#like poland springs water in the us?

[eqgsocials]

i’m the same way about certain waters

[mostlysignssomeportents]

Dow promised to turn sneakers into playground surfaces, then dumped them in Indonesia

Dow Chemicals plastered Singapore with ads for its sneaker recycling program, promising to turn old shoes into playground tracks. But the shoes it collected in its “recycling” bins were illegally dumped in Indonesia. This isn’t an aberration: it’s how nearly all plastic recycling has always worked.

If you’d like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here’s a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/02/26/career-criminals/#fool-me-twice-three-times-four-times-a-hundred-times

Plastic recycling’s origin story starts in 1973, when Exxon’s scientists concluded that plastic recycling would never, ever be cost-effective (#ExxonKnew about this, too). Exxon sprang into action: they popularized the recycling circular arrow logo and backed “anti-littering” campaigns that blamed the rising tide of immortal, toxic garbage on peoples’ laziness.

https://pluralistic.net/2020/09/14/they-knew/#doing-it-again

Remember the campaign where an Italian guy dressed like a Native American shed a single tear as he contemplated plastic litter? Funded by the plastic industry, as a way of shifting blame for plastic waste from the wealthy, powerful corporations who lied about plastics recycling to the individuals who believed their lies:

https://www.chicagotribune.com/opinion/commentary/ct-perspec-indian-crying-environment-ads-pollution-1123-20171113-story.html

When I was a kid in Ontario, we had centralized, regulated, reusable bottle depots — beer and soda bottles came in standard sizes, differentiated by paper labels that could be pressure-washed off. When you were done with your bottle, you returned it for a deposit and it got washed and returned to bottlers to be refilled again and again and again.

After intense lobbying from soda companies, brewers and the plastic industry, that program was replaced with curbside “blue boxes” that promised to recycle our plastic waste. 90% of the plastics created has never been — and will never be — recycled. Today, the plastic industry plans on tripling the amount of single-use plastic in use worldwide:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/04/26/plastic-fatalistic/#recycled-lies

You know those ads from companies like Bluetriton (formerly “Nestle Waters”) that promise that your single-use plastic bottles are “100% recyclable…and can be used for new bottles and all sorts of new, reusable things?”

Bluetriton is a private equity-backed rollup that has absorbed most of the bottled water companies you’re familiar with, including Poland Spring, Pure Life, Splash, Ozarka, and Arrowhead. When they were sued in DC for making false claims about their “recyclable” water-bottles, their defense was that these were “non-actionable puffery.” According to Bluetriton, when it described itself as “a guardian of sustainable resources” and “a company who, at its core, cares about water,” it was being “vague and hyperbolic.”

https://pluralistic.net/2022/04/26/plastic-fatalistic/#recycled-lies

With this high standard for plastic recycling, Dow’s Singapore scam shouldn’t come as a surprise, but it seems to have surprised the government of Singapore. Writing for Reuters, Joe Brock, Yuddy Cahya Budiman and Joseph Campbell describe how they caught Dow red-handed:

https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/global-plastic-dow-shoes/

The method is actually pretty straightforward: Reuters hid tracking devices in cavities in the soles of sneakers, dropped them in one of Dow’s collection bins, and then followed them. The shoes were passed onto Dow’s subcontractor, Yok Impex Pte Ltd, who sent them hopping from island to island throughout Indonesia, until they ended up in junk-markets.

Not all the shoes, though — one pair was simply moved from Dow’s collection bin to a donation bin at a Singaporean community center. Of the 11 pairs that Reuters tracked, not one ended up at a recycling facility. So much for Dow’s slogan: “Others see an old shoe. We see the future.”

Dow blamed all this on Yok Impex, but didn’t explain why its “recycling” program involved a company whose sole trade is exporting used clothing. Dow promised to cancel its deal with Yok Impex, but Yok Impex’s accountant told Reuters that the deal would be remain in place until the end of the contract. Yok Impex, meanwhile, shifted the blame to the low-waged women who sort through the clothing donations it takes in from across Singapore.

Indonesia bans bulk imports of used clothes, on the grounds that used clothes are unhygenic, displace the local textiles industry, and shipments contain high volumes of waste that ends up in Indonesian incinerators, landfills and rivers.

In other words, Singaporeans thought they were saving the planet by putting their shoes in Dow bins, but they were really sending those shoes on a long journey to an unlicensed dump. Dow enlisted schoolchildren in used-shoe collection drives, making upbeat videos that featured students like Zhang Youjia boasting that they “contributed 15 pairs of shoes.”

Dow does this all the time. In 2021, Dow’s “breakthrough technology to turn plastic waste into clean fuel” in Idaho was revealed to be a plain old incinerator:

https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/environment-plastic-oil-recycling/

Also in 2021, in India, a Dow program to “use high-tech machinery to transform the [plastic from the Ganges] into clean fuel” was revealed to have ceased operations — but was still collecting plastic and promising that it was all being turned into fuel:

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-environment-plastic-insight-idUSKBN29N024

Dow operates a nearly identical “shoe recycling” program in neighboring Malaysia, and did not return Reuters’ requests for comment as to whether the shoes collected for “recycling” in the far more populous nation were also being illegally dumped offshore.

The global business lobby loves the idea of “personal responsibility” and its evil twin, “caveat emptor.” Its pet economists worship the idea of “revealed preferences,” claiming that when we use plastic, we may claim that we don’t want to have our bodies poisoned with immortal, toxic microplastics, that we don’t want our land and waters despoiled — but we actually love it, because otherwise we’d “vote with our wallets” for something else.

The obvious advantage of telling people to vote with their wallets is that the less money you have in your wallet, the fewer votes you get. Companies like Dow have used their access to the capital markets (a fancy phrase for “rich people”) to gobble up their competitors, eliminating “wasteful competition” and piling up massive profits. Those profits are laundered into policy — like replacing Ontario’s zero-waste refillable bottle system with a “recycling” system that sent plastics to the ends of the Earth to be set on fire or buried or dumped in the sea.

The ruling class’s pet economists have a name for this policy laundering: they call it “regulatory capture.” Now, when you hear “regulatory capture,” you might think about companies that get so big that they are able to boss governments around, with the obvious answer that companies need to be regulated before they get too big to jail:

https://doctorow.medium.com/small-government-fd5870a9462e

But that’s not how elite economists talk about regulatory capture: for them, capture starts with the very existence of regulators. For them, any government agency that proposes to protect the public from corporate fraud and murder inevitably becomes an agent of the corporations it is supposed to rein in, so the only answer is to eliminate regulators altogether:

https://doctorow.medium.com/regulatory-capture-59b2013e2526

This nihilism lets rich people blame the rest of us for their sins: “if you didn’t want your children to roast or freeze to death in the climate emergency, you should have sold your car and used the subway (that we bribed your city not to build).”

Nihilism is contagious. Think of the music industry: before Napster, 80% of the music ever recorded was not for sale, banished to the scrapheap of history and the vaults of record companies who paid farcically low sums to their artists.

During the File Sharing Wars, listeners were excoriated for failing to pay for music — much of which wasn’t for sale in the first place. But today, fans overwhelmingly pay for Spotify, a streaming service that notoriously pays musicians infinitesimal sums for their work.

Spotify is a creature of the Big Three labels — Sony, Universal and Warner — who own 70% of all the world’s recorded music copyrights and 65% of all the world’s music publishing. The rock-bottom per-stream prices that Spotify pays were set by the Big Three. Why would the labels want less money from Spotify?

Simple: as co-owners of Spotify, they make more money when Spotify pays less for music. Musicians have a claim on the money they take out of Spotify as royalties — but dividends, buybacks and capital gains from Spotify are the labels’ to use as they see fit. They can share that bounty with some artists, all artists, or no artists.

Not only that, but the Big Three’s deal with Spotify includes a “most favored nation” clause, which means that the independent artists who aren’t under Sony/UMG/Warner’s thumb have to take the rock-bottom rate the Big Three insisted on — likewise the small labels who compete with the Big Three. The difference is that none of these artists and small labels have massive portfolios of Spotify stock, nor do they get free advertising on Spotify, or free inclusion on hot Spotify playlists, or monthly minimum payouts from Spotify.

