So many of us drink water out of plastic bottles every day. It’s clear, it looks good and we don’t think about it much beyond that. But we really should really be putting a little more thought into the negative impact of plastic waters bottles. Most of us are misinformed about what is in our water and how it affects our health. Water is fundamental to life, and contaminated water is causing a health crisis. Look at the oceans, which are polluted with billions of pounds of plastic, or at Flint, Michigan, and the water pollution problems they are suffering. The world is in a water crisis.
Here are six ways in which plastic water bottles are ruining the planet:
- Plastic water bottles pollute the environment.
There are currently billions of pounds of plastic waste in our water and environment all over the world, and plastic water bottles are a big part of that. Take, for instance, the infamous Great Pacific Garbage Patch, a massive floating layer of plastic waste that is bigger than the state of Texas. Plastic is an epidemic that we must address. There are good water filter systems on the market that could help reduce the amount of plastic water bottles consumed. One person using a water filter can save over 3,000 plastic bottles a year. We all have a duty to take care of this planet for our children, and our children’s children, and replacing plastic water bottles with a water filtration system is one way to not only to provide yourself with clean water, but to create a healthier planet.
- Bottled water is NOT safer or cleaner.
Did you know most bottled water is just tap water filtered for taste? Tap water has industrial chemicals, pesticides, lead, parasites, bacteria and hormones in it. The filtering of most bottled water is mainly done for taste and leaves a significant amount of toxins that people consume without realizing.
Also, the FDA does not have the ability to do mandatory and widespread testing for contaminants in bottled water the way the Environmental Protection Agency does for public drinking water. In fact, studies have consistently found over 24,500 chemicals in most brands of bottled water, many of which are pharmaceutical drugs.
- Plastic water bottles are harmful to people.
Unless they are clearly labeled otherwise, most plastic bottles leech harmful chemicals (BPAs, BPSs, bisphenols, EA, etc.) into the water over time, which are detrimental our health and are believed to cause various illnesses.
- The bottled water industry is massive – and getting bigger.
According to the Beverage Marketing Corporation (BMC), sales of bottled water are going to overtake carbonated soft drinks as America’s largest beverage category by volume later this year. 50 billion water bottles are consumed every year worldwide, about 30 billion of which come from the U.S. – that’s 1,500 water bottles used and thrown away per second! Total sales from plastic water bottles in 2015 was $14.2 billion, and this number keeps climbing.
- Bottled water is wasteful.
The bottled water industry wastes precious resources in the production of its products. For instance, it takes three times the volume of water to manufacture one bottle of water than it does to fill it. Also, roughly 17 million barrels of oil are used each year to produce and transport these water bottles.
- Recycling is not enough
Nearly 1.5 million tons of plastic water bottle waste is produced every year, in the United States alone. Even when disposed of responsibly by taking empty plastic bottled to a recycling center, bottles decay very slowly and keep piling up in landfills. Also, many plastic water bottles are disposed of improperly (in the oceans and rivers) polluting our planet and killing wildlife.
Bottled water is making a lot of money for the big companies, and taking a lot from consumers. Corporations pay very little for the water they take from the ground or tap, but then charge exorbitant prices to the consumer. I saw bottled water at the airport at $6 a bottle recently! That may seem high, but prices generally range from between $1 to $4 per bottle. Do the math of how much you spend per day, week and year, and you could save hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars each year using a high-quality filtration system.
Internationally-recognized health and wellness authority Deanna Latson empowers people to create a healthy, well-balanced life. Drawing upon real-life experience, extensive education and personal passion, Latson supports the use of toxic-free, high-quality products for superior quality of life. Along with being co-founder and chief product officer of ARIIX, Latson holds a clinical nutritionist degree from the Natural Healing Institute of Naturopathy and is affiliated with the Wellness Council of America, Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, and the Speech Communication Association.