So you have just finished cooling off with a nice bottle of water and have done your thing for the environment by tossing the empty bottle in the recycling bin, but have you ever wondered what really happens to all those used water bottles?
Just how environmentally responsible is it to drink bottled water? The short answer is that it is not. Every year, the manufacture of plastic water bottles uses enough oil and energy to fuel a million cars, and even more to ship it around the world.
So just what does happen to all those plastic bottles once we have discarded them? Well, the bad news for the environment is that around 80% of them end up in landfills where they will stay for thousands of years before they eventually decompose, or burnt in incinerators where they will release toxic gases, polluting the air. The remaining 20% gets recycled.
So what happens to the 20% that goes for recycling; where is the recycling plant? Well one of the recycling plants is just outside Madras in India, and if you go there you will be faced with a mountain of plastic bottles from various countries. Unfortunately though, these bottles are not actually being recycled at all but are actually down-cycled, which means that they are lower quality products. Parts that are unusable are dumped in landfills.
It is time that we show the big companies that what they are doing is not right. We need to look after our planet, and part of doing that is no longer drinking bottled water. If you rally cannot stand the taste or smell of tap water, get some type of filtration system installed or get a mains water cooler that is plumbed directly into you main water supply and fitted with a good filter that will ensure that your drinking water is toxin-free and healthy.
If you need to carry water with you, get a reusable water bottle and fill it from your water cooler. This way you will not only do good for the planet, but also for your health and for your pocket – there must be many better things you can do with all the money you will save on not buying bottled water.