The idea that we shop at the wrong kind of monopolist in the wrong way is a recipe for absolute despair. It doesn’t matter whether you listen to music with the Big Tech-owned monopoly service (Youtube) or the Big Content-owned monopoly service (Spotify). The money you hand over to these giant companies goes to artists the same way that the sneakers you put in a Dow collection bin goes to a recycling plant.

Think of the billions of human labor hours we all spent washing and sorting our plastics for a recycling program that didn’t exist and will never exist — imagine if we’d spent that time and energy demanding that our politicians hold petrochemical companies to account instead.

At the end of Break ’Em Up, Zephyr Teachout’s outstanding 2020 book on monopolies, Teachout has some choice words for “consumerism” as a theory of change. She writes that if you’re on your way to a protest against a new Amazon warehouse but you never make it because you waste too much time looking for a mom-and-pop stationers to sell you a marker to write your protest sign, Amazon wins:

https://pluralistic.net/2020/07/29/break-em-up/#break-em-up

The problem isn’t that you shop the wrong way. Yes, by all means, support the creators and producers you care about in the way that they prefer, but keep your eye on the prize. Structural problems don’t have individual solutions. The problem isn’t that you have chosen single-use plastics — it’s that in our world everything for sale is packaged in single-use plastics. The problem isn’t that you’ve bought a subscription to the wrong music streaming service — it’s that labels have been allowed to buy all their competitors, creators’ unions have been smashed and degraded, and giant accounting scams by big companies generate minuscule fines.

The good news is that after 40 years of despair inducing regulatory nihilism and “vote with your wallet” talk, we’re finally paying attention to systemic problems, with a new generation of trustbusting radicals working around the world to end corporate impunity.

Dow is a repeat offender. A repeat, repeat offender. Chrissakes, they’re the linear descendants of Union Carbide, the company that poisoned Bhopal:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhopal_disaster

They shouldn’t be trusted to run a lemonade stand, let alone a “recycling” program. The same goes for Big Tech and Big Content company and the markets for creative labor. These companies have repeatedly demonstrated their unfitness, their habitual deception and immorality. These companies have captured their regulators, repeatedly, so we need better regulators — and weaker companies.

The thing I love about Teachout’s book is that it talks about what we should be demanding from our governments — it’s a manifesto for a movement against corporate power, not a movement for “responsible consumerism.” That was the template that Rebecca Giblin and I followed when we wrote Chokepoint Capitalism, our book about the brutal, corrupt creative labor market:

https://chokepointcapitalism.com/

We have a chapter on Spotify (multiple chapters, in fact!). For our audiobook, we made that chapter a “Spotify Exclusive” — it’s the only part of the book you can get on Spotify, and it’s free:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/09/12/streaming-doesnt-pay/#stunt-publishing

Next Thu (Mar 2) I’ll be in Brussels for Antitrust, Regulation and the Political Economy, along with a who’s-who of European and US trustbusters. It’s livestreamed, and both in-person and virtual attendance are free. On Fri (Mar 3), I’ll be in Graz for the Elevate Festival.

[Image ID: A woman kneeling to tie her running shoe. She stands on a background of plastic waste. In the top right corner is the logo for Dow chemicals. Below it is the Dow slogan, 'Others see an old shoe. We see the future.']

[mochinomnoms]

Hey Hi Hello

I'm not sure how the situation about mushroom picking looks in the other parts of the world, but in Poland it's a very popular activity for many many people. What I mean by that is that if it was raining, and it's spring or autumn - going for a walk to a forest with a reactive dog is nearly impossible, because the condensation of mushroom pickers is astonishing. (sometimes summer too, I know people who are going EVERY SINGLE DAY (my grandma) from April/May to November). By astonishing I mean every 3-4 meters is someone looking for shrooms. The roads leading through the woods are suddenly turning into a single lane because of the rows of cars standing on the sides of it. The culture around picking mushrooms is very strong in general - it reminds me of a sect somehow lol. Generally it's one huge gatekeeping when it comes to precise locations - especially with older people. Besides the fact that there are truly thousands active fb groups around picking mushrooms - almost every single one of them has one most important rule - sharing the precise location publicly is FORBIDDEN. If you do that then it's off with your head for you.

I remember going mushroom picking with my grandma when I was little and she would LOSE ME ON PURPOSE so that I wouldn't know where does she find the most 🤣. From what I've heard from friends , it's not that uncommon apparently.

It's a sport truly, people are not going for a nice walk here, it's a competition, it's a ride or die - if you don't bring back home at least 2-3 kg of shrooms then were you TRULY mushroom picking ??? (It's a hyperbole, however seeing people coming out of the forest with literal buckets full of shrooms is not an unusual sight lol).

Living in Poland equals living with mushrooms - after some time you develop like a sixth sense of what shroom is edible and which one is not (however it's important to check either way, also these fb groups are super nice for that, these people are always ready to help you out to identify the shroom). The knowledge about shrooms is on a high level - there's a big chance that if you would come up to a random person and show them a picture they would be able to identify the shroom almost instantly.

If you're going for a normal walk and see a shroom? YOU MUST PICK IT, IT'S A TREASURE. Then you send a picture of it to a family group chat and everyone is proud (and a little bit jelly but shh). At this point I (and many people I know lol) carry a special material bag in my pouch I use for walks with my dogs - in case I come across a shroom I'm ready, and I don't have to deal with the guilt of leaving one behind because I'm physically incapable of taking any more with me haha.

Truly a mushroom kingdom.

In conclusion - imagine Jades reaction to that information 🤣

Hope you're having a fungistic day 🍄

~ 🦭

That's super fascinating to me because I live in a desert, so mushroom picking isn't a thing out here as much as just hiking in the valley. Here, it's a thing in the summer for tourists to ignore the caution signs and heat advisory and die on the desert trails. Most of the time they vastly underestimate how intense the trails are along with the 110+ degree weather and don't bring enough water.

I think Jade would like our trails out here, though, a different kind of challenge compared to the ones he's become familiar with on Sage Island. I do wonder the type of biome the island takes place on, I'm assuming the island and environment in gen is western euro inspired. Plus, foraging in the desert is a whole different type of deal!

For your mushroom picking though, I think Jade would really love it, not only is the (presumably) plentiful mushrooms a dream, but being surrounded by other people that also are as enthusiastic to go mushroom picking is phenomenal! A new vacation spot for him, for sure.

[hedghost]

A Comprehensive Rating of all The New Nike Kits that Literally No One Asked Me For:

starting off strong with England:

listen when i first saw this i was like hmm okay 😐, then i saw it on the players and i was like hmmm okayyyyy 💅💅

home is clean, classic - i like it. collar is a choice but i think it works, sleeves are nice, retro kits slay always - 8/10

controversial but purple as a colour in general sucks. however, i would barely call this away kit purple, the charcoal vibe is actually fucking sexy. it’s almost a grey kit, and a grey kit is almost a black kit, and i love black kits. love the pattern down the side, love the gold, my only reservation is that it looks like a training kit (specifically that ugly purple kit the lionesses had a few years ago) - 7.5/10

special shout-out to that eyesore of a goalie kit, i absolutely fucking love it

——

now Portugal is a serving us a game of two halves:

the home is… a kit. it’s nice, it’s clean, but it literally could not be less forgettable. it’s fine - 5/10

the away on the other hand - masterpiece. that pattern is actually gorgeous, colours are so cute, and it’s actually unique! love when kits have nods to culture/history- 10/10, stunning

——

United States - yea girl give us nothing!

listen the home is fine. but one word springs to mind and that word is boring. where’s the flavour? the flag collar saves it - 6/10

the away is absolutely vile i fucking hate that- 1/10

—-

France said how big can we possibly make our badge:

again home is fine. it’s nothing special, it’s clean, it’s whatever, it’s a home kit. i’m bored. however both kits suffer from the ailment of that absolute fucking monster chicken. why is it so huge - 5/10

the away is nicer. pinstripe is nothing to write home about, but at least there’s a little something something going on. again, the chicken is hard to get past - 6.5/10

