Staying hydrated is very important to your health, and plastic water bottles can make it easier and convenient. Sadly, they can be very harmful for the Earth’s health. Firstly, plastic is made from oil, and the process for making them requires a lot of energy and can create a lot of pollution. Secondly, when they are thrown away, they can end up as litter or just sitting in giant landfills.
• It takes between 1.5 and 1.7 million barrels of oil each year to produce plastic bottles for the U.S.
• The energy to make them could power 190,000 homes.
• Only 23 percent of plastic bottles are recycled.
• To drink the recommended water a day for a year costs $.49 with tap water and $1,400 in plastic water bottles.
• Only 1 out of 5 plastic bottles can be recycled.
• It takes 1,000 years for the bottles to bio-degrade.
• It is estimated that 2 million tons of water bottles are already in landfills.
• Americans buy 25 billion disposable plastic water bottles each every year .
• Eight out of 10 plastic bottles will just be thrown away.
There are a few ways to help reduce pollution and waste created through plastic water bottles. First, you could use them more than once. Buying one disposable plastic water bottle and refilling it many times instead of throwing it away after one use saves money and reduces waste. Another option is buying non-disposable water bottles.
They come in many shapes and sizes. Some are made out of plastic, metal or glass. They can also save money as well as reduce pollution because they can replace hundreds of disposable plastic water bottles.
Some people dislike the taste of tap water, but a simple filter would fix that instead of buying large amounts of plastic bottles. If you must use disposable, and you can’t keep it for another use, just make sure to recycle it. That will help keep pollution and trash out of the environment and reduce the need for more plastic.
