions online seem to proclaim that these bird balls haven’t solved a problem but only created an additional one. Only time will tell if the consequences of this initiative are positive or negative for the eco-system of the lake and the potable water.
At the beginning of the 20th century, Annette Kellerman, a born Australian athlete, dancer and movie star gave life to the art of dancing in the water, an activity we now know as synchronized swimming. When she first moved to the United States, this young confident young woman was arrested for “indecency” on the beach for wearing a bathing that did not cover her knees. She defended herself in court saying that she did not care to provoke anyone but “if she were to swim in the customary garb of her day, she “may as well be swimming in chains” (Source: http://au.lifestyle.yahoo.com/marie-claire/article/-/5887692/annette-kellerman-australias-forgotten-icon/). Annette, who suffered from rickets and had to wear heavy braces as a child, saw swimming as a therapeutic activity that also helped her to strength her body. Encouraged by her doctor to swim as an actual treatment, the girl became passionate about the sport and started swimming competitively as a teenager. During a visit at the local aquarium in Melbourne, dared by her sister, Annette Kellerman dived into the pool with tropical fish and performed what resembled to a ballet while her sister Marcelle, went around with a hat collecting money from the crowd. Little did the girl know that this childish and fearless performance had just granted her with a new job. The people from the aquarium invited her to perform her “mermaid act” on a regular basis as the girl attracted a great amount of attention with her impressive ability to hold her breath underwater. The girl soon became a local celebrity for her performance and as mermaid and her gift to win all long-distance swim races. Thanks to Annette’s talent and passion for the sport, in 1939 was held the first synchronized swimming competition.
Only a couple years later, in 1955, this sport became a real event at the 1955 Pan American Games in Mexico. “The first time it was in the Olympic games was in 1984 in Los Angeles” (Source: http://library.thinkquest.org/J002862/swimming.htm) where both duets and teams of maximum eight swimmers were introduced into the official competition. Today this sport is under the ruling of the Federation Internationale de Natation Amateur (FINA). At Olympic competitions there are usually two events: one is the duet competition while the other is the team event with a free routine and a technical one both accompanied by music. Swimmers are required to have an incredible endurance considering that points are deduced for touching the bottom of the swimming pool or for a lack of fluidity in the performance.
Annette Kellerman, a real pioneer of this sport showed the entire world the many benefits of water that managed to cure her illness, boost her self esteem and grant her a body figure of a “perfect woman” (Source: http://au.lifestyle.yahoo.com/marie-claire/article/-/5887692/annette-kellerman-australias-forgotten-icon/). This young mermaid and born water icon is a symbol of feminity combined with strength and endurance.
Stay tuned tomorrow for a special interactive post on synchronized swimming with exclusive pictures and videos!
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