—-

Canada gave us the classics

these are both nice kits. the home is proof that nike do know how to make plain kits that don’t look like they just stuck a badge on a primark t-shirt. simple done well - 8/10

again, the away is simple but effective. does look a bit like an exercise book, but that’s fine. sleek, classy, it’s a decent kit - 7/10

—-

Brazil proves once again that they know the meaning of cool:

listen, when the colour scheme of your team is yellow and green, you just have to commit to garish. this kit is an eyesore in a good way. this is not a great picture of the pattern but let me tell you it’s gorgeous. i’m not sure about this weird collar though, it looks fine on some of these other kits but idk it’s just not doing it for me here - 8/10

again, this away pattern is hurting my eyes just looking at it, but i like it a lot. makes me wanna go to the beach. brazil knows who they are, and you will know about it. nice colour, bit of fun! more fun kits please! - 7.5/10

—-

just like it’s football team, Poland’s kits are pretty forgettable:

yeah sorry poland i really don’t know what to tell you here, it’s just really fucking dull. the collar does look nice here, but other than that it’s really not saying much - 4/10

again, not much to say. this does have a bit of a cross stitch pattern which i quite like, but other than that it’s average. normally i like a centred badge but here it just looks like weird. think it’s too big. sorry poland - 5.5/10

—-

sorry Turkey, the only thing worse than boring, is being boring and ugly:

this away shirt makes polands kit look like the sistine chapel. i can’t even comment because there is absolutely nothing going on - 3/10

and yet somehow… the home kit is worse. i will never be a fan of a block stripe across the chest. the centred badge might have worked if it didn’t have a circle around it. boring and ugly - 2/10

—-

meanwhile, South Korea blew it out the fucking water!

now this is how you make a kit! take notes turkey! this home kit is literally beautiful. colour is stunning, pattern is gorgeous! 11/10 no notes

and it doesn’t stop there! black kits are stunning anyway, but this?! i adore it. so fun, so sleek. - 10/10

—-

The Netherlands just couldn’t really be arsed:

i fucking hate this. orange kits done well are beautiful, and this is neither one of those things. at least the players will be up to code if they visit a construction site. the colour is quite literally named ‘safety orange’ - 2/10

the away kit is alright. i quite like it, the patterns decent. the colours are nice. it does look a bit like a bus seat though. - 5.5/10

—-

China took the stripped back approach :

these aren’t my favourites, but they are nice. the home is classic, nothing fancy, but it’s smooth, it’s sleek, it’s smart. the sleeves are a nice touch - 6.5/10

the same goes for the away. not as nice as the red, but it’s cool. i like it. - 6/10

—-

Norway forgot which continent they’re from:

now i’m aware the home kit is unpopular, but i actually like it. idk it’s something different, it’s a smart little pattern, centred badge looks good - i’m a fan. i like when countries incorporate their flags into their shirt. it is, however, the flag of thailand. - 7/10

this is a nice away kit. it’s giving fjords, it’s giving glaciers, it’s giving norway. reminds me of the adidas wwc kits, and we all know how nice those were. - 9/10

—-

Nigeria only knows how to serve cunt!

this is nice. it’s giving me like early noughties vibes, with the font and the tick, and i’m a fan. i’ve never seen a bad green and white kit. well played nigeria, well played. - 8/10

i love black kits. i love green kits. i love patterned kits. and i love this kit. it’s a sick pattern, and it’s just gorgeous. good job - 10/10

—-

Croatia is… also here:

yeah croatia what the fuck is this? this home kit is absolutely atrocious. boring and ugly - 3/10

i honestly don’t know if the away is better or worse. just because you can, doesn’t mean you should. i don’t know, it’s alright. weird - 4/10

[iwanty0uu]

“𝐺𝑜𝑜𝑑 𝑃𝑢𝑚 𝑃𝑢𝑚 𝑁𝑒𝑒𝑑𝑠 𝐺𝑜𝑜𝑑 𝑆ℎ𝑒𝑙𝑡𝑒𝑟“~𝓁ℯ𝓁ℯ ✧˚ · . ✧˚ · . ✧˚ · .

pt2…

A day had passed since you met connie in the auditorium of your physics class, and since you didnt have that class everyday, you decided it would be the best spend time in the library getting a head start on a paper. Your fingers quickly moved along your purple keyboard, eyes focused on the screen making sure to not accidentally delete the second page of your assignment. You were good at focusing but the bald boy wouldn’t stop crossing your mind. “hm” you thought to yourself while picking at the piece of paper with his number on it. It took everything in you to not give in and text him last night, but you stayed strong. Your focus shifted back on your paper determined to finish at least three pages as you thought of treating yourself to Starbucks and catching up on your favorite game, the Sims. “I wonder how he’s holding up in class without me” ..

~ he wasn’t holding up at all actually.

Connie grew restless shifting uncomfortably in his seat waiting for you to enter the large metal auditorium doors, he expected a brown head held up high, looking right at him with big eyes that could easily hypnotize anyone, but instead, he was met with the beady rat eyes of a bald, barley blonde old man. His grey tuxedo was made with that itchy string like material, and his black bow tie sat tightly around his fat red neck. He looked as old as time, and the wrinkles on his face made his lizard like face, made it no prettier. Disappointed, Connie continued to reminisce about yesterday. It was too soon to start missing someone he barley communicated with, he just met you and shared more words on paper with you than he did using his mouth. He couldn’t help but regret not searching you down like a hound yesterday when he had the chance.Not making his situation any better, his friends noticed how antsy Connie was and Connie could already smell their lame ass jokes. “Damn connie, you whipped over a girl you just met? You think you alecia keys or something” Jean asked, opening a Poland spring water bottle and putting it to his lips, when he was suddenly met with a fist in his stomach, causing him to choke. “Bro don’t piss me off, circus pony lookin ass, you just mad cus she noticed me and not your long headed ass.” he said mugging Jean who had tears running down his face, holding his stomach from from the pain now doubling over on his chair.” Well fuck you too” he said slapping the back of Connie’s head, the sound echoed through the room making the brunette girl laugh.

“Sasha i know your big ass not laughing” connie said turning around abruptly “my fault gang” a deadpan looked shot across her face as she put her hands up,“no need to be mean best friend” she said patting his shoulder gently. “Somebody pissed in his Henny this morning” Eren mumbled while finishing the last of his brownie. “You taking edibles at 10 in the morning…did you even drink tea?” “ why so sassy bro? we didn’t tell your girlfriend to skip class” A dark skin boy said putting his pre-rolled blunt in the Calvin Klein pouch that rested over his shoulder. “whatever man..” Connie was stressed, and school was no help, everything reminded him of you, he thought every girl with the same orange purse you had on yesterday could have been you, and scanned every room he entered for your black curls, the deep coconut infused scent of vanilla he noticed when you sat in front of him seemed to be everywhere, he smelled it so much that he thought he was going crazy. So when his friend group mentioned a kickback they were throwing, just for some close friends, he hoped desperately that you would be there. After all it was his life long best friend Sasha’s idea, and she did it because she hasn’t seen connie so strung on a girl in years..literally since his freshman year of high school, and what type of friend would she be if she didn’t use her stalking skills to get her friend the girl of his dreams?

She walked into the library holding her phone and computer, sitting next to a girl with grey leggings and a black essentials hoodie. Her nike socks were stretched a over her ankles,bringing out her Military style retro Jordans.

Her puff was slightly covered by her hoodie while the top still peeked out,and her head rested on her arms on the table, it would be awkward to sit directly next to a sleeping person, so she mindfully placed a chair across from her, began to work. “okay, so mystery girl probably lives in the dorms, imma check the residents list first” she mumbled to herself as the familiar scent of coconut and vanilla swarmed her nose. She furrowed her brows as she lowered the computer screen in front of her, which dimmed the light on her brightened face, the sleeping girl sat up and stretched, picking up the paper on the table and placing it into her pocket. “is that her?” Sasha didn’t have time to question herself, but she did question the girl. “Um excuse me?” she said softly, “I’m sorry if i woke you up but like..aren’t you the pretty girl from my physics class yesterday?” as you stopped packing yourself up and looked at her you remembered the brown haired girl who waved to you ,“you didn’t wake me up girl” you smiled, face stretching as a yawn crept out. “oh shit yea i remember youuu whats your insta i wanna be friends” you said pulling your phone out happily. “damn i love her already” Sasha thought to herself almost forgetting about the link up, “Oh! my friends and I are having a kickback later, and i wanted you to come, ill text you the details okay boo?” Your face lit up quickly and you mentally screamed, you had been waiting for this moment for what felt like your whole life, and trusted the girl even though you didn’t know her name, so it wasn’t a surprise that you showed up in your best “i put dat shit on” outfit.

