What is the biggest con/most useless retail commodity sold in the Western World?

[motacyclist]

You could use it as a camping lantern it glows in the dark lol

Blimey you're right, the shed's aglow!

 

[calikev]

I actually do have a bottle of Peckham spring

 

[motacyclist]

I actually do have a bottle of Peckham spring

View attachment 16002

Let's see it with the light out then ...

 

[estresao]

Last Friday, while crossing France driving to Spain, I was charged 2.5€ for a small bottle of water in a aire.... next stop was in a Decathlon to buy a foldable 15L jerry can for drinking water to refill my water flask, and some bottle to store in the fridge..... from now on only tap water.

 

[VW Cali]

I am not too sure why bottled water has assumed the prominence in our lives that it has.

My first memories of it's widespread use was in Italy many moons ago when it was widely drunk for good reason, the potability of much of the water piped to rural and remote regions was of doubtful quality if not dreadfully polluted.

I suspect it started with the growth of package holidays in the 70's when remote regions and isolated coastal villages became tourist boom towns overnight and it was cool to then drink from a bottle. sophisticated ..."I've been abroad"... signals to go with the all over mediterranean tan and candles stuffed into the neck of chianti flask-bottles.

For me, I have survived doubtful irrigation in Chadian refugee camps, highly suspect water in remote latin-american hill villages, drunk out of chemically polluted indo-chinese boreholes and went down with dysentery followed by severe acute pancreatitis in the mid-west united states

Oh dear. Dysentry in the wild of midwestern USA!

I lived and studied in the midwest for a large proportion of the 1980s. The only stomach issue I had was an increased girth due to huge portions and what is now clear were likely increased amounts of sugar intake. The funny thing is I do not renember if I ever had bottled water because water fountains were installed everywhere. In addition, nearly everyone had "pop", fizzy drink here and "soda" on the east coast, with their meals.

The only time I used to get back to fitness was when I would get back into running or when gf was away with her family. I am trying to remember what I drank for rehydration during long tennis matches in the summer heat.

At any rate, to my mind no doubt not just a con overall, of dubious health value for most but begs whether one day we will carry "clean and natural air" cylinders for use in cities.....

Absurd as it is, I would not take the oppositte side of the bet.

"Rejuvenate your lungs and increase your VO2 Max with natural bottled air from the Iske of Skye"

 

[vmaxkiddy]

If we are talking bottled water - how pointless is Coca-Cola's Smart Water: -
"glaceau smartwater is made from British spring water which is vapour-distilled before electrolytes are added. It has a distinctive, crisp, clean taste and is produced and bottled in Morpeth, Northumberland.

To make glaceau smartwater, we evaporate spring water, condense the vapour and then add just the right amount of electrolytes before bottling." (coca-cola website)

So they take water (that might taste OK) boil it, and collect the water that collects on a cold surface that the steam passes over (condensate - vapour distilling is the only way to distil - but add some bu!!s**t to the advert to give is a pseudo-scientific kudos) then, because distilled water is pure H2O and has no taste, they add some 'Electrolytes' to give it some taste. But using the word electrolytes makes it sound healthy and scientifically sound - but all it means is a few salts and minerals that can conduct electricity (distilled water is very stable and cannot conduct electricity - it needs to be contaminated with electrolytes to be conductive).
The electrolytes added -
Calcium Chloride
Magnesium Chloride
Potassium Bicarbonate

For doing that, they then charge you about £1.00 a litre...

Coca Cola had their Sidcup Spring water "Dasani" a few years ago, straight from the tap courtesy of Thames Water.

 

[T6 CFO]

Not into bottled water except in an emergency. As for water from the tap the biggest danger is that it's been sat in the pipes. So if in doubt run the tap and this includes if your having a shower.
Many years ago I was involved in the investigation of a number of deaths due to Legionaries Disease and so whilst traveling been a little careful.

http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Legionnaires-disease/Pages/Introduction.aspx


Mike

 

[GrannyJen]

Oh dear. Dysentry in the wild of midwestern USA!

I lived and studied in the midwest for a large proportion of the 1980s. The only stomach issue I had was an increased girth due to huge portions and what is now clear were likely increased amounts of sugar intake. The funny thing is I do not renember if I ever had bottled water because water fountains were installed everywhere. In addition, nearly everyone had "pop", fizzy drink here and "soda" on the east coast, with their meals.

The only time I used to get back to fitness was when I would get back into running or when gf was away with her family. I am trying to remember what I drank for rehydration during long tennis matches in the summer heat.

At any rate, to my mind no doubt not just a con overall, of dubious health value for most but begs whether one day we will carry "clean and natural air" cylinders for use in cities.....

Absurd as it is, I would not take the oppositte side of the bet.

"Rejuvenate your lungs and increase your VO2 Max with natural bottled air from the Iske of Skye"

Ironically I was taken ill in the same place that kool-aid was invented

Shigella used to be rampant in that area but that was back in the 1850's. Thankfully no one remarked that I could probably remember it

 

[Andy]

Coca Cola had their Sidcup Spring water "Dasani" a few years ago, straight from the tap courtesy of Thames Water.

Sidcup coca cola had contaminated water back late 90s & were trucking in water from Colwall (where Schweppes water comes from) till they discovered the tankers were contaminated !!

 

[snowy55]

What about electric cars?
Hugely inefficient generation of electricity, nuclear power stations idly glowing for the next for the 10,0000 years, hugely inefficient transmission of electricity then all the losses involved in charging a battery, manufacture and disposal of the batteries. All so mr Toyota Pious can claim his green credentials.

 

[MattBW]

No danger of getting bacteria from our taps, you can literally taste and smell the chlorine

 

[bigmac77]

Cigarettes?

 

[vmaxkiddy]

Audi Q7.
Starbucks.