GAME OVER FOR THE PLASTIC BOTTLE

Article en Français

For this new challenge we will talk about the way we drink water. For some it might seem obvious, but for others they is still a long way to go for having a healthy, sustainable and responsible consumption.

I hesitated a long time about putting this challenge online, being personally, rather aware and involved on this point. But I think it’s always better to summarize, give you my tips and talk about the current situation in my adopted country, South Korea.

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In Short..

My Daily Solutions ..

It’s now been several years since I bought myself a reusable water bottle. Careful, do not buy bottle made with plastic, avoid the cheap ones or the one containing BPA (Bisphenol A, endocrine disruptor) they remain bad for health and the environment. Mine is made of stainless steel and allows me to carry my hot tea. This is already a good starting point for drinking water without a plastic bottle outside the home. If it is empty, it is rather simple to fill it in the cafes and restaurants of my city.

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The second habit is to stop buying 1L plastic bottles for the home. Living with my mother in France, she used to buy two packs of 6L every week. Living in the north, tap water is very hard and full of chlorine and other chemicals supposedly to help making water drinkable. I would like to trust our government and their “benevolent” message reassuring us about the quality of tap water. But I just have to type “study report on tap water in France” in my search engine to understand that it would be better for me and for you to stop drinking tap water.

Photo by Jacek Dylag on Unsplash

But then, where can we find a solution for drinking safe water ? Don’t worry, I have the solution. Some of you may already use Brita or a charcoal as a filter. It’s not bad, but the efficiency leaves me some doubt. And also because the first solution uses plastic and involves throwing away every month the cartridges. We can do better !

Photo by Callum Shaw on Unsplash

It has been a year and a half since my mother invested in a Berkey water filter. And it changed our lives. This purifying tank which can contain a minimum of 8.5 L works by gravity with a system of two ceramic cartridges to be replaced once a year. We can even filter rain, river and lake water. It’s magic. You can know more about it HERE !

Water in South Korea

When I arrived in Korea, two years ago, I was warned about tap water. People told me it was better to drink it boiled or through a water filter. After research, tap water is actually potable and even better than water from purifiers and plastic bottles. The government spends millions to replace the old pipes and make the water odorless. The only problem could come from the private pipes of houses built before 1994 and not replaced. To avoid unpleasant surprises, it is recommended to run the cold water 30 seconds before drinking it. Despite all these efforts, Koreans go through purifiers at home. The downside of these machines is that they will also demineralized water, which is essential for our bodies. In comparison, water in Korea is more mineralized than the one in France.

Example of a house water purifier sold by LG

We can say they are a lot of choice in terms of water consumption in South Korea and that it is rather well secured and of good quality. Access to drinking water is also very easy. You can leave your home without thinking of taking your reusable bottle. Here, water is free in restaurants. When you go shopping or when you are in a public place (museum, tourist office, waiting room for the doctor, reception …) there will always be a distributor of cold and hot water at your disposal. You get used to it very easily. It was only during my travels in Japan and Vietnam that I realized how easy it was to find drinking water anywhere you are in Korea. Outside the country, you must take back your good old French habits and take with you your bottle of water.

For the anecdote, my Korean friends told me that plastic bottles have only been used for fifteen years. When they were young, they drank boiled tap water or fetched water from mountain springs.

약구터 뭁통

On a daily basis, mothers used to prepare a barley-based tea – 보리차. After boiling it, they put it in the refrigerator in bottles or keep it hot when going out.