Walking into the house, the heavy scent of weed filled your nose, “damn i hope i don’t smell like an eighth after i leave this shit” you texted your best friend Serenity who laughed at your remark. Your light blue jean skirt hugged your waist and barley covered your ass, as the tied black and white, printed baby tee revealed the curve in your back slightly. Your brand new dior converse glistened as it reflected against the light, your small silver Telfar stood pretty around your chest, separating your breasts. Your curly hair was in the same puff from earlier and silver jewelry adorned your ears,neck, nose, arms, and belly button, you love you some jewelry. Greeted by the brunette, which you now know as Sasha, the rest of the crew said their hellos and you made your way to Connie who was occupied talking to some dudes. Eyes looking up, tongue still on the half rolled blunt, a smile didn’t even creep on his face,it flew naturally into its rightful place. He stood up walking to you, spliff in hand and now all perfectly rolled up. His excitement got ahead of him, he didn’t want to seem desperate which he was, so he pretended to dust of his jeans and slow his pace. “Wassup y/n” he said giving you a side hug, “hey connie” you said taking in his scent, he smelled so sexy, your panties dropped right then and there. “i heard Sasha invited you?” he asked as he motioned for you to follow him,”you drink?” he asked pointing towards the Smirnoff pack resting in the cooler. You grabbed one and leaned on the kitchen counter, heart racing in your chest.

You both talked for what seemed like an hour, mingling with the main group and then finding your way back to connie, you weren’t wasted but felt a buzz from the alcohol and weed, making you a little more impulsive than usual. “hey connie, can i call you con?” you asked innocently, the look in your eye made his body stiffen “of course” he said softly, as soft as he possibly could, you looked so delicate and gentle, and was surprised when your staring contest was forced to an end as you stepped closer to him, tugging on his shirt slightly to reach his level, and kissed him. The taste or alcohol mixed with the sweet vanilla taste of your lipgloss, the kiss deepened as his tongue swiftly moved against your bottom lip asking for an entrance, you felt like only you two were in your own universe. Sasha nudged her friend Mikasa who looked up over the kitchen counter and at your make-out session. “Sasha you need to make this fucker pay you for your elite services” she giggles dapping Sasha up. You slyly pulled away from the kiss getting all shy, and stated quietly “ i want a little more privacy..can we do this somewhere else?” You hoped to go all the way for the first time with Connie, but the reminder of the pudge that sat in front of you almost made you change your mind. You simply decided that if he really liked you, he would deal with all of you, even the parts that you disliked. So as you hesitantly followed connie to an empty room, you sucked up all your fear and hoped for the best.

The night was everything but over.

[joelswritingmistress]

Last Halloween: Chapter 6

Summary: After a tragedy involving Joel happened on Halloween one year prior, the town now shuns him while ignoring the details of the now closed case. You are seemingly the only one to offer empathy to a man the town is making out to be a monster.

Warning: Angst/Mild Language

Pairing: Joel x f!reader

"Things are moving so fast." You locked yourself in Jessie's room, more or less holding her captive in there while you indulged in all of your feelings for Joel.

She laughed when you pinned yourself against the door and leaned your head back against it.

"Do you want them to?" She asked honestly, despite the silly nature of your conversation.

You sighed and hugged your body. "Yes. I mean.. I just wanting expecting any of this. I thought I would offer him a free coffee or maybe just be friendly with him when he came into the shop." You sunk down into a seated position. "I never thought I'd feel like this about him.. and so fast."

"Did you find out how old he is?"

You cleared your throat and purposely muffled your response.

"What?" Jessie asked, swigging from a Poland Spring bottle.

"He's.. 41."

Jessie almost spit out a mouthful of water. She put a hand over her mouth and you could see water begin to trickle out from beneath her palm. When you began to giggle, she let it out with hearty laugh and immediately began to wipe the water off of the front of her shirt that came bursting out.

"41!?"

"Shh.." you put your finger to your lips and laughed.

"That's like.." Jessie began counting on her fingers, "Carry the one," she joked as if the math was that incredible. "He's 14 years older than us." She wiped the lingering water from her chin and glanced down. "It's on the hardwood floor."

"I'm sorry." You laughed and then shrugged. "I can't get enough of him. When I'm not with him I'm thinking about him."

"Are you gunna put out tonight?"

"Jess!"

"Oh, spare me the "that's not ladylike comment"," she said with another laugh.

"I wasn't going to say that."

"Well, it's an honest question that I need to know the answer to for scientific purposes."

You began to laugh again and sighed. When she continued to stare at you, awaiting your answer, you smirked. "If I didn't have to work today I probably would've already."

"You're really into him," Jessie concluded.

"Yeah, I am."

"Just be careful," your friend said. "I don't want to see you get hurt. But at the same time, I'm happy that you're this happy."

"Thanks." You smiled.

"Now I need a hot, forbidden romance and we'll be all set."

"We could double date," you teased back.

"We could definitely double date." She smacked her lips together and eyed the ceiling. "41. Wow."

"Stop."

"I'm not making fun," Jessie explained. "I'm just.. wow. You're a woman amongst girls."

You rolled your eyes and reached for a duffel bag in your friend's closet just in case Joel invited you to stay over.

Jessie pranced over toward you and opened the bedroom door. "I'll help you pack."

The lead up to seeing Joel again was somehow like someone was fast forwarding and moving the clock in slow motion all at once. You made iced coffee after iced coffee. Every time there was a lull in the customer rush you were checking your phone. If Joel texted you, a rush of dopamine sent your brain into overdrive. If he didn't, it was the exact opposite.

By seven o'clock the coffee shop was dead. You looked over toward the little table where Joel had sat so many times.

And then you thought of him sitting there alone again and again, and you never said a word to him. It had been weeks, months. He was always alone. He had no one. His walls were closing in and you had said nothing.

Despite having a good day with Joel and having some silly talks with Jessie, you felt your chest tighten and then tears began to streak down your face.

Joel was so alone for an entire year, you thought and cried harder. He didn't deserve that.

You hoped no one would walk in to purchase a coffee at that moment. The abrupt rush of emotion came out of nowhere and hit you like a wave.

You rushed to scribble a makeshift sign on a paper plate that read, be back in five minutes, before walking to the bathroom to decompress. In there, alone, you allowed yourself to feel it. You cried hard and it felt good to let it out.

What triggered this? You thought. The table? The fact that Joel had confided in you and told you the whole story earlier that day? The fact that he was such a sweet, vulnerable person who had to deal with both grief and disrespect every single day? The fact that he had to deal with it all alone after he almost died? Or maybe that you were falling hard for him so quickly? It was everything. All of it. It was one big emotional rollercoaster.

You finally heard the jingle of the bell that let you know a customer had entered the place. With a deep breath you got yourself together but cursed when you looked at yourself in the mirror.

"Fuck!" You had spent a little extra time doing your makeup earlier and now you were left with running, black mascara making you look like, what you thought in your mind, a combination of Uncle Fester and Beetlejuice. Not to mention the puffy redness of your eyes.

"Be right with you!" You shouted, attempting to wash your face up as best you could without messing up your hair before heading back out into the shop.

"Black coffee, please." Joel stood there in front of the register with a wide smile on his face. All at once you wanted to laugh and cry. "What happened?" He immediately ran around the counter when he recognized you had been crying.

"I'm fine." You smiled and tears began to fall as he pulled you against him.

"Did someone come in here? Did someone-"

"No," you cut him off and pulled back to look at him. "No, I.. I just looked at the table where you usually sit.." you took in a deep breath and his hands fell to the sides of your face. "And I just started thinking about what you told me today and all you've been through and I just.." you shrugged and your voice cracked, "..started to cry."

