How can America be spurred on to recycle more? Health-conscious Americans are consuming water from disposable plastic bottles at a rate of more than 70 million bottles each day. Some are spurred on in a bid to reduce the quantity of sugar in their diet.
Others are concerned by the quality of municipal drinking water — a concern that public officials say is unwarranted. More than 60 million plastic bottles end up in landfills and incinerators every day — a total of about 22 billion last year. Six times as many plastic water bottles were thrown away in the US in as in The bottles that are not contained by fallen trees and other debris along our inland waterways are floating out into the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.
From there they are finding their way to the shores of island communities and coastal countries that are themselves only just beginning to experience the problems associated with plastic beverage bottle waste. Although the US leads the world in the consumption of bottled water, at 26 billion litres in , the bottled water craze is a global phenomenon. Mexico, with a population slightly more than one-third that of the US, is the second largest consumer of bottled water, at 18 billion litres annually.
At 12 billion litres each, China and Brazil are not far behind. Italy and Germany rank fifth and sixth in consumption, at 10 billion plus litres each see Figure 1. On a per capita basis, Italians are the biggest consumers of bottled water, at nearly litres in — the equivalent of more than two glasses a day. Second and third place in per capita consumption are Mexico and the United Arab Emirates, at and litres respectively.
Belgium including Luxembourg in the statistics and France are close, with consumption just under litres per person annually Figure 2. Global consumption of bottled water has been growing over the past five years despite the fact that in a many places, including Europe and the US, there are more regulations governing the quality of tap water than bottled water.
The Container Recycling Institute conducted an informal survey of prices for bottled water in Pittsfield, Massachusetts.
Dasani is filtered tap water. Bottled water can cost as much as 10, times more than tap water, according to the AWWA. The Earth Policy Institute estimates that making bottles to meet the US demand for bottled water requires more than 1. Transport and disposal of the bottles adds to the resources used, and water extraction — which is concentrated in communities where bottling plants are located — adds to the strains bottled water puts on our ecosystem. Of the million pounds million kg that were converted to clean flake:.
Chapter Three. Every time we throw away a plastic bottle we are putting it into landfills, where it will take anywhere up to 1, years to decompose. During this time studies show that the toxins decomposing bottles of water leaks harmful chemicals into our environment. This in turn causes a variety of health issues, including reproductive problems and cancer. Chapter Four. Billions of plastic bottles can be found are floating around the five ocean gyres which are poisoning marine wildlife while they feed in their habitat.
This is the equivalent of pouring one rubbish truck of plastic into the ocean every minute. Chapter Five. Too many marine animals die from plastic waste each year, with around million animals estimated to have died. Our plastic pollution is extremely dangerous for sea turtles because the decomposing plastic looks similar to their food, and they mistake this for a jellyfish.
Chapter Six. This is followed by the US with 38 million tons, Germany at US population is producing 0. Interestingly the Chinese population is only producing around a third of plastic waste in comparison to the US population, with 0. Until the world powers start to act, and consumers begin voting with their feet ocean pollution will continue to increase.
Chapter Seven. Sadly, plastic waste statistics show that we have polluted every beach in the world, from busy tourist beaches to uninhabited islands. The fact that scientists have recently found microplastics embedded deep in the Arctic ice is very sad indeed. Plastic waste facts show that every day almost 8 million pieces of plastic pollute our oceans.
It is estimated that over plastic bottles litter each mile of all UK beaches, yet we continue to throw away plastic bottles. Chapter Eight. Aside from cleaning up our oceans, which is a very important step but definitely not a long-term solution, the best way to help address plastic water pollution is to change our behavior and habits.
The main solution to water bottle pollution is to reduce our usage of plastic, which means changing our everyday habits by looking at alternatives and only use plastics when necessary.
Consider reusing plastic water bottles to provide solutions other than recycling them. The main solution is education and informing people of the impact they are having on the environment and the health of their future generations. With education, comes a change to consumer behaviors. Skip to content. Waste that has been disposed of can still be picked up by wind or washed into waterways by rain. This trash makes its way down inland rivers, drainage systems, and canals over time. The ocean will be its final destination, where it will stay for a very long time.
Plastic does not ever truly decompose. Instead, it gradually breaks down into smaller pieces, called microplastics , over the course of about years. All of the plastic pollution in the ocean will eventually become microplastic as the sun, waves and salt slowly wear it down.
Once they break apart, they are difficult to see and impossible to remove. Strong ocean winds create circular gyres that move litter throughout the ocean. Eventually, the currents will bring the trash to the center of the gyre, where it will become trapped in what is essentially a vortex. The Great Pacific Garbage Patch, a huge floating trash dump, is at the center of one of these gyres about halfway in between California and Hawaii. Even if plastic bottles are avoided, the alternatives can present their own issues.
Glass bottles, like those commonly used for grab-and-go iced coffees, are costly and complicated to recycle.
Many facilities have completely ceased glass recycling projects, and several cities and states have told their citizens not to even bother putting glass in their recycling bins. Pieces of broken glass in single-stream recycling can also contaminate other items, preventing any of it from being recycled. Aluminum cans are easy and cost-efficient to recycle, but more expensive to produce than plastic, and are not as commonly used in lieu of plastic as a result.
A single bottle or can kept cold for about a week requires about , joules of energy. All single-use beverages require similar amounts of energy to transport and refrigerate prior to use. For the most part, retailers keep bottled and canned drinks in coolers or fridges before they are sold.
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