Send a Green Message in a Bottle

Americans buy more bottled water than any other beverage.

I refuse to buy it unless I'm desperate.  Our River Forest tap water is just fine and a fraction of the cost of bottled.

If the effects of Polyethylene terephthalate (the material plastic bottles are made of) aren't enough to scare you, picture the mountain of 36 billion water bottles per year that Americans drink from.

And there's always a drop of doubt as to whether those bottles really make it all the way to the recycling process.

On the other hand, sometimes bottled water can be a necessary convenience for sporting events or road trips. And there are studies that prove that some municipal water supplies are indeed contaminated with low levels of toxins. So, if you must buy it, here's a fun way to be sure these bottles are reused and upcycled.

You can send a message in a water bottle via the U.S. Post Office. Just make sure it's clean and dry inside. Write a letter, roll it up, tie it with a ribbon and stick it in the bottle.

 To give it an old-fashioned look, reuse a wine cork to seal the bottle. Make sure the cork fits very tightly.

Before you seal it up add a few treasures, beads, buttons, ribbons, confetti, stickers, etc. It takes two 44-cent stamps.

For the label, just use the blank side of some junk mail or computer paper, write the address and return address just like you would for a regular letter. Use wide, clear packing tape to stick it to the bottle.

Then just drop it in a mail box! Send invitations to a birthday party, a wedding, a baby shower, a 25th class reunion, etc. It's fun, it's green and it's sure to get the attention of the recipient.

 Most importantly, you're sending a subtle eco-message to repurpose the stuff that gets discarded by extending its usefulness. They'll think twice before they throw that bottle in the trash.