You took in another deep breath and felt more tears leak down your cheeks when you closed your eyes for half-a-second. You reopened them and smiled, trying to ease the concern that was written all over Joel's face.

"I'm okay," you assured him, sliding the heel of his hand to your lips to leave a gentle kiss there. "I was just having a moment but I'm fine." The last thing you wanted was for Joel to see you so bent out of shape.

"I've had a rough year," he said keeping one hand on your face. "But.. I finally feel okay. Because of you." Joel added. "I'm happy."

Joel's presence eased your mind and you took a long, decompressing breath. Tears continued to wreak havoc on your eyeliner.

"So much for makeup." You motioned to your eyes and managed a laugh.

"You don't need it." Joel used his thumbs to dry beneath your eyes and then retrieved some napkins from the holder on the countertop.

"Thank you." You inhaled deeply again and dabbed at your eyes once more. You could tell Joel still looked concerned you reassured him that you were alright.

He pulled you in for another hug and you held him hard.

"Sorry," you said, "If you had walked in, like, five minutes earlier I probably wouldn't have cried. I just had too much time to think." You looked up at him, "Still want that black coffee?"

Joel grinned and then leaned down and kissed you once on the lips. "I'll tip well."

You chuckled and parted from him to prepare it.

"No egg sandwich tonight, though. I'm about to go home and make spaghetti for my girlfriend."

Your head whipped in his direction and a smile spread across your face. "Your what?"

"You heard me." He smirked back.

You capped the coffee cup and rounded the counter again, placing the beverage down on the counter so you had both arms to wrap around him when you kissed him.

"I'm your girlfriend?" You asked against his lips.

He smiled back. "I don't know. Are you?"

"Well, am I the one you're making spaghetti for?"

Joel nodded.

"I guess that makes me your girlfriend then."

"Mmm." He leaned down and kissed you again. "Are you okay?" Joel asked. "Do you want me to stay or-"

"No, it's okay. I'm fine." You couldn't keep your hands off of him and kissed him again. "Especially now."

"You sure?"

You nodded and reached back to give him the coffee. "Don't forget this."

"Thank you.I'll see ya soon."

"Okay."

Joel leaned back in to kiss you once more and then headed outside. You walked to the window to make sure he got back on his bike safely. When he began to speed away you sighed and took a moment now to soak it in - that you were Joel's girlfriend now. Not that you hadn't felt that way, but the fact that he was the one to bring it up and phrase it in those words made you swoon even harder.

You eyed the clock on the wall, knowing the last half hour of work would drag. But you knew there was the greatest prize waiting for you when you were finished.

7:35 slowly tucked its way to 7:40. You wiped down everything, served the lone customer a stale scone and then got everything in order before finally locking the doors promptly at 7:59.

"Okay." You took a breath, attempting to keep your racing thoughts in check, and made your way to your car, immediately putting Joel's address into the GPS on your phone.

Six minute drive. You eased the car onto the main road, passing the town green that sat across from the coffee shop, and rounded a bend that lead you in the right direction.

No music played. You hadn't even thought to put your playlist or the radio on. The robotic female voice was your guide. Take a left.. drive 0.2 miles and take another left. Take a right. In 500 feet, the destination is on your right.

You remembered what Joel had said about going slow so you didn't miss his house. When a smashed up mailbox came into view with Joel's house number dented in at an impossible angle, you scowled.

"Assholes." Someone had smashed his mailbox. The driveway followed in between a pair of towering trees and you eased your car down.

The house emerged after a thick patch of oaks and maples gave way to the front yard. Lights shined in the oversized front window that sat beneath the low, overhanging roof of the front porch.

You saw a truck parked in front of a detached garage set back to the right side of the house. Joel's motorcycle was beside it.

When you eased your car behind the truck you took a deep breath and gave a glance at yourself in the mirror and glanced at the duffel bag in the passenger seat. You weren't about to bring it in, but you hoped he would ask you to stay.

"Okay, here we go," you whispered to yourself as you clicked open the door and made your way up the little sidewalk to the front porch.

You reached a hand up and gave a knock, eying a small lantern-like lighting fixture to the side of the door.

A second or two later, the front door opened and the butterflies in your stomach came back full force.

"Hi." You greeted him with a smile.

"Hi." Joel stepped to the side with a hand still holding the door open. "Come in."

You sighed through your nose and walked in past him. Joel grabbed your forearm gently and you closed your eyes when he connected his lips to yours in a brief, but intense, closed-mouth kiss.

When you parted, he towed you by the hand. "Come on. I'll give ya a little tour."

"Oh, Joel, your mailbox was, like, smashed in."

He nodded with a little helpless grin. "I saw it." He shrugged. "Come on."

CLICK HERE FOR CHAPTER 7

@untamedheart81 @amyispxnk @grogusmum @ghostwritesthings @strawbunnyx

[ramenwithbroccoli]

finally introducing the other character who also occupies a part of my brain:

Meet Giewont!

while the creator of it, Maria Leszczyńska, originally intended to make a war machine, she struggled a lot with finding resources then. however, with her and her family's life deeply affected by both world wars, the idea never left her mind. inspired by utopian idea of glass houses from a novel "the spring to come" ¹, she created her machine from glass. it would be cheap to make, yet durable, available as help to those in need, able to do hard work in times when it was needed - but if fragile peace was in danger again, it could fight alongside other soldiers. as if to set that role of protector in stone, she named it Giewont ². to test her creation, she gifed it to her brother Andrzej, who owned a small farm near the seaside.

Giewont worked as much as four men, not needing to be paid or fed like people would. it was a perfect solution for everybody, the new industrial revolution. that was, until about half a year into her work, glass started to shatter. it turned out not to be as durable as the utopian story made it to be, especially in contact with rough farm tools. small cracks also started to appear after they worked outside in winter, with low temperatures on the outside and hot steam circulating inside. with her fingers and edges getting sharper every day, Giewont was forbidden from taking care of animals anymore, as she would injure them. she was given the only task with no way to injure others - they recieved a showel fully made from metal and was ordered to dig. she did as she was told, even though the work put strain on her already-falling-apart fingers.

but when one day, when returning home, she noticed daughter of Andrzej, Aniela, swimming too far away from the shore and having trouble coming back, long forgotten wire snapped into its place as she jumped into the water to save her. while Giewont did bring her back home, carrying her in their arms, the girl had severe cuts on her body from coming in contact with robot's sharp hands. furious with his sister creation, Andrzej took it outside, desperate to destroy it. blinded by anger, he didn't even notice the storm gathering over the horizon

Andrzej took the metal showel and struck Giewont on the side on their head, then again, until her body fell and crumbled to pieces. He covered it with sand and raised his hands to deal the final blow.

that's when the lightning struck.

and the man fell to the ground, dead.

the sand melted from the heat around Giewont, filling the empty spaces and connecting the pieces back together. raising from their shallow grave, with body more rigid than what she was used to, she took her shovel and decided to bury the man, with what respect they had left for him. that was, after she dealt the final blow herself.

although miraculous, the lightning didn't return her to the previous state of being. their motions were stiff and some parts of theirs got lost forever among the sands of the beach. the part of her head where the first blow was dealt never worked properly again, rendering Giewont deaf in one ear (or whatever was left from it). however it did some good as well, as it widened the space around her mouth, finally making them able to talk - even if it was simillar to a whistle. determined to help people but with a body that kept hurting everyone around her, Giewont set off into the world, trying to find a home and piece herself together, leaving parts herself and a dead body behind.

footnotes below the cut:

1. "During one pause in their journey, the elder Baryka tells Cezary of an entrepreneur who, along Poland’s Baltic coast, devised an ingenious method for manufacturing durable glass from the vast reserves of pristine sands that had lain for eons beneath coastal peat fields. By a massive Rube Goldberg-type arrangement of channels and a creative method for harnessing the westerly winds (the storytelling here is a literary engineering feat in itself), an incursion of the sea provides power for converting the extracted sand into glass. From this vitreous wonder substance, prefabricated houses of glass are built inexpensively. The houses are strong as steel, hygienic, and easy to heat in winter and keep cool in summer. Whole villages are built with houses of brightly colored glass. Life becomes less of a struggle for mere existence, more civilized, and without the need to toil incessantly. People eat less meat or no meat at all, and begin to revere farm animals as sacred beings. For the reader, the digression serves to freshen the mental palate. For Cezary, however, the story is altogether beguiling, raising the utopian prospect of a more wonderful life, reunited with a homeland that might have been his to begin with and a father he has just rediscovered" - via neh.gov

wow thanks for skimming through footnotes as well! as a reward, here's the first ever design of both Janka and Giewont (which proves they were both created around the same time :] )

