Plastic bottles have becmome a part of our disposable economy... but at what cost?

Bottled water in particular has become a serious problem over recent years. Scientific American Magazine says:

Bottled water might well be one of the most needlessly wasteful products of modern times. (Earth 3.0 Special Edition, Fall 2008)

The reasons are as follows:

• Plastic is made from petroluem. We've all heard the problem with petroleum-based products... the manufacturing process takes a massive amount of energy and spews poisonous emissions into our atmosphere.
  
  
• Bottled water is shipped far and wide - across the US, and across continents, consuming more fuel and causing more pollution.
  
  
• While producing bottled water, the industry actually consumes 3 litres of water for every 1 litre produced (Pacific Institute).
  
  
• About 40% of bottled water actually comes from the tap - that is, from regular public water supplies.
  
  
• 2,000,000 plastic bottles are discarded in the US every 5 minutes.
  The mass of garbage created is huge: in 2007 Americans purchased 28 billion single-serving bottles of water, but only 20% of them were recycled, leaving 22 million bottles going into landfills.
  
  
• Many plastic bottles contain BPA (bisphenol-A) which can cause adverse health effects by interfering with the hormone systems of animals and humans. While the US has not yet banned it from consumer goods, Health Canada announced in 2008 that BPA is "toxic to human health"
  

 

What You Can Do

There several things you can do to help alleviate the bottled water problem:

• Drink Water From the Tap. If you are worried about the quality of your tap water, get a water filter. At my home we use the Pur Water on-tap filter for all our drinking water. It is a simple screw-on filtering system and the filters last for several months.
  
  
• Get a Re-usable Bottle and Fill Up at Home. Instead of buying bottled water when you are out and about, bring your own with you. This saves your money and your environment! Reusable bottles are also more healthy - choose one that has no BPA (harmful platsics). For a high-end, durable bottle I love the Sigg - made of stainless steel, it keeps water cool and lasts for years.
  
  
• Buy Smart. If you have to buy bottled water from time to time, purchase from a company that cares. Here in Dominica, Loubiere Spring Water bottles can be recycled.
  
  
• Take Responsibility. After drinking your water, be sure your bottle makes it back to the company for recycling and doesn't end up in a landfill.
  
  
• Avoid Bottleds with BPA. How do you know if a bottle contains harmful BPA?
  >> Look for the triangular recycling symbol on the bottle. If the letters 'PC' appear next to it or if it has the number "7", it probably contains BPA. Bottles with other numbers usually do not contain BPA.
  

 

More on Filetring Your Water

Water Filtering in South Africa - Filter you water to make sure that health contaminates such as asbestos fibres, cryptosporidium and Giardia Cyst are being removed.

 

Articles of Interest

• Bottled Water and Energy: A Fact Sheet - by the Pacific Institute.
  
  
  
  

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