By now, most people should know that disposable plastic water bottles are horribly wasteful and bad for the environment. Despite this, however, the production and use of water bottles is growing rapidly in virtually every country in the world. Just 20 years ago the market for plastic water bottles was practically nonexistent, yet today we produce billions and billions of these completely unnecessary products. There can be only one sane response, plastic water bottles must be banned.
The plastic in water bottles is made from oil, and the industry manufacturing these billions of bottles is, in most cases, powered by fossil fuels. At a time when global warming is accelerating, and the effects are starting to be felt, this process is producing millions of tons of carbon dioxide each year, and that's only in the US. Of course, these billions of bottles are also transported all over the world, generating even more emissions.
Recycling is not the answer here, reduction and reuse must come first. The recycling of water bottles uses even more energy and generates more emissions, for a product that is completely unnecessary in the first place. In many cases, the plastic is not recycled into new bottles, in any event, so the factories continue to pump out more bottles.
Another problem is that a lot of extra water is needed during manufacturing. For every litre of bottled water produced, two additional litres are consumed in the production process. In many areas of the world, fresh water is in short supply, and in some countries groundwater is rapidly depleting. There is no good reason to waste valuable drinking water in order to simply make drinking water!
Waste is another major factor. There are billions and billions of plastic bottles going to landfill sites, but unfortunately that's not the only place they end up. Forests, roads and the countryside are all littered with plastic garbage. The ocean also contains massive amounts of plastic waste. Both on land and sea this plastic is breaking down and being eaten by animals and fish and making its way through the food chain.
The solution is simple and obvious, bottled water must be banned. Of course, some specialized products would still be allowed, but nothing designed for mass consumption can be permitted. Some towns and localities have already passed laws banning water bottles, but it needs to happen now at the national level. This would need to include a ban on the production and sale of water bottles within a nation's borders, and it should be made illegal for any domestic corporation to engage in such production, anywhere in the world.
Copenhagen is coming up soon, and the pressure is increasing on world leaders to reach a strong agreement. They have a great opportunity here to sign an international accord banning water bottles in all countries. Afterwards, they should implement this ban in each of their countries within a few months. This would achieve some real emissions reduction and pave the way for further agreements in the future.
Posts
10 comments:
that is the big problem today
Total agreement from me!
One thing: You might want to reconsider Google Ads. I am seeing ads for bottled water companies on this post, which I'm sure you didn't intend.
When I started Fake Plastic Fish, I thought about Google Ads and realized that I would probably get a ton of plastics ads because of the topic of my blog. I talked to someone at Google to see if there were a way to filter them and accept and reject them individually, and they said no. So I decided to skip the Google Ads and find ad networks that would let me advertise only the products and services that I actually endorse.
(Just trying to be helpful.)
Beth
Beth, usually it works okay on most articles, but sometimes it doesn't fit very well. :) I can't do much about it, though. Anyway, I'm sure it will improve over time. For now we can enjoy the irony. :)
Random comment from random passer-by. On a quick trip to India, i was struck by how completely Indians reuse everything. One water bottle gets reused numerous times (for boiled drinking water) in the house, then used some more in the factory. Then it's melted down to make buckets, and then those are shredded to make bags.
I'm sure it helps that they have so many empty hands and mouths to receive leftovers, and people whose sole occupation is picking through trash. I sure wouldn't idealize India's environmental situation; where i was, around Mumbai, the air was thick with smoke, and there was trash everywhere, and that's not even mentioning the slums (Our in-laws wouldn't let us near those). Just saying that out of necessity, those folks sure put me and my over-full recycling bin to shame.
Hi Sarah. One of the other problems in India is that companies like Coke and others are pumping out a lot of their groundwater in order to make their products (bottled water, as well as pop.) This is drying up a lot of the land and making it hard to grow crops, as well as depleting their drinking water.
A lot of the plastic water bottles are not designed to be reused, unfortunately, and it can be unhealthy to do so. Although I'm sure most people in India have much more immediate health issues to worry about. But I understand they need to reuse everything they can because of the poverty. I suspect before the plastic water bottles showed up everywhere, they used to use glass bottles instead.
Thanks for the comment.
I don't know about a BAN, but I'd certainly a tax to account for the negative externalities of bottled water production seems reasonable. Consumption and production of bottled beverages would go down if they cost $4 instead of $1 from a vending machine or $.10 from bulk retailers like CostCo. It just doesn't seem right to make something like that illegal at any price, even if someone really wants or needs it for a certain situation.
Anon, sure if a heavy tax were to be placed on it, that might do the trick too. Companies just wouldn't be able to sell it anymore if taxes made the price $5 (or even $10).
Still, it's probably more straightforward to just ban it, that way companies are clear on what's happening, instead of gradually losing money because of a new tax. Also, some areas have already put bans into law, so there's a precedent that can be followed.
Remember, lots of other products are banned too, such as leaded gasoline. Also, of course, not *all* water bottles would be banned, certain specialized products would be permitted. But either approach would be great, so long as we get rid of them. :)
What an incredible post. Thank you so much. I am so glad to have an insulated thermos to keep my water cold and my planet safe.
Thanks Steve, and for the tweet as well!
Post a Comment