2. "Those knights had been in a deep sleep for hundreds of years and they only would wake up if it is time to fight on a great battle. When this day comes, the earth will move, there will be thunders that would shake the sky, many trees will fall and break, and there would be noises when the Border Mountains will break. On that moment the knights will take their horses and they will gallop to fight for Poland once again." - the legend of the sleeping knights

a lot had changed since that time :]

[hedgewitchgarden]

Celebrated around March 21st (first day of spring) or on the 4th Sunday of the Lents before Easter, the custom of burning of Marzanna symbolizes the departure of winter and is rooted in pre-Christian Slavic rites that were performed to summon the spring. Originally it was celebrated during the spring equinox as a religious feast of the Slavic pagans, and it survived over the last thousand years despite the huge impact of Christianity and countless efforts of erasing that custom from the Polish countryside.

Many Polish people still prepare an effigy symbolizing the Slavic goddess Marzanna for this event, this is practiced in places all over Poland. Marzanna was a goddess who personified winter – the ‘death state’ or ‘sleep state’ of the Mother Earth during the wintertime. As the ritual effigy, Marzanna is also gaining other meanings related to various states of passing away (general death or sickness and other unfortunate events, usually connected to the tough and grim wintertime). During the rite she is meant to be drowned, and sometimes she’s also set on fire before being thrown into the water. In a symbolical meaning this rite was an act of sending the winter away in order to prepare the nature for a spring rebirth.

Such effigy of Marzanna is made of straw and shaped into a humanoid form (usually on a construction of sticks or branches). In the past some parts of an old chochoł were often used for that purpose, which was a straw covering prepared for the wintertime for the delicate bushes or trees (but also had a mythological meaning). The effigy is usually ‘dressed’ in old clothes or decorated with plants, often receiving accessories like a braid, korale (red coral necklace), wianek (wreath) or a headscarf.

The effigy of Marzanna is held up in a procession to a riverside (or to a lake in case no river can be located nearby). It is sometimes burnt first, and always ends up thrown to the water. Regardless of the place of burning, it was extremely important to throw all the parts of Marzanna to water, seen as a cleansing force (rivers were the best for it as full of a ‘living’ water) – this includes also all the ashes remaining after the effigy in case of burning her. The procession is sometimes still adorned with singing or reciting old verses, such as “Marzanna, Marzanna, swim across the seas. Let flowers bloom, and fields turn green”.

Nowadays the custom is very popular for example among children – many kindergartens and primary schools all across Poland organize events of ‘Drowning of Marzanna’. It’s celebrated around the end of March, and whole gropus prepare their own colorful effigies, then take a walk to a nearest river in order to drown them. The custom is still practiced also among regular people, and bigger events are sometimes organized in cities or towns for example by various ethnography organizations or reenactment groups. The events sometimes include small competitions for the biggest or the prettiest effigy.

The rite is also included in celebrations of Jare Gody (spring equinox) among the modern Polish Rodnovers (believers of the Slavic Native Faith).

Other known names of Marzanna in Poland: Morena / Morana / Śmiercicha / Śmiertka / Śmierztka. There’s also a male equivalent popular in some parts of the region of Silesia called Marzaniok. The names are derived from the words: old-Polish mor / mór (plague or sickness), mara / mora / zmora (evil spirit, nightmare) or śmierć (death).

The whole ‘ritual’ of burning and drowning the Goddess is closely connected to old pre-Christian Slavic funeral rites. In that context, the Goddess of the winter is sent to the outerworld when her time comes, only to be ready for a rebirth in the next season (the Slavic customs are tightly oriented around the cycles of the nature).

The custom appears in other Slavic countries, often under the same name like burning of Morena in Slovakia. Another example of a related (and still practiced) custom could be a Russian celebration called Maslenitsa.

“Marzanka” in Upper Silesia, source: Śląska Biblioteka Cyfrowa

[bluecityrose]

A signpost in Maine, US. Not included are many other “international” Maine towns, like Moscow, Belfast, Rome, Vienna, Lisbon, Madrid, Verona, Limerick, York, Palermo, Belgrade, Athens, Lebanon, Troy, and Egypt.

(Poland is where Poland Spring water comes from)

The United States has 3 times as many Jerusalems as Israel

[liam9990]

Can I Visit a Bottling Facility for Spring Water Near Me? 🚰✨

Introduction

Exploring bottling facilities for spring water can be a fascinating and educational experience. Not only do these tours provide insight into the process of water purification and packaging, but they also offer a closer look at sustainability efforts and the science behind producing your favorite bottled water. Whether you're a water enthusiast or a curious traveler, visiting a nearby bottling facility could be the perfect local adventure.

In this article, we’ll guide you through the benefits of such visits, how to find facilities spring water near me, and what to expect during a tour. Let’s dive in!

Why Visit a Spring Water Bottling Facility?

1. Educational Opportunities

Visiting a bottling facility gives you firsthand knowledge of water sourcing, quality checks, and purification processes. You'll learn about:

The origin of spring water.

Quality control standards.

Technological advancements in water bottling.

2. Sustainability Insights

Many facilities adopt eco-friendly practices like using recycled materials and reducing carbon footprints. You can explore:

Water sourcing methods that preserve natural springs.

Packaging techniques aimed at sustainability.

3. Behind-the-Scenes Access

See how water is bottled, labeled, and distributed on a large scale. It’s a rare chance to understand the intricacies of bottling logistics.

How to Find a Bottling Facility Near You

Step 1: Online Search

Use search terms like “spring water bottling facility near me” or “bottled water tours” on Google or Bing. Local business directories and Google Maps can help pinpoint nearby options.

Step 2: Company Websites

Major spring water brands often list facility tour details on their websites. Look for:

Visitor hours.

Booking information.

Special group tours.

Step 3: Community Recommendations

Ask in local forums, community groups, or social media platforms like Facebook. Many people share experiences and tips for local tours.

What to Expect on a Tour

1. Tour Highlights

Introduction Session: Overview of the brand’s history and commitment to quality.

Production Line Walkthrough: Witness the journey from spring sourcing to bottling.

Sustainability Initiatives: Learn about recycling programs and water conservation efforts.

Interactive Sessions: Participate in Q&A sessions with experts.

2. Safety and Guidelines

Wear closed-toe shoes and adhere to hygiene rules.

Follow the tour guide and stay within designated areas.

3. Visitor Perks

Complimentary bottled water samples.

Branded merchandise discounts.

A chance to bottle your own water (in some facilities).

Popular Spring Water Bottling Facilities in the U.S.

1. Nestlé Waters North America

Locations across the country with eco-friendly initiatives.

2. Poland Spring (Maine)

Known for its historical springs and visitor-friendly tours.

3. Crystal Geyser (California)

Focus on natural spring water sourcing and innovative bottling techniques.

4. Deer Park (Maryland)

Family-friendly tours and emphasis on local community involvement.

Benefits of Supporting Local Bottling Facilities

Economic Impact: Boosts the local economy by supporting small businesses.

Transparency: Gain assurance about water quality and production ethics.

Community Engagement: Strengthen connections with local sustainability advocates.

Conclusion

Visiting a spring water bottling facility near you is not only an enriching experience but also a step toward understanding the importance of sustainability in our daily choices. With easy access to these tours, you can learn, explore, and appreciate the intricate process that ensures the water we drink is pure and fresh.

Take a day to discover the magic behind every bottled sip and support your local community while doing so!

FAQs

1. How do I know if a bottling facility is open for tours? Check their official website or call their visitor services for the latest information on tour availability and hours.

2. Are there any costs associated with visiting a facility? Some tours are free, while others may charge a nominal fee. Look for details on the company’s website.

3. Can children visit bottling facilities? Yes, many facilities offer family-friendly tours. However, confirm age restrictions before planning your visit.

