I know, I know, I know, you’ve heard it before. Its old news, disposable water bottles are bad and reusable ones are good. Simple right? The question at hand is WHY a reusable bottle is so much better than the plastic one you’ve probably punched A, 5 on a sticky keypad to have mechanically shoved forward and down out of the metal machine it resided in. That bottle that you paid for with a crisp bill adorned with George Washington’s face contains substances that are harmful to human health. The main one being polyethylene terephthalate or PET, which is a clear plastic derived from oil. Hiding under the title of PET there are other chemicals such as benzene and arsenic. These chemicals are often absorbed into the water that is packaged within the bottle and if these substances are absorbed, issues with the endocrine system begin to pop up, and reported cases of cancer skyrocket. And I know, I know that you’re probably saying to yourself “BUT, reusable water bottles are made with bisphenol-A (BPA) which is ALSO an endocrine disruptor.” And the good news, (if you can call it that) is that you are not wrong. BPA mimics the effects of estrogen and can cause problems to reproductive systems, and has been linked to many sorts of cancers and neurological disorders. Sounds scary, I know. BUT many companies even superpowers like Walmart have taken huge strides in their efforts to phase out plastics that contain BPA.
Many companies now label their products as BPA free. Another way to be sure the reusable bottle or any plastic you’re buying is BPA free is to check its number. Plastics marked 1,2,4 and 5 are safe and free of BPA, while plastics marked 7,3 and 6 are usually guilty of containing BPA. So now you may be thinking “both are filled with poisons so what’s the difference.” So, here it is according to ValleyWater.org “Bottles used to package water take over 1,000 years to bio-degrade and if incinerated, they produce toxic fumes. It is estimated that over 80% of all single-use water bottles used in the U.S. simply become “litter.” And, not only that but “It takes over 1.5 million barrels of oil to meet the demand of U.S. water bottle manufacturing. This amount of oil far exceeds the amount needed to power 100,000 for a year, which does not include fossil fuel and emissions costs of greenhouse gases needed to transport the final product to market.” SunTimes. But, the scariest fact yet is that “it is estimated that 3 liters of water [are] used to package 1 liter of bottled.” ValleyWater.org
After all of that bad news, I think it’s time to look in the bright side, “Just one person switching to a reusable water bottle keeps 2,580 balloons of CO2 out of the air per year.” . And “Reusing plastic water bottles means less need to manufacture new bottles from virgin petroleum resin, and less trash that ends up in landfills, streams, and parks. Reusing plastic bottles can significantly reduce pollution, greenhouse gas emissions, and energy usage.” lovetoknow. On top of that, you’ll save an estimated “$260 per year by switching to a reusable water bottle.” iSustainableEarth. As well as helping the environment through your use of a reusable water bottle, you also get to express yourself through the bottle you pick and how you choose to decorate it. From stickers to paint to designs you’ll make the perfect bottle for you. So get a bottle and fill up at the sink!
-Sadie Goldfarb