Buy Plastic Bottles
The billions upon billions of items of plastic waste choking our oceans, lakes, and rivers and piling up on land is more than unsightly and harmful to plants and wildlife. Plastic pollution is very real and single-use plastics are small but have a large impact.
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The following 10 facts shed light on how single-use plastic is a large problem that most people are a part of. To learn more about the threat and impact of plastic pollution and get tips to reduce your plastic consumption, download our Plastic Pollution Primer and Toolkit today!
According to the Clean Air Council, some 2.5 million used plastic bottles are discarded every hour in the United States. If we realize that time needed to have a plastic bottle decomposed is nearly 1000 years, it is really too much.
Only 20% of used plastic bottles are recycled in the United States, and the other 80% will end up in landfills. Under weather conditions such as sun and rain poisonous filtrate is formed combining water and PET molecules.
If the plastic waste does not end up in the landfill we will find it most often in the vicinity of our homes, on the banks of the river or in the sea. They are often fed to marine animals, which can then end up on our table.
London plans putting 20 new feeding fountains with an external tap to easily replenish water into bottles by 2018. If the project succeeds, more fountains will come until the end of the year in the center and around London.
Our black PET plastic bottles could give a sleek, sophisticated look to your product line. These black plastic bottles could be the ideal packaging solution for a variety of items from cosmetics and toiletries to industrial and healthcare products.
Avoiding buying single-use plastic water bottles is as simple as carrying your own reusable alternative with you. Be sure to choose a socially-responsible and environmentally-friendly alternative, such as a reusable bottle made from stainless steel, glass, or safe aluminium.
Pure Vapor Distilled Water: Producing vapor distilled water in your home means that pure, contaminant-free water is always on tap. No bottles are wasted. No pick-up or delivery is required. Fill up your stainless steel water bottles to take with you to work, to school, to your next sports activity!
Manufacturers design and produce PET bottles as one-time-use only products. Although the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved PET bottles for single use and for reuse, many manufacturers and consumer advocates urge the public to limit their PET bottles to one time use only.
The United Nations estimates around 300 million tons of plastic is manufactured each year. Of that number, more than 8 million tons finds its way into our oceans. There it contaminates coral reefs and kills mammals, fish, and seabirds, who mistake plastics for food.
Plastic bottles offer us a simple and convenient solution that allows us to drink on the move and store many other types of liquids. However, over the decades, our reliance on plastic bottles has contributed to a global problem with plastic waste. Much of it is down to growing demand, the single-use nature of much of our plastic consumption, and the negative environmental impacts. So, why should we say no to plastic bottles?
We are failing to recycle millions of tons each year. Plastic bottles can find their way into our oceans and landfill sites. Once there, they can destroy natural habitats and negatively impact a range of life on land and sea.
Once in a landfill, plastic bottles not only take 100s of years to break down but also leech a plethora of harmful chemicals9. And the sight of plastic bottles washed up on our shores is not one most would choose.
Saying no to plastic bottles is one small way we can all make a difference to the harm disposable single-use plastics cause. And if we all said no to plastic bottles, we could together make a huge dent in our global demand for plastic produced from our finite oil reserves and their resulting pollution once disposed of.
We should all, by now, be aware of the problem of plastic waste. Plastic packaging is durable, versatile, and flexible, but the one characteristic that really lets it down is that it takes centuries to degrade. Single-use plastic bottles are everywhere. And many of them are set to stay with us for many years longer than our lifespans.
Supermarkets and shop aisles are full of them. Many of us stock our fridges, kitchen, and bathroom cupboards full of them. Either aware of the problem but yet to act, or unwilling or unable as yet to shift away from plastic bottles. For shifts do require viable alternatives.
While plastic bottles are used for many reasons, it is the plastic water bottle industry that is causing the most environmental damage. Sales of water in plastic bottles in the UK alone have reached 558.4m over the past 12 months. This is an increase of 7% when we compare it to the previous year. This equates to 2.2 billion liters of bottled water.