4. What should I bring to a bottling facility tour? Bring a valid ID, comfortable shoes, and a refillable water bottle for hydration.

5. Are the tours wheelchair accessible? Most facilities are wheelchair accessible. Call ahead to confirm and arrange any special assistance needed.

[polandspringz]

wait i only just realise that like, your name is poland,, like when i read your url i thought that you just were polish LMAO

The nature of humanity is that every year or so I get this same type of message in my inbox LOL

With that being said let's run through this spiel again

I am not Polish, I'm American. If anything going by my heritage I'm Ukranian, but still not Polish

I've learned over the past 12 years or so on this site that people outside of America are not familiar with the water bottle brand Poland Spring. My username is based off this:

3. No I don't have any allegiance to this brand or anything. The story behind the username is in 2012 my Girl Scout troop was doing this "social media" badge safety thing and we had to draw on a sheet of paper what our "Facebook" page would look like (because we technically couldn't create a FB page since we were under 18 even though every other girl in the troop already had one). I didn't care about FB but my sister used tumblr and I knew what that site looked like, and knew people used usernames on there instead of their real name. I needed to think of a username and on the table was a bottle of Poland Spring.

4. A week later my sister was like "Hey let's set up your tumblr. What do you want your username to be."

5. As with most usernames, overtime the abbreviation of "Poland" has become my online moniker. I also use it for my cosplay stuff and so I tend to response to it IRL now too. It's honestly just become a sound to me now and I forget that when people hear it they think I'm Polish.

6. It is NOT from my old obsession with Hetalia back in 2012. If it was then I would have a blog named Iceland or something.

[xtruss]

Tourists Blamed For Ruining Once-Breathtaking Yellowstone Thermal Pool

Decades of Trash and Debris have Forever Changed the Spectacular Blue Color the Pool was Once Known For.

— Stacey Ritzen | September 23, 2024

Morning Glory Pool near Old Faithful was once one of the most beautiful thermal pools in Yellowstone National Park. It was a brilliant clear blue, but lost its color after decades of tourists throwing stuff in it. Getty Images

Morning Glory Pool, located in the Upper Geyser Basin near Old Faithful in Yellowstone National Park, used to appear as the dazzling crystal-clear blue color that inspired its name. However, after decades of visitors throwing coins, trash, and other debris into it, Morning Glory now resembles many of the other prismatic thermal pools found within the park, with a deep center green bleeding into a ring of yellow.

"There are some lovely quotes about its beauty and stunning blue colors, and likening it to the Morning Glory flower," Yellowstone National Park historian Alica Murphy told the Cowboy State Daily. Murphy explained that when tourists first began visiting in the 1880s, the concepts of conservancy and "leave no trace" hadn't yet existed, and people essentially treated the park's colorful thermal pools as "wishing wells."

"I think many people like to throw things into pools," she continued. "Wishing wells are a time-honored tradition. Flip a coin into a wishing well and make a wish. There is something about a pool of water that gives humans a weird instinct to throw things into it." As far as the scientific reason for the changing color, decades of throwing debris into the pool has caused the temperature of the water to physically cool down.

"Temperature is a huge factor," said Mike Poland, scientist-in-charge of the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory. "Hotter pools tend to be a brilliant blue, and cooler pools can be more colorful since bacteria can grow there. At Morning Glory, the temperature cooled because people throwing objects in caused the conduit to become partially blocked, and the temperature went down, allowing different types of bacteria to grow."

Up until the early '90s, crews used to actually clean out the thermal pools of Yellowstone, however the process was laborious both in order to assure the safety of the park employees and ensure that the delicate balance of the thermal pools didn't experience further damage.

Former Yellowstone ranger Jeff Henry, who has worked in the park for nearly 50 years, was part of the last team to clean out Morning Glory Pool in 1991. Though, he said it won't happen again.

"We used a couple of fire trucks to pump down the pool's water level and shoot it into the Firehole River," Henry recalled. "A guy was hooked up to a climbing harness so that he wouldn't fall into the pool, and he was out there with a long-handled net, fishing things out of the water far down into the crater of the pool."

"We found tons, probably thousands of coins," he continued. "The main park road used to go right by Morning Glory, so that would account for some of the metal parts that looked like car parts chucked into the bottom of the pool. There were a lot of rocks that didn't belong there, and I think we found some hats that probably had blown off people's heads and landed in the pool. And they, wisely, didn't try to retrieve them."

But aside from the inherent dangers of cleaning the thermal pools, Henry said another reason why they no longer undergo the process is because park visitors are generally more responsible these days. And given that Yellowstone has naturally adapted to artificial change, officials now strive to preserve the park as it currently is.

"I don't see anywhere near as many coins in pools as I used to back in my early days in the park," Henry explained. "The bottoms of the more accessible springs used to be paved with coins, but now it's pretty rare to see anything thrown into the pools."

"I remember finding an old tire while cleaning Old Faithful one time," he added. "Cleaning pools was done on a regular basis. It was like harvesting a crop. But values change, and they don't clean the pools anymore, at least with the frequency and at the scale that we did."

[wannabewiedzma]

Photos like this make me miss winter so fucking much. I've always loved snow, and when I was a kid there was so much more of it! And it's not my personal opinion, there is actual data that shows critical decline in days with snow cover in Poland over past twenty years. "Luty", February in polish, derives from old word for "frosty" or "freezing". It used to be the coldest month, it's literally in the name! And for the past couple of years there was little to no snow in Poland in February. This year there was none in my area. It is also very warm, temperature did not fall under 0 Celsius. Some plants are sprouting already, and they used to do that in second half of March! The worst thing is that, with less snow covering, less water stays in the ground and we'll get the drought in summer, like in the last couple of years. It's not anomaly anymore, it's trend, it's new normal. And most of the people I know is happy about that! All my friends are like "oooh, that's so wonderful the spring is coming, I've had enough of winter" and while I understad the sentiment, it gets depressing in the northern hemisphere this time of the year, I'm like. Guys. There was no winter this year, just a very long autumn with only three weeks of snow. Are you not concerned? The only person that voiced some worry over that was my 85-year old grandma, who is definitely not much knowledgeable about climate change. But she was a farmer her whole life and she can imagine what consequences this weather can have.

My point is, climate crisis in NOW and most people ignore it, and I'm sad there was little snow in Poland this year but it is nothing with comparison of what is coming.

Note to self: despite their hype groundhogs are not good at weather.

[businessindustry]

Premium Bottled Market Size-Share Revenue by Key Vendors Demand by 2032

The Reports and Insights, a leading market research company, has recently releases report titled “Premium Bottled Market: Global Industry Trends, Share, Size, Growth, Opportunity and Forecast 2023-2031.” The study provides a detailed analysis of the industry, including the global Premium Bottled Market Analysis share, size, trends, and growth forecasts. The report also includes competitor and regional analysis and highlights the latest advancements in the market.

Report Highlights:

How big is the Premium Bottled Market?

The premium bottled water market is expected to register a revenue CAGR of 7.1% during the forecast period.

What are Premium Bottled?

Premium bottled water is bottled water that is marketed as having higher quality, purity, or unique attributes compared to regular bottled water. These products often originate from pristine sources, undergo advanced filtration or purification methods, and are packaged in upscale or eco-friendly containers. Premium bottled water brands typically highlight features such as mineral content, pH balance, and health advantages, catering to consumers looking for a more luxurious water consumption experience.

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What are the growth prospects and trends in the Premium Bottled industry?

The premium bottled water market growth is driven by various factors. The market for premium bottled water is witnessing strong growth, driven by a shift in consumer preferences towards healthier drink choices and a growing awareness of the benefits of staying hydrated. This sector includes brands that provide unique packaging, enriched mineral content, and special flavors, targeting consumers looking for a high-quality hydration experience. Factors like changing lifestyles, increasing disposable incomes, and marketing campaigns focusing on health and wellness are contributing to the market's expansion. With growing environmental concerns, there is a rising demand for sustainable packaging options in this market segment. Hence, all these factors contribute to premium bottled water market growth.

What is included in market segmentation?

