"700 YEARS FOR WATER BOTTLES TO START DECOMPOSING". Stick that thought in your cap.
Being environmentally conscious is more than just the latest trend to hit the tree-hugging hippie crowd. Its a vital part of our ability to continue to live on this planet. Its something all of us can do to live in a better world. And who doesn't want that?
One of the easiest things you can do is with your water bottle. Sure its really easy to pop into a convenience store, pick up a bottle of the latest trend and pat yourself on the back for living a more healthy lifestyle. According to the Beverage Marketing Corporation, bottled water is the single largest growth area among all beverages including juice, soft drinks and alcohol. Its great that we are drinking more water instead of sugary, calorie-laden sodas, but while this may be more healthy for your body, how healthy is your environment? Once you've finished quaffing that basic element of life, where does the bottle usually end up?
The answer is the landfill. According to Environmental resource Earth 911, Americans drank about 167 bottles of water each, but only recycled an average of 38 bottles per person in 2006. This equates to about 50 billion plastic bottles consumed, with only 23% being recycled, which means that over 38 billion water bottles ended up in the ground.
To manufacture a plastic water bottle, manufacturers use a petroleum product called polyethylene terephthalate, or PET. The manufacturing process also uses oil. According to independent research group The Pacific Institute, the process of making the plastic for water bottles uses approximately 17 million barrels of oil per year internationally. The energy consumed in the process of making bottled water could power almost 200,000 homes. And to manufacture one ton of PET products, manufacturing plants produce around 3 tons of carbon dioxide. In 2006 alone, bottled water created more than 2.5 million tons of CO2.
Then, once they are consumed and tossed into landfills, a plastic water bottle takes 700 years before it even BEGINS to start decomposing.
Maybe now you can see how all of this starts to add up to a very real problem.
Let's do a little math:
The average price of a bottle of water is around $1.20. Now think about how much bottled water you drink in a week. Conservatively, let's say 3 bottles per week. That means you are spending $187 per year for the convenience of drinking bottled water. Is it worth it? What could you do with an extra $187? By buying a bottle of water once and re-using it several times, you could cut your costs in half or more. Or go one better, and just use the heavier-duty sports bottles that bicyclists and campers use and save even more money.
If you don't like the taste of tap water, use a Britta filter, which is a cheap and effective way to purify what you are drinking. And if you are image conscious, know that no one is going to know the difference between the stuff filtered through the Alps and the stuff filtered through your kitchen sink unless you tell them.
Being environmentally conscious means being conscious about the things you take for granted. Something as simple as a bottle of water can make a big difference on how much pollution there is in our atmosphere and how much garbage is packed into our landfills.
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