Stock up on two-liter soft drink bottles

Regardless of how grandiose your Y2K water plans are — whether you
have secured a self-sufficient well or are storing thousands of gallons
in a heavy duty, vinyl water bag — you should begin collecting
two-liter plastic soft drink bottles.

Obviously, two-liter soft drink bottles can’t match 55-gallon drums,
cisterns, and swimming pools for sheer volume. You would not want to
make pop bottles your only method of water storage. But soft
drink bottles do have three outstanding features: they are cheap,
they are convenient, and when filled with clean water in a post-Y2K
world, they will make excellent gifts and barter items.

You can acquire two-liter plastic bottles today for nothing — or
next to nothing. If you currently buy soft drinks in cans, switch to
plastic bottles and save the empties. When you’re visiting someone’s
house or are at a party, ask for the empty bottles. To other people, the
bottles are trash. They’ll be happy that you are taking the bottles off
their hands.

I have a friend who lives in a state which imposes a five-cent
deposit on all cans and bottles to encourage recycling. He recently went
to the supermarket and as people brought bags full of empty bottles in
to be redeemed, he offered them a couple of bucks for the whole bag. In
ten minutes he filled up his station wagon with plastic soft-drink
bottles. Total cost: $6.50.

With a little thought and ingenuity, you can accumulate dozens of
plastic bottles. If you have children, challenge them to think of
creative ways to obtain bottles (pay them, say, a dime apiece). Just
make sure they don’t hijack one of those recycling trucks.

Plastic soft drink bottles — properly filled with clean water, four
drops of Clorox, and sealed tightly — are convenient to store. They can
be placed in all sorts of nooks and crannies around your house. They are
also convenient to use once a water emergency occurs. Young members of
the family can handle them, and they will probably turn out to be the
easiest way to transfer water from your large storage source into your
kitchen and bathroom.

Finally, as pointed out above, two-liter soft drink bottles filled
with water will be a precious commodity if the Millennium Bug crisis
becomes very severe. What a great gift to give to a friend. Also, they
will make a great barter item. In an emergency, people will gladly
exchange food, fuel, or other valuable articles for safe, clean water.