Every day we all do something that most of us take for granted. We drink and use safe drinking water. Did you know that 1 out of 6 people lack access to safe drinking water? According to the World Water Council that is 1.1 billion people! Many of our friends in developing countries spend the greater part of their day seeking out clean drinking water.
In developed nations, we are spending billions of dollars buying bottled water even though we are provided clean drinking water right from our taps. Americans have become obsessed with drinking bottled water and this obsession has grown to an annual 8.6 billion gallons. People are paying up to 10,000 times the cost of tap water too. And you know what is super spooky? These plastic bottles are creating billions of pounds of oil based trash going into our landfills where they will stay for a thousand year lifespan.
Only 1 out of 5 water bottles ever gets recycled according to Education Database Online.
Did you know that 40% of this bottled water that we are spending $63 billion dollars to purchase is actually sourced from municipal water supplies also known as tap water? And, less testing is done on the bottled water than on municipal tap water. Bottled water is not tested for e.coli and can be distributed even if the water does not meet the quality standards of tap water. Unlike your municipal source of water, bottled water is not required to supply water quality reports or even name the source of the water.
Creating all of those bottles require the use of 17 million barrels of oil, and that is enough oil to to fuel 1 million cars for a year. It also takes 3 times the amount of tap water to produce and fill 1 bottle of bottled water. That is a lot of resources being used to produce a lot of plastic headed to the landfill.
Some of you might be thinking,” But Gracey, I am not sure my tap water is really safe.” I understand. My mom is just like you. We installed a Reverse Osmosis Drinking Water System. When my parents leave the habitat, they fill a reusable nalgene bottle with water.
Thank you for taking the time to think about making this small change to make a big difference in our world.
Do you use a refillable bottle? Would you like to? Tell me if you drink bottled water and why. I am just super curious because I am a Cat. One lucky friend will win a beautiful nalgene bottle! Super Hurrah!!!!
I think this chart created by Education Database Online really shows the impact of bottled water on our planet. What do you think?
Presented by Online Education
Thanks Gracey!
We have a water filter on our faucet and use it for everything from cooking to filling the kitty bowls. I’m always surprised at how people are always talking about gas prices and freedom from oil. But plastic is derived from oil. Thus the billions of bottled water sold every year contribute to oil consumption. And, although, water bottles can be recylced into other products, plastic bottles used for drinking can NOT be made from recycled material.
Thanks again for the posting Gracey,
~Carole Smith
It is super spooky to think about all of those plastic bottles filling up our planet. We have the water filter in our habitat too.
Hi Gracey,
Thank you for the informative post. I was aware of the basics, but not the extent. You put it into perspective!
Just as the other person commented below, I also recycle all of my stuff and I do re-use my plastic bottles multiple times over before recycling them. I refill them with water from the filtered refrigerator spigot (aka Tap Water) or whatever other cold beverage I am drinking. I also use the filtered water for my cats to drink as well.
I have never heard of a “nalgene” bottle. I will have to check that out.
Thanks again for all the great information.
Elizabeth, thank you for recycling and for using filtered water too. I think this is one of those things that many people just don’t realize. When you stop to think about all of that plastic heading to the landfill, it is scary.
Thank you Gracey for this very informative post! I was so horrified when I learned about all the plastic bottles in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, a huge vortex of plastic twice the size of Texas swirling in the middle of the Pacific Ocean! So much wildlife is harmed by eating this plastic, not the mention the chemicals it leaches into the ocean.
We don’t use very much bottled water, but we recycle all plastic and cans (and lots of other stuff) at home. I have one plastic bottle that I use over and over as my water bottle when I work out. I just keep washing and refilling it. When it falls apart, I’ll recycle it and buy one other. I’ve also been known to pluck plastic bottles out of other people’s trash and put them in recycling! I just can’t bear to think of all that plastic in our oceans.
Thank you for all you are doing to raise awareness about these issues!
Thank you Cathy, aka Lucky #49. That Great Pacific Garbage Patch is like a nightmare isn’t it? I hope more humans stop to think about what is happening to our planet soon…very soon.