The report has segmented the market into the following categories:

By Product Type:

Spring Water

Sparkling Water

Mineral Water

Black Water

Others

By Capacity:

Below 250ml

250-500 ml

500-750 ml

750-1000 ml

Above 1000ml

By Sales Channel:

Hypermarket/Supermarkets

Specialty Stores

Online Retailers

Others Sales Channel

Segmentation By Region:

North America:

United States

Canada

Europe:

Germany

The U.K.

France

Spain

Italy

Russia

Poland

BENELUX

NORDIC

Rest of Europe

Asia Pacific:

China

Japan

India

South Korea

ASEAN

Australia & New Zealand

Rest of Asia Pacific

Latin America:

Brazil

Mexico

Argentina

Middle East & Africa:

Saudi Arabia

South Africa

United Arab Emirates

Israel

Who are the key players operating in the industry?

The report covers the major market players including:

Premium Waters, Inc.

Roiwater

AQUA Carpatica 

Three bays

Beverly Hills Drink Company

Aur'a Gold Water UK

Souroti 

The Coca-Cola Company

Norda 

NEVAS 

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[naina10]

Vodka Unveiled: The Spirit’s Journey and the Impact of Vodka Advertising

Vodka, a spirit renowned for its versatility and purity, has a storied history that reflects its cultural significance and widespread popularity. From its origins in Eastern Europe to its status as a global favorite, vodka's rise is closely linked with its savvy advertising strategies. This article explores the fascinating journey of vodka and examines how vodka advertising has played a pivotal role in shaping its modern identity.

Tracing the Roots of Vodka

Vodka’s origins are often traced back to the 8th or 9th century in Eastern Europe, particularly Russia and Poland. The name "vodka," derived from the Slavic word for "little water," reflects its clear and neutral character. Traditionally made from fermented grains or potatoes, vodka was originally consumed for its warming properties in the cold climates of Eastern Europe.

Vodka’s Global Expansion

The 20th century marked a significant turning point for vodka as it began to make its way beyond Eastern Europe. The spirit's introduction to Western markets was catalyzed by brands like Smirnoff, which began promoting vodka in the United States in the 1930s. Its smooth, clean taste quickly made it popular in a variety of cocktails, such as the Moscow Mule and Vodka Martini.

The Evolution of Vodka Advertising

Vodka advertising has been instrumental in transforming vodka from a regional staple into a global icon. Here’s how advertising strategies have shaped the spirit’s perception:

Crafting a Unique Brand ImageVodka brands have excelled in creating distinct and memorable identities through advertising. Absolut Vodka’s "Absolut Perfection" campaign is a prime example. By featuring the vodka bottle in various artistic and imaginative contexts, Absolut not only showcased its product but also positioned it as a symbol of creativity and modernity.

Highlighting Purity and Premium QualityEmphasizing purity and premium quality has been a cornerstone of vodka advertising. Grey Goose, for instance, highlights its French production heritage and meticulous craftsmanship. By showcasing its use of soft winter wheat and pure spring water, Grey Goose reinforces its image as a luxury product and attracts discerning consumers.

Associating with Luxury and LifestyleModern vodka advertising often focuses on associating the spirit with a luxurious lifestyle. Brands like Belvedere and Cîroc utilize high-end imagery and endorsements from celebrities to enhance their prestige. This strategy positions vodka as a choice for upscale social events and refined experiences.

Leveraging Celebrity EndorsementsCelebrity endorsements have become a key element in vodka advertising. Cîroc, for example, has successfully partnered with rapper Sean "Diddy" Combs to boost its visibility and appeal. These collaborations help vodka brands reach new audiences and strengthen their association with high status and style.

Embracing Digital InnovationWith the rise of digital media, vodka advertising has adapted to new platforms and technologies. Social media campaigns, influencer partnerships, and interactive content are now essential components of vodka marketing strategies. By engaging with consumers online, brands can create a dynamic presence and foster brand loyalty.

Vodka’s Cultural Impact

Vodka’s influence extends beyond the glass. Its presence in popular culture, from films to music, underscores its role as a symbol of celebration and sophistication. Iconic scenes featuring vodka cocktails and glamorous parties contribute to its image as a desirable and trendy beverage.

Looking Ahead: The Future of Vodka Advertising

As the beverage industry evolves, so too will vodka advertising. Future trends are likely to include a greater focus on sustainability and transparency. Brands that embrace eco-friendly practices and emphasize ethical sourcing will resonate with today’s conscientious consumers. Additionally, innovative flavors and limited edition releases will continue to captivate adventurous drinkers.

Conclusion

Vodka’s journey from its humble beginnings to becoming a global favorite is a testament to its enduring appeal and the power of effective advertising. Vodka advertising has played a crucial role in shaping the spirit’s identity, transforming it into a symbol of elegance, creativity, and luxury. As the industry continues to innovate, vodka will undoubtedly remain a beloved choice for consumers around the world.

[clearpani]

Top 10 Drinking Water Brands in 2024: A Comprehensive Review

Staying hydrated is more essential than ever, and with an abundance of drinking water brands available, choosing the right one can be daunting. Here's a comprehensive review of the top 10 drinking water brands in 2024, highlighting their unique qualities, sources, and benefits.

1. Evian

Evian remains a top choice in 2024, sourced from the pristine French Alps. Renowned for its natural mineral composition and balanced pH, Evian water is celebrated for its purity and health benefits. The brand's commitment to sustainability through eco-friendly packaging continues to attract environmentally conscious consumers.

2. Fiji Water

Fiji Water, sourced from an underground aquifer in Viti Levu, Fiji, offers a distinctive mineral profile and smooth taste. Its silica content is beneficial for skin and hair health. The brand emphasizes its untouched quality and exotic origin, making it a luxurious choice.

3. Voss

Voss is known for its stylish glass bottles and pure, crisp taste. Sourced from an artesian well in Norway, Voss water is naturally filtered through layers of sand and rock, ensuring exceptional purity. Its minimalist design and high-quality product make it a favorite among premium water brands.

4. Smartwater

Smartwater, a product of Coca-Cola, is vapor-distilled for purity and infused with electrolytes for a clean, crisp taste. The brand has gained popularity for its sleek packaging and the addition of vital minerals like calcium, magnesium, and potassium, which enhance hydration and replenish electrolytes.

5. Perrier

Perrier, the sparkling mineral water from France, is cherished for its refreshing effervescence and distinct mineral content. Its natural carbonation and unique flavor profile have made it a staple in both casual and fine dining settings. Perrier continues to be a top choice for those seeking a fizzy alternative.

6. Clear Premium Water

Clear Premium Water is an emerging star in the bottled water market in 2024. Known for its exceptional purity and taste, Clear Premium Water is sourced from protected natural springs. The brand prides itself on its rigorous testing protocols and commitment to sustainability, using 100% recyclable packaging. Clear Premium Water is quickly gaining a reputation for providing high-quality hydration while maintaining environmental responsibility.

7. Dasani

Dasani, another prominent brand from Coca-Cola, offers purified water enhanced with minerals for a clean, fresh taste. Known for its consistency and accessibility, Dasani is a go-to option for many. The brand also focuses on sustainability with its PlantBottle packaging made from up to 30% plant-based materials.

8. Poland Spring

Poland Spring, sourced from natural springs in Maine, USA, boasts a rich history dating back to 1845. Its naturally occurring minerals provide a refreshing taste, and the brand’s dedication to preserving the environment through responsible sourcing and packaging is commendable.

9. Nestlé Pure Life

Nestlé Pure Life emphasizes quality and safety through a rigorous multi-step purification process. Its affordability and global presence make it accessible to a wide range of consumers. The brand also focuses on community hydration projects, enhancing its reputation as a socially responsible choice.

10. Aquafina

Aquafina, a widely recognized brand from PepsiCo, ensures high-quality purified water through a rigorous purification process that includes reverse osmosis. Its affordability and widespread availability make it a popular choice among consumers looking for reliable and safe drinking water.

Conclusion

The top 10 drinking water brands in 2024 offer a variety of options to meet different preferences and needs. Whether you priorities mineral content, purity, taste, or sustainability, there is a brand that aligns with your values. Staying hydrated is vital, and choosing the right water can enhance both your health and lifestyle.