Stuff you need to know

Ever re-use water bottles? You know, refill them from the refrigerator dispenser or the tap, or freeze them?

Well, maybe you shouldn’t.

PETE 1There are various types of plastic used in bottles. PET or PETE 1 plastic, which is often used for manufactured water, should not be re-used because there is a risk the chemicals will leach out.

HDPE 2 or PP5 on the other hand, do not seem to leach.

Look on the bottom of the bottle to see what kind of plastic you have.

Update: See first comment and next post.

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A blue moon shows up about every two-and-a-half years. And guess what? The definition we’ve all known for a blue moon — the second full moon in a calendar month — is wrong. A blue moon occurs when a season (between a solstice and an equinox or between an equinox and a solstice) has four full moons. The blue moon is the third of the four.

The two full moons in one month definition got picked up by mistake about 60 years ago (by Sky & Telescope no less) and became the conventional wisdom. The seasonal definition makes more sense because seasons are natural events (defined by equinox and solstice) not human events defined by a calendar.

Of course, blue moons are human events too, so who really cares except the lyricist?

Blue Moon
You saw me standing alone
Without a dream in my heart
Without a love of my own
Blue Moon
You know just what I was there for
You heard me saying a prayer for
Someone I really could care for

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It was 100º officially in Albuquerque Tuesday, the first time in triple digits since July 15, 2003.

2 thoughts on “Stuff you need to know”

  1. The water bottle comment is a variant on an urban legend I’ve seen before.
    http://www.snopes.com/medical/toxins/petbottles.asp
    In general for leaching, the colder the bottle is the slower the rate. Also if a chemical is present and some has leached out , as in a previously used bottle, then the surface will become depleted and the leach rate on subsequent uses should be lower.
    I can see a possibility of bacteria accumulating but there is not much food for bacteria in a water bottle so thats not one that I worry about if I can keep my bottle separate.

  2. long live snopes.com. it came in handy yesterday regarding a dramatic, inflated, and otherwise erroneous account of the fates of the signers of the declaration of independence.

    that said, methinks it begs a question:
    quis custodiet ipsos custodes??

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