Maybe you buy bottled water because you like the taste, or perhaps it’s more convenient for you to pick up a single-serving bottle of water than to pre-fill reusable bottles from the tap when you’re on the go. But plastic water bottles harm both your wallet and the planet.
Plastic pollution is worse than you think.
Americans buy about 29 million bottles a year. For every six bottles people buy, only one is recycled. And since plastic water bottles do not biodegrade, this means that it takes at least 1,000 years for a bottle to decompose, leaking pollutants into our soil and water along the way. And because plastics are produced with fossil fuels, not only does that make them an environmental hazard, but it’s also an enormous waste of valuable resources.
Environmental Impact of Producing Plastic Water Bottles
It requires a lot of resources (such as energy and water) to produce, transport, and process plastic water bottles. All of this generates waste and pollution.
Energy
It takes almost 2,000 times the energy to produce and transport a bottle of water than it does to produce tap water. Most of the energy comes from burning fossil fuels, which releases carbon dioxide into the atmosphere (a major factor of global warming). Not only that, but production requires 17 million barrels of oil annually. That’s slightly more than it would take to fill 1 million cars a year with fuel!
Water
Production also requires an enormous amount of water. A single bottle takes almost 3 times the amount of water to make it as it does to fill it.
Bottled water makers source their water from natural springs, groundwater, and the same municipal water systems that supply our tap water. Drawing water from drought-prone areas to produce plastic bottles is wasteful and harms the environment.
Waste and Pollution
Plastic is cheap and incredibly versatile with properties that make it ideal for many applications. But these qualities have made plastic an environmental issue.
Our landfills are overflowing with 2 million tons of discarded water bottles, and burning it to get rid of them will produce toxic fumes — furthering the effects of global warming. More than 8 million tons of plastic are also dumped into our oceans every year, harming marine life and the environment.
How Much Money Can You Save?
Bottled water bottles cost almost 2,000 times more than tap water.
A study found that a family of four can save $123,000 from using reusable water bottles after five years, and the average individual can save about $6,180.
When you look at the big picture of what it takes to produce plastic water bottles, buy them daily, and manage the resulting waste, the choice becomes clear — reusable water bottles are better for our wallets and the planet.
Ready to start saving?
The NAYAD Roamer Bottle is the best alternative to plastic water bottles. Featuring a double-wall, vacuum-insulated stainless steel body, this eco-friendly reusable water bottle keeps your drinks piping hot up to 10 hours and icy cold up to 20 hours so you can stay refreshed for any adventure!
