PLASTIC BOTTLES

Why Should We Care?

The average American consumes 2,000 gallons of water per day – about twice the global average – and it takes a fleet equivalent to 40,000 18-wheelers just to deliver the bottled water Americans buy every week.

Every year, the oil used to produce plastic water bottles in the U.S. alone is enough to fuel about 1,000,000 cars.

While plastic beverage bottles are recyclable, over 90% of them end up in landfills.

Plastic food and beverage containers are the second most common item found in landfills after newspaper (which is also recyclable).

Each year, over 500 billion disposable bottles and cups end up littering our soil, rivers, lakes and oceans, killing countless fish and animals. In fact, more than 180 species of animals have been documented to ingest plastic debris.

The water in a half-liter bottle typically costs 3,000 times what the same amount of water from a spigot costs.

Buy a single bottle of water for $1.29, and you can refill the bottle every day for 8 years before the tap water costs what the original bottle of water costs.

What Are The Alternatives?
One simple alternative to single-use plastic water bottles is reusable plastic, aluminum or steel water bottles. These bottles are relatively cheap, readily available, and can be used for years. With single-use plastic water bottles, it is not recommended that you reuse them as, when left in the heat or used for prolonged periods of time, toxic chemicals can leach into drinks which may lead to health problems.

What Others Are Doing
The National Park Service banned the sale of disposable water bottles in Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona as well as Zion National Park in Utah. Concord, Massachusetts recently imposed a ban on the bottles as well as 16 different colleges throughout the U.S., including the University of Portland and Seattle University. EarthWell is proud to be part of the solution, having banned plastic bottles at our events since 2010.

What You Can Do To Make A Difference
Stop buying disposable plastic water bottles and purchase a reusable water bottle; just be sure to check that the bottle you purchase is free of chemicals such as BPA that may leach into the water you drink. Refill your reusable bottle with tap water rather than bottled or purified water. The Environmental Protection Agency carefully regulates all municipal tap water in the United States making it perfectly safe to drink and every bit as pure as bottled water. Talk to your local government to suggest bans or fees on plastic water bottles.

References:

http://www.banthebottle.net/articles/plastic-water-bottles-bad-for-the-environment-and-bad-for-your-teeth/
http://www.insidethebottle.org/