Environmental Tip #2: DITCH BOTTLED WATER
Take the pledge to reduce bottled water use and use a reusable bottle and filtered water instead!
What are the facts?
- Americans used 50 billion water bottles in 2006 and sent 38 billion water bottles to landfills, the equivalent of 912 million gallons of oil. If laid end to end, that’s enough bottles to travel from the Earth to the Moon and back 10 times. If placed in a landfill or littered, those bottles could take up to 1,000 years to biodegrade.
- The energy we waste using bottled water would be enough to power 190,000 homes.
- In 2006, the average American used 167 disposable water bottles, but only recycled 38.1
- Americans used about 50 billion plastic water bottles in 2006. However, the U.S.’s recycling rate for plastic is only 23 percent, which means 38 billion water bottles — more than $1 billion worth of plastic — are wasted each year.
How can I get started?
Visit FILTERFORGOOD to learn more and take the pledge.
*All facts listed above taken from filterforgood.com.
06/29/2009 at 9:30 pm
To put it bluntly, bottled water is probably the biggest rip-off around today. It’s hard to believe how many people religiously buy it, thinking they’re doing their bodies good when, in reality, they’re basically just throwing away their hard earned money. Can we really afford such wastefulness in this recession?
WAKE UP, PEOPLE! In many instances, the water in those bottles is no better than the water from our taps (even without filtration).
The only time I’ve ever bought bottled water was while I was in Mexico City for a week way back in 1980.
06/29/2009 at 9:50 pm
Yeah…I think the convenience factor is what gets most people…especially when on the go. But, simply buying a filter for use at home can help to dramatically cut down on the amount an individual consumes on a daily basis. Thanks for your comment!