Image: ClassicallyPrinted, Pixabay
Day 53 of 365 Days Of Low Carbon Living: the Plastic Free July challenge continues with getting into the habit of using your own water bottle (re-usable of course!).
Have you been to a large or public event recently?
Chances are you saw:
- a lot of plastic bottles of water (OK, maybe they weren’t full of water)
- bins overflowing with empty plastic bottles
This is a pretty recent phenomenon. And it’s a huge problem.
We’re using a million plastic bottles a minute and experts warn it’s a crisis as bad as climate change
Humans use a staggering one million plastic bottles every minute and most end up in the ocean or landfill, sparking a crisis that experts say is as bad as climate change.
That was the headline in a recent news.com.au article. Now NewsCorp isn’t usually big on reporting environmental issues or how bad climate change is, so it gives you an idea of how big a problem plastic bottles are.
There is a clear solution to this: use your own refillable water bottle!
Why use your own water bottle
It is much less harmful to you and our common home.
- The plastic packaging for most bottled water is made from fossil oil or gas, which damages local environments and our climate and atmosphere. Some reports estimate that virgin plastic will use 20% of global oil consumption and produce 15% of global greenhouse-gas emissions by 2050.
- It can take up to 3L of water to produce 1L of bottled water.
- Bottled water is currently almost always transported using engines that burn fossil oil – which pollutes our air and damages our climate.
- Discarded plastic bottles cause problems for our natural world.
- Some plastics used for bottled water can be recycled into new bottles, but this isn’t always happening.
- Bottles that are recycled into other, hard plastic products or end up in landfill will take up to 1000 years to break down.
- A lot of bottles are simply littered. They often end up in the sea, rivers and lakes. There they are unsightly, dangerous to animals and eventually break up in small pieces. Animals that die as a result of mistaking plastic for food or being suffocated or trapped by plastic.
Using your own water bottle is much cheaper and less harmful for you and our common home.
- You only buy your bottle once and it costs very little to fill it up. Compare that to what a bottle of water costs – almost all of which is the cost of the bottle, its lid and label (and most of the rest is profit for the businesses involved).
- There are no monetary and other costs associated with disposal or recycling once it is empty – you simply refill it!
- The amount of water (yes, water!), energy and resources used to get potable water coming our of a tap is far less than what is required to bottle water and to package, transport and refrigerate it.
It is also probably the most convenient way of keeping hydrated when you are on the move.
- You don’t need to keep finding shops to buy bottled water – and then spend time and money buying it.
- While you can drink water straight from a tap, water fountain or garden hose*, having your trusty water bottle with you means you can drink as you go – when and where you want to.
You are not lining the pockets of people trying to make money out of a common good that is:
- a necessity for life
- a human right
- becoming scarcer as ancient underground water is used up and surface water supplies are reduced and more erratic as a consequences of damage to our climate.
(Did you know that a former CEO of Nestle did not even consider that water is a human right?)
Carrying your own water bottle is a great way of showing your personal style or a message. For example, you can:
- choose plastic (preferably BPA-free), metal or glass
- choose the shape, design, size and colour
- use bottles for messaging – they are now a popular promotional item.
Using your own water bottle is great for keeping hydrated.
- You’re more likely to drink if you have a drink in your hand.
- Frequent sipping is better at keeping you hydrated than occasional large drinks.
- I find I drink a lot more when I have my water bottle in my hand while walking, on the desk or meeting table, or in the drink holder or my hand when I am in a car.
How to use your own water bottle
Work out what water bottle suits your needs and wants best. Hint: you might need more than one!
Buy your water bottle.
Or re-use a bottle from a previous drink (e.g) – great if you:
- are on a tight budget
- only need a small bottle or have very limitedd space (th
- are prone to losing things (like water bottles!)
Fill it with water.
Carry it with you – just like your keys, wallet and phone – and drink!
- Pop it in your briefcase or handbag.
- Make use of the side pockets of your back pack.
- If you are driving, remember to put it in your drink holder – and don’t leave it in the sun or a hot car.
Keep the important parts clean.
- If it has an exposed mouthpiece, try to ensure that it doesn’t touch anything that might harm you – and clean it as necessary.
- If you have a bottle that lets light through, wash the inside from time to time to stop algae (slime) growing. Hint: you need almost no detergent – 1 drop is too much for 1 bottle!
The challenge
Make use of Plastic Free July to get into the habit of carrying your own water bottle:
- Follow the instructions above in (How to use your own water bottle)
- To help remember your bottle, try filling it up when you walk in the door and then putting it in your bag or with your wallet or keys – then you’ll have it ready to go with something you always take with you.
- Tell your family and friends and share what you are doing on social media – and use the #PlasticFreeJuly, #ChooseToRefuse and #LowCarbonLiving hashtags.
Join me!
Any change or challenge is easier if you have company along the way.
So let’s embark on this journey together.
- Read my blog every day for ideas, thoughts and experiences for living a lower carbon lifestyle, more in harmony with nature – while also adapting to the consequences of our damaged climate.
- Subscribe to get posts direct to your inbox.
- Commit to taking action yourself.
- Add a comment to let me know you’re joining in the effort to turn around our world so it can remain liveable – and what your experiences are.
- Share with others my posts and what you’re doing – our efforts, progress, experiences and challenges – on Facebook, on Twitter, in conversations with friends, on talkback radio and in letters to the editor. Use #LowCarbonLiving hashtags on social media.
A problem shared is a problem halved. We’re all affected by the changes to our world so we need to be all in on the action!
Till next time…
* Water supplies are safe to drink in most ‘developed’ countries and in many other places. If you are travelling in a foreign country, check first.