The ban on BPA is extremely expensive for the chemical industry, and after spending 5 million in California in legal fees, (according to the San Fransisco Chronicle) industry leaders may decide the more economical path is simply to come up with a new plastic solution that does not contain BPA.
It is great news to know that while federal organizations like the FDA, the EPA and Congress are waffling on the BPA issue, states are taking it into their own hands, and potentially changing the industry for the whole country.
With the introduction of The Wide Mouth Hydro Flask, a world of possibilities has opened up for the backpacker who would prefer to do some of the cooking at home. Say you plan to only spend one night at your destination – the thought of lugging a stove and various other cooking supplies does not always make sense. Why not prepare a healthy meal before you go, heat it up, and put it in your Wide Mouth Hydro Flask, so it is piping hot and ready to eat right after you set up your tent?
One of the camping classics is rice and beans. This combination makes a complete protein containing all nine of the essential amino acids, which means you can get the same amount of protein as meat, fish, poultry and eggs with half the hassle.
Andrea Chesman wrote a sweet book called, 366 ways Delicious Ways to Cook Rice, Beans, and Grains, assuring that one could go for a year and a day without ever tiring of this age-old combination.
Check out her recipe below for Brown Rice and Lentils, and consider the possibility of cooking this up before your next big hike, adding a little water and storing it in your Wide Mouth Hydro Flask for the afternoon. It would be comforting to know at least the first meal was taken care of.
Brown Rice & Lentils:
(4 – 6 servings)
2 tablespoons of olive oil
1 small, diced onion
4 cloves of garlic, minced
1 finely chopped carrot
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon of ground coriander
1 ¼ cups uncooked brown rice
¾ cup dried brown or green lentils, rinsed
4 cups of water
1 teaspoon of salt
1 scallion, chopped
¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro
In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the onion, garlic, carrot, cumin and coriander. Sauté until the onion is limp; about three minutes. Add the rice and lentils and sauté for another two minutes. Add the water and salt, cover and bring to a boil. Then reduce the heat and simmer until the rice and lentils are tender, about 40 minutes. Fluff with a fork. Stir in the scallion and cilantro. Dry the lid, place a paper towel over the rice, replace the lid, and let stand for five minutes before serving.
We recommend adding a cup or two of hot water to this recipe before pouring it into your Hydro Flask to assure that is has more of a soupy consistency.
State agencies in Virginia are once again allowed to buy individual-size bottles of water after a ban, instituted by Gov. Tim Kaine, was reversed by Gov. Bob McDonnell. Virginia’s state spending on bottled water was $158,000 in 2009, and another $129,000 in 2008, according to an article by Paige Winfield Cunningham for the Washington Post.
Bottled water is also ubiquitous on congressional spending reports, with most congressmen spending hundreds of dollars a year on a product they could easily get from the tap. Back to Virginia again: Rep. Randy Forbes spent $626.63, and Rep. Jim Moran spent $524.93, which accounted for 10% of his overall spending on supplies!
As more states and cities work to cut bottled water out of the bottom line for their budgets, it would be great to know that we have elected law makers who are conscious enough to drink from the tap.
Maybe we should send them a Hydroflask?
Internationally recognized water expert Peter Gleick just published at book last month called Bottled and Sold which is an in depth look the bottled water problem. Gleick conducted a substantial amount of research for this book including interviews and plant visits and he uses these insights to examine how water is found, pumped, treated, bottled and sold to the public that simply expects a container of cool, clean water.
But bottled water is far from simple.
Gleick does not stop his examination with pointing out the problems associated with this widespread phenomenon; he offers contemporary solutions by making a sound case for improving the public’s attitude towards safe, piped-in drinking water, purified by the natural cycle and consumed with reusable containers (like Hydroflasks ! )
In Bottled and Sold, Gleick traces the history of the bottled water industry – how water went from being a public, natural resource to one of the most commercially successful products of the century.
If you don’t have time to read the book, let these statistics speak for themselves:
-Every second of the day in the U.S., a thousand people buy a plastic bottle of water, and every second, a thousand more people throw these bottles away.
-There have been over 100 bottled water recalls in the U.S. – very few receiving any kind of public attention.
-It takes 17 million barrels of oil to produce the amount of plastic bottles consumed in the U.S. each year.
You can order Peter Gleick’s book here and most public libraries should have a few copies.
“We are pleased and overwhelmed by the success of the Standard Mouth”, says Hydro Flask founder Travis Rosbach, “We didn’t anticipate they’d fly off the shelves quite as quickly as they did.”
The Standard Mouth was developed to give Hydro Flask customers additional options when filling their hydration and liquid transport needs. It was designed for adding ice cubes, mixing sports drinks, inserting tea bags, and to more easily allow the transferring of soups and hot beverages.