cktimes.ca Archives for Choices4Wellness
Choices4Wellness
Water Wars....
Tuesday, July 18, 2006
by Kim IlesRecently our PUC made announcements that they plan to bottle and sell tap water. Anyone who knowa me is aware of my stand on water, I publicly have warned people of the health risks of drinking chlorinated water. I n fact, I have publicly warned people of this risk for over 13 years!
Now it seems that because of recent comments about chlorine, and the fact that it has been shown to cause cancer, water officials are laying complaints about what is being said. I find it curious that I have never changed my stand on this issue in 13 years but all of a sudden it's a concern.
Yes chlorine is dangerous, yes it is listed as a known carcinogen, and yes professionals in the health and wellness industry/scientists/naturopathic doctors/ M.D's etc. have stated drinking chlorinated water is very harmful to your health!
Studies are also emerging, showing tap water to contain pesticides, hormones, anti-biotics, acetaminophen, and lists of hundreds of chemicals that get flushed into our waste water, dumped into our lakes and rivers, and then end up back in our tap water. On this topic I could write a book.
The dangers of tap water? I am not here to discuss as the scientific community could better do that. The owners of aquariums know that chlorinated water will kill their fish & plants. What I am here to discuss is the fact that PUC plans to bottle and sell tap water! In a personal conversation I had with the head of PUC he openly admitted "we know that chlorine will degrade plastic so we will gas-off the chlorine before its bottled".
My question is if we know it can degrade plastic how can we expect its safe to consume?
PUC have also said "they will put neck bands on the bottles telling you to re-use these bottles filling them again at least 5 times from your tap". The tap that contains the same chlorine that they know degrades plastic and they will get rid of before its filled the first time!
The neck bands are the solution when I asked – "what about the environmental impact of all the empty plastic bottles out there filling up our landfill sites?" Apparently PUC will have a better chance of getting you to recycle than exists now.
Then I asked "as a taxpayer, you expect me to pay for the water in the first place, then pay for the equipment for the bottling project, the wages to fulfill this water bottling, and then buy the bottles back from you!"
I was then told "taxpayers only pay for what comes out of your tap – usage." I guess I'm not really clear on where the rest of the money comes from that pays for water treatment, pipelines, staffing of PUC, etc, etc, what I do see Is the PUC plans to get into the retailing of bottled water in vending machines at arenas etc. and to supply it to firefighters, and other municipal workers, and that the water they will be selling is "tap water".
While I disagree with their survey that showed people buy bottled water for "convenience only", I feel people have a sense that when they buy bottled water it is usually filtered spring or reverse osmosis they don't expect to buy TAP water!
Convenience – I don't think lugging around 3 or 5 gallon bottles of water in and out of your home to be convenience.
What my personal opinion is that we sell bottled water and PUC will be selling bottled tap water – now I am a comptetitor hence the complaints. Should we have to compete against something we pay to produce with our business taxes in this municipality? I think not! Nor should any other business. Should people begin to ask the PUC about the concerns I have raised about chlorine and their health?Absolutely!
Should I have the freedom of speech to tell people about scientific studies, health warnings, and health professionals views on the impact of chlorine on your health?Well you decide.
When people tried to warn against tobacco smoke what happened then? I have tried to warn people about pesticide use and cancer, and now communities as close as London are banning them! I guess in order to inform you of health risks, you have to check whose income stream you are offending. I just will have to say "in my opinion" a little more often, and hope that you, the listener, can read between the lines.
I will close off with saying that I find it pretty sad, that when I have a goal of helping the health of this community and happen to be in a position of bringing top researchers, Doctors, authors etc to discuss health risks, and ways to improve our high disease rates in Chatham-Kent, that our very own publicly paid staff would set forth to complain and keep me from doing so.
Please let council know your views on this or e-mail me at HYPERLINK "mailto:choices4wellness@yahoo.ca" choices4wellness@yahoo.ca
Thank you Kim Iles ph#519-351-9111
My inspiration for the week:
Never give up, no matter what the circumstance is. Throughout life, you will always hit high and low points, harder and easier experiences, but you have to stay strong; it's the key to everything. Stay strong and NEVER give up, there's always something out there worth fighting for and it's always better and ALWAYS worth it. No matter how much you think there isn't, there always is and you will find it, no matter what.
Thanks for reading....Greg Foster
Greg Foster, owner of Choices4Wellness has a long history in the Natural Health industry. Since 1987 Greg's goal has been to own and operate his own store. While working toward his goal, he was a sales associate for Prolab a sports nutrition company. Greg also worked as a personal trainer and helped people achieve their fat loss and fitness goals, while also teaching them that these goals were about a "whole" lifestyle approach and the benefits of supplements and healthy food choices . Always teaching that it's about FAT LOSS not weight loss, Greg is now able to live out his dream of owning a health food store so that he can better meet the needs of his clients. Greg has a personal training room at the store where he has one on one time with his clients. They range from teenagers to couples that want personalized time and attention to achieve fitness goals without the busy atmosphere of a gym, where sometimes your precious work-out time is gobbled up by socializing and waiting your turn on the equipment.. It is during this time that Greg is able to recommend lifestyle choices to enhance your work-out routine & a positive mental attitude. Being a father of 3 boys, ages Trevor 18, Chad 10,and Shane 9 , Greg is sympathetic to living a busy life, and helps to make fitness goals realistic as well. At 41, Greg Foster , has embarked on a journey of entrepreneurial spirit, meshed with a passion to see people lead healthier ,happier lives. Truly, a business combination for success. Kim Iles, the manager of Choices4Wellness, is no stranger to the Natural Health Industry. She formerly founded and owned Alternative Choices from 1993 until its closing in 2004. During those 11years, Kim achieved many levels of business experience. She was on the board of directors for the CHFA (Canadian Health Food Association) as well as developing and franchising her Alternative choices concept. Kim's real passion however is with teaching, providing lectures, and spreading her knowledge of natural health through out Chatham-Kent and beyond. Kim is a mother of a 22 year old daughter , Nicole and a 17 year old son, Jordon . To Choices4Wellness, Kim also brings her knowledge of the water purification side of the business. Kim is a former owner and co-founder of Pure Choice Water Centers. The new store located inside of Choices4Wellness is appropriately named Choices4Water with a slogan "water you can believe in", offering state of the art purification better tasting and at better prices than the old business she left behind. Kim has always been a familiar voice on the radio, as well as in the newspaper, as she believes education and creating awareness is vital to getting people use and accept natural health products to create wellness and a lifestyle that enhances their lives.
