You see them everywhere: on the beach, in the street, beneath the bleachers at the ball park, floating in the lake, in waste baskets at work, in sidewalk trash cans. What are they?
Plastic water bottles.
Bottled water consumption is growing at a rate of 10% a year, faster than any other beverage including coffee and milk. And while it is a healthy alternative to sugary drinks, there are many who suggest that tap water is actually held to higher quality standards than bottled water. And of course, it costs a whole lot less.
The tap vs. bottled water cost to the environment is a lot less, as well. Annual estimates of unrecycled plastic water bottles reach as high as 90%, more than 30 billion bottles whose production:
•· Required the equivalent of more than 17 million barrels of oil, enough to fuel more than one million vehicles for a year.
•· Created more than 2.5 million tons of carbon dioxide.
•· Used three times the amount of water in the bottle.
Then there's the fossil fuel needed to transport the water from its source to its end user by trucks, trains and ships, all for a beverage that one Web site suggests, "for some brands, is just tap water in disguise." "Indeed," says another, "40% of bottled water began its life as tap water."
It frequently isn't convenient to recycle that plastic bottle when you've finished the water
- you're at the beach or the ballpark where recycling bins are scarce (if available at all). The alternatives? Bring the empties home to recycle. Or purchase reuseable water bottles and fill them with tap water. If you don't trust your tap water, consider purchasing a water filter. You can even buy reuseable bottles with built-in filters!
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