Without a doubt, the globe is thirsty where we dwell. Yes, it is advised to have some on hand in an emergency, such as a natural disaster. Still, disposable water bottles are often bought for drinking during regular everyday activities. Disposable water bottles can be convenient, but that practicality has a steep price. Disposable water bottles pose a severe risk to the environment and your health because they contain dangerous substances like BPA. Thus they should be returned to a bottle depot in Calgary SW or elsewhere. In this post, we’ll examine how the use of disposable bottles affects the environment.
The Reasons Why Bottled Water Is Harmful To The Environment
Let’s list the ways.
- Disposable water bottles require fossil fuels throughout their life cycle, increasing global warming and pollution.
- There is a requirement for more than 17 million barrels of oil to make enough single-use plastic water bottles to satisfy America’s annual demand for bottled water.
- The Container Recycling Institute estimates that 38 billion disposable water bottles end up in American landfills, amounting to an 86 percent waste or litter rate.
- Every year, 2.5 million tonnes of carbon dioxide are released into the atmosphere during water bottling.
- Every year, 1.1 million marine animals perish from the garbage from disposable water bottles that wash into the ocean.
- Four times less tap water is examined than bottled water for microorganisms and other contaminants.
As you can see, the expense of manufacturing disposable water bottles, which account for 90% of the price of bottled water, has already caused significant harm.
Water Bottles Made Of Plastic Are Ended Up As Trash.
Unfortunately, it is unlikely that all of the plastic bottles we consume each minute will ever be recycled. Unfortunately, only 9% of plastic is recycled. That indicates that just 9% of plastic is genuinely recycled.
The remaining materials end up in landfills or, worse, our ecosystem. Plastic bottles take 450 years to decompose into minute microplastic in the environment (that still pollutes and leaches toxins). Plastic might take up to a thousand years to decompose in a landfill. Thus they must be returned to the bottle recycling depot in Calgary.
Even after breaking up into small filthy fragments in landfills, plastic water bottles absorb and release hazardous substances. In addition, landfills all ultimately leak. Since human waste contains dangerous substances, runoff from landfills that carries those chemicals will likely wind up in our rivers. Both ourselves and the wildlife are poisoned by this!
Plastic bottles present a different kind of harm when they enter our ecosystem, often known as our oceans. By 2050, more plastic will likely be in the ocean than fish. Marine mammals, fish, and seabirds risk ingesting plastic in the water. Sadly, it happens frequently to find deceased marine life with large amounts of plastic in their stomachs.
The most tragic aspect of this is that PET, the material used to make plastic bottles, is considered highly recyclable. PET is undoubtedly one of the more specific polymers to recycle out of the seven primary varieties. Hurry to a bottle depot near you to return your plastic bottles.
However, when plastic is genuinely recycled, it is downcycled into a lower-quality product. The same thing can never be created more than once. This implies that it will ultimately become outdated and unrecyclable.
The point is that plastic is eternal, and we should begin treating it as such rather than developing single-use plastics like water bottles.
Reduce, Reuse, And Recycling
The bottled water industry claims that the plastic the water is packaged in is recyclable, which is accurate yet deceptive. Recyclable is not the same as recycled; hence the statement is false.
Over time, recycling has received a variety of messages. The sequence of the three words in the catchphrase “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle” is intentional. We can make a significant difference by prioritizing “reduce” and reducing our overall use of recyclables. Now that there are numerous recycling choices available, we are so accustomed to them that we fail to consider the environmental impact of the recyclable materials as they are being produced. Find the nearest bottle return depot in Calgary and elsewhere to make your job easier.
Conclusion
Overconsumption is bad for the environment. Particularly when you consider the additional ways plastic bottles harm the environment. Combined, they create an environmental crisis comparable to the effects of climate change. Nearest bottle depots in Calgary and other areas allow easier recycling in the most environmentally friendly ways.
