The tragedy is 663 million people don’t have access to clean drinking water, the earth’s waterways and landfill are chocked with single use plastic water bottles. The imbalance is absurd, the stats are mounting and solution is in our hands if we choose to accept. Reuse, Refill, Recycle.
The stats:
- Plastic bottles require up to 700 years to dissolve.
- 90% of the cost of bottled water is the bottle itself.
- 80% of the plastic bottles never get recycled and end up in landfill.
- Bottling water and shipping transport is the least energy efficient method of water supply in the history of mankind.
Reuse
We are living in a throwaway culture, our furniture, fashion, coffee, food packaging are all designed to be fast moving. Without hesitation, we chuck what we don’t need. In fact, it’s encouraged, declutter or give away what you don’t need and make space for more. Single use products directly equate to landfill, simple changes can be made and are often cost effective for us and the environment. Reusable sandwich bags are a simple change, if you have two children, two sandwiches per day, 5 school days a week, in two weeks you have saved 20 plastic sandwich bags going to land fill.
Refill
Why Glass? Plastic and stainless steel are soo last millennium. Glass is where it’s at - much more earth-friendly, healthier and tastes better too. Plastic bottles can leach chemicals (including BPA), glass does not. Plastic bottles are porous and can harbour bacteria, glass does not. And many plastic bottles end up in landfills when their useful life is over, glass is infinitely recyclable and reusable - and therefore much better for the environment. In 2014 San Francisco banned the sale of single use plastic water bottles in the city’s public areas, after a successful campaign to ban the plastic bag. Increasing the city’s spending for water fountains, fill up stations and water hook up for public events. The Full Circle hydration range is designed for water on the go!
Recycle
80% of the plastic bottles never get recycled! One of the main causes for this is that pesky plastic lid, if you throw your plastic bottle in the recycling bin with the lid on your bottle will not be recycled. Madness. The sorting machine doesn’t recognise the bottle as plastic and adds it straight to landfill. Chuck the plastic lid into landfill, it’s not recyclable, and put the plastic bottle into the recycling bin.
So it’s much easier to say no to plastic water bottles. It all makes sense, every positive step we take towards a sustainable planet, is a step in the right direction.
Picture Credit
Picture by Ben Von Wong who used 10,000 plastic bottles, (the amount an average American will use in their lifetime), and turned a boring message about plastic into art with a message, “Change happens when individuals come together to fight something they believe in” www.mermaidshateplastic