The Perils of Bottled Water

by Erik Olsen on

Nearly every third world country I’ve ever visited, I’ve noticed that litter is a problem. Actually litter is the wrong word: refuse pollution might be a better term. I’m looking for a word or phrase that sums up the horrible, wretched mess that is made when a million/billion-strong mass of humanity dumps its garbage around without having a sensible public policy for cleaning it up. You know what I’m talking about. And when you look at all this refuse, you usually notice that one type of item predominates: the water bottle. It makes sense, of course. The water in many big cities and in other countries around the world is unhealthy. The first thing you learn when you go to a place like is “don’t drink the water.” But it turns out that this may not be true. Well, perhaps it is for , but it might not be for other big cities.

A fascinating new report from the EPI shows that bottled water is often no healthier than tap water, and yet it can be as much as 10,000 times more expensive. Not just costly in a strict dollar sense either. As I mentioned above the pollution problems associated with bottled water put a heavy strain on the environment. And its not just the litter quotient, either. When you add up the energy it takes to MAKE these bottles, why, things get even worse. It’s a fascinating look at a common problem that is not particularly well addressed, I don’t think. How to convince people that their water is safe to drink from the taps? We drink the water here in New York, at least we put it through a filter and drink it. But I’d probably still have a hard time drinking water out of the tap in any place other than, say .

Touring Gold Country

by Erik Olsen on

Ah California. Having just returned from ten days in the sunshine state (wait, or is that Florida…damn, I always forget…although let me say for the record that California kicks arse over Florida, by several orders of magnitude), so yes, having just returned from California I can say without reservation that the place is a glorious, gaping expanse of travel opportunity. Seriously, I was just in So Cal for a week or so, had to work like a dog, but still managed to go horseback riding in the Hollywood Hills, went to the beach, paddled in the ocean and had many a delicious taco (and several Double-Doubles at In-N-Out as well).

I wish I could have stayed for another month or so and just taken my sweet time to go up the coast savoring tacos, the open road and many bottles of Gatorade. And one thing I might have done on the way up, I think, is checked out Gold Country. Yes, when people think of gold in the hills these days they more often picture Silicon Valley and the new digital gold rush taking place. But it was just a hundred or so years ago that people flocked, herded, to California for the real stuff. Shiny yellow metal. And that has always fascinated me, this part of California’s history. So I was intrigued by this piece over at Frommers that offers links and ideas how best to see gold country for yourself.

Of course, while you’re up there, you’ll have to take in wine country as well.

The Louvre, As Inspired by The Da Vinci Code

by Neil Woodburn on

Okay, in another day or two I’m going to get really sick of all the press I’m seeing these days about the new Da Vinci Code movie–including here on Gadling where I’ve been guilty myself of posting a few too many items about this blockbuster.

The truth is, however, that the book/movie is bursting with the very historical gems that make us want to travel in the first place.  That’s why today, for example, I couldn’t resist the urge to post yet again on the most recent Da Vinci Code article I’ve come across.  And, quite frankly, I’ve done so because it is one of the best I’ve encountered so far.

The LA Times has a whole section about “Unlocking the Secrets of the Louvre.”  The museum, as you may recall, plays an important role in the book’s plot.  Although the article by Susan Spano doesn’t really “unlock” any mysteries, it is rather a nice summation of the history and holdings of the world’s greatest art museum.  Spano also tosses in some helpful travel tips as well for those hoping to visit the museum in the near future.

The truly cool part of this article is the interactive online elements.  A decent flash animation map displays where to go in the museum and a Mystery Quest takes you on a fun little treasure hunt where you must solve anagrams and other little puzzles.  The online elements aren’t top-of-the-line, but they are well-done and exactly the type of content newspapers need to start incorporating more of if they want to compete in today’s digital world. 

Actually, the more time I spent bouncing around this site, the more I realize that almost none of it refers back to the Da Vinci Code.  Perhaps that is why I like it so much. 

One for the Road: Es Cuba

by Erik Olsen on

We’ve posted a few times here about Cuba. Especially Neil, who has a real fondness for the place. Myself, I’ev always wanted to take something of a photo safari there, to chronicle it for myself before the inevitable changes take place there that make the island like so many other tropical torist locales.

A new book by Lea Aschkenas called Es Cuba: Life and Love on an Illegal Island, has the author signing up for a one-month language school in Cuba with a San Francisco company called Global Exchange. There, she finds herself a Cuban man, and discovers how much travel to a place like Cuba can change one’s American outlook on things.

One for the Road: Code Green

by Erik Olsen on

Travel, when done correctly, is all about discovery. You learn more about the world itself, its peoples and cultures, but also you learn about yourself. The committed vagabond throws himself into the world and seeks new experiences, tries to find fulfillment through travel. Of course, finding fulfillment can be tough. And so now the folks at Lonely Planet want to help. A new book called Code Green is out and is filled with excellent ideas to help you figure out what to do when you travel and how to help it enrich your life. Despite a cover that will scare the bejesus out of your parents, this seems like a very promising volume. The ideas are of a decidedly progressive bent, but all offer the opportunity to find greater fulfillment through travel. Here are a few of the suggestions:

  • Get up-close-and-personal with gorillas in Rwanda, lemurs in Madagascar and sea lions in the Galapagos.
  • Explore some of the world’s most magnificent wilderness, and see it through the eyes of the Dogon people of Mali, the Masai of Kenya or the Maori of New Zealand.
  • Tag turtles on the Great Barrier Reef, count macaws in Peru or learn to be a ranger in an Indian tiger sanctuary.

I’m bullish on this book and have added it to my personal travel library.