Recently in countries like the UK, we have targeted the problem of plastic bags, with supermarkets now charging at least 5p should we not bring our own. Next up, we must tackle a wider range of single-use plastic with plastic bottles clearly in our sights.
To produce plastic bottles, we have to utilize oil. So, plastic bottles also draw on a finite natural resource. Along with this, the process of retrieving oil also has other environmental impacts associated with the drilling and production required to acquire oil, the raw material for producing plastic bottles. Such as leaching chemicals and producing CO2 throughout drilling, transportation, and use. And all these activities disturb natural habitats in some measure.
A lot of effort and oil goes into making one plastic bottle. A petroleum derivative known as polyethylene terephthalate is used to manufacture most plastic bottles. In fact, to get an idea of how much oil is required, you could fill each plastic bottle by a third with oil. That is how much is used to produce each one. It also takes triple the amount of water to make a plastic water bottle than it does to fill it10.
The manufacturing process also generates CO2 emissions. In fact, the majority of the carbon footprint of plastic occurs during production8 (as opposed to later in its lifecycle when it is, ideally, recycled). This feeds into the problem of rising temperatures and sea levels, as well as further damaging natural environments and wildlife.
Our ignorance and lack of understanding have seen us pollute our environment with plastic bottles. Instead of recycling, when we dispose of plastic bottles, they regularly end up in landfills. When they get disposed of incorrectly, many find their way into the ocean.
Either in a landfill or in our environment, for a plastic bottle to completely degrade, it can take centuries. As much as 1,000 years in some cases. And even then, it degrades into smaller plastic particles or microplastics. Therefore, every single plastic bottle incorrectly disposed of in the environment still exists somewhere in the world. Plastic will always be plastic and can never change into another form.
Plastic bottles also contain a chemical known as Bisphenol A or BPA. This is a chemical that we use to harden the plastic and make it clear. However, BPA is a known endocrine disruptor2. As a result, many health professionals now consider it to be a risk to human health.
The concerns do not stop with BPA. Plastic bottles also contain phthalates. This chemical gives plastic an element of flexibility. However, like BPA, it is also an endocrine disruptor. As a result, there is a link to a reduction in sperm count, tumors, and even gender development problems.
Marine life is suffering as a result of the amount of plastic that enters the ocean6. Plastic bottle tops are known to end up on the sea bed. However, what is more, concerning is that they are also being found inside dead species.
At 1.6 million square kilometers in size, it is three times the size of France. However, we estimate that 1.8 trillion separate pieces of plastic can be found here4. This is perhaps the most visible indication that plastic in the ocean is an issue. It proves just why we should think about going plastic-free.
It is impossible for us to continue to use plastic bottles in the way that we have. We should now make a conscious effort to reduce plastic bottle use. In turn, we should each make the switch to reusable bottles.
For too long, we have been seeking convenience. For that, we are now paying the price. As retailers sell drinks and other liquids in plastic bottles, it has meant that our environment is edging closer to the breaking point.
Our lack of care and concern has meant that many of us have never thought about the impact. Many have never thought about where plastic bottles go. All of this has caused plastic pollution on a scale that will take decades or longer to put right.
It is going to take a combined effort. Manufacturers have to take responsibility. They have to seek alternative products that have less of an impact on the environment. When you take a look at plastic straws, already people are making the switch to eco-friendly alternatives. We have to find a sustainable and mass-market solution to plastic bottles too.
Around 60 million plastic bottles end up in landfills every single day, and Americans alone send more than 38 billion water bottles to landfills every year, the equivalent of 912 million gallons of oil. That means that 1,500 plastic bottles are thrown away every second of the day.
In the year 2050, plastic in our oceans will outweigh fish with 8-9 metric tons entering the sea every 12 months. The World Economic Forum predicts that the ocean will contain around 937 million tons of plastic and only 895 million tons of fish.
Recent studies by scientists at Ghent University in Belgium have found that seafood lovers can potentially ingest up to 11,000 tiny pieces of plastic every year. And a study by Plymouth University reported that a third of all fish caught in the UK contained plastic, including mackerel, shellfish, haddock, and cod. 041b061a72