Plastic world

Howdy.

The old debate about water bottles received a fresh magnifying glass, or at least a plausible amount of research to be featured in the New York Times in an article entitled "The (Possible) Perils of Being Thirsty While Being Green". Here's what journalist Alina Tugend had to say about reusing plastic water bottles:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/05/business/smallbusiness/05shortcuts.html?em&ex=1199682000&en=7adaf12619f4ccec&ei=5087%0A

One thing that makes me mad, is that water bottle manufacturers wouldn't tell professor of biology Frederick S. vom Saal of University of Missouri, who specializes in plastics, what their plastic bottles are made of. What's up with that?

There must be some fancy machine that could analyze the materials that make up a plastic water bottle. Take for example, the mass spectrometer used by Berkeley biologist Todd Dawson in Michael Pollan's "Omnivore's Dilemma" to analyze carbon content of a McDonald's meal to determine the percentage of carbon originating from corn.
What if some equally impressive piece of scientific machinery could be used to analyze the content of a pet#1 plastic bottle. And if such a machine, or technology does not exist, why are plastic manufacturers even allowed the responsibility to encase our precious liquid of life in their shells of unknown, and possibly disease contributing content?

Once again, I think corporations have WAY too much power and not enough checks and balances. I love the stick figures in www.storyofstuff.com, where the government is polishing the shoes of the corporations.

Personally, I love my Sigg metal water bottle which I've been told is absolutely safe. But come to think of it, I'd love to know what materials went into the shiny lining.

Okay, that's way too much of a rambling about water bottles. I think I'll log off and interact with my warm and cozy family in our little home on this rainy eve instead of typing away at my laptop!