Wouldn’t we all love to be overlooking this gorgeous scene in Greece right about now? Imagine the warm sun on your skin, dipping your toes into that crystal blue sea, gosh how gorgeous! But for now, let’s talk bottled water!
If you’ve had a chance to tune into season two of War on Waste, episode one follows Craig Reucassel on a journey of discovery regarding single use plastics. Did you know? The bottled water you may be purchasing tends to be lower in minerals and quality than the Australian tap water you consume for FREE. Not to mention the environmental impact these bottles are having. One empty bottle can create over 100g of greenhouse gas emissions, or ten balloons filled with CO2.
History of the plastic water bottle shows that when it first arose in popularity, it was predominantly distributed in pharmacies as having healing or medicinal properties due to being sourced from springs. Nowadays we are aware that a lot of the bottled water out there is simply tap water filtered and sold back to us!
What’s more, some bottled water in Australia is imported from Fiji and countries as far as France. Not only does this require a lot of energy in terms of transportation, but let’s take a look at how much energy is required to manufacture bottled water in the first place.
It takes a bunch (about 1/4 fill of a plastic water bottle) of oil and between 3-7L of water to manufacture a 1L bottle of water. So manufacture of single use plastic water bottles requires MORE water than produced in the final product!!
Meanwhile, Australian farmers are experiencing atrocious drought conditions, and Cape Town of South Africa has been educating their citizens on how to live off 50L of water a day to avoid water shortage crisis.
It seems priorities are out of whack...
So how can we deal with this plastic water bottle craze…
Don’t underestimate the power of being mindful in our everyday actions; simple behaviour changes make a big difference!
Here are some simple tips to save water and reduce plastic waste to landfill:
Invest in a reusable water bottle made from glass or stainless steel – there are options with built in filters
Keep a filtered jug of water in your fridge as to reduce time spent running tap water in the Summer months when the water comes out hot!
Bring a mug or cup to your work space
The recycling rate of plastic water bottles ranges across the globe between 20-40%, which is certainly not good enough considering the remaining percentage ends up floating in places it should not be! So if you find yourself gulping from a plastic water bottle – oops how did that get there?! – dispose of it thoughtfully. RECYCLE.