What Can Be Done About Our Bottled Water Wasteland?
Bottled Water
What Can Be Done About Our Bottled Water Wasteland?
Author Ingrid Ingebretsen writes blogs about clean water and water filtration systems for LifeSource Water Systems. Ingrid Ingebretsen
The negative impacts of plastic water bottles on the environment.

Have you ever stopped and really thought about the magnitude of our waste?
It only takes a few statistics to put America’s plastic water bottle problem into perspective.

- It takes 17 million barrels of oil every year to make plastic bottles for Americans – This is enough to fuel 1.3 million cars

- You could power 190,000 homes with the energy used to produce plastic bottles

- 1,500 plastic water bottles are wasted every second in the U.S.

- Americans only recycle 23% of the plastic bottles they use – landfills are filled with 2 million tons of plastic bottle waste

- It takes 3 liters of water to package 1 liter of water

- Bottled water costs between $0.25 and $2.00 per bottle – tap water costs $0.004 per gallon

It doesn’t take very much effort to have a huge positive impact on the environment by following these easy, eco-friendly steps to reduce your plastic waste.

- Limit your use of plastic water bottles – instead buy a BPA-free reusable water bottle for $10

- Buy prepared foods in glass jars – you can reuse them once you finish the food

- Buy household items in boxes – they are more easily recycled than plastic bottles

- Invest in a carbon-based whole-house water system to ensure your water quality in an environmentally-friendly way

Other countries across the globe are finding ways to reduce their plastic waste, paving the way for the United States.

GERMANY started a recycling program that gives people cash for turning in their plastic water bottles

AUSTRALIA has banned plastic water bottles altogether in the city of Bundanoon

CANADA official declared BPA, the carcinogenic chemical that is used in plastic, a toxic substance

SWEDEN has so many recycling programs that less than 1% of household trash ends up in landfills

These countries have set the standard for limiting plastic waste and it’s up to us as individuals to help the United States catch up.