Did you know that over 80 billion water bottles are produced each year. And of that 80 billion 80 percent of those bottles make it to landfills or the ocean. Each of those 80 billion bottles disintegrates in approximately 800 years. At this current rate we will have made 64 trillion bottles before the one you used today has decomposed. So how can we stop the continual production of plastic bottles. How can we do it in a way that is affordable to all and yet cheaper to make. What solution do we have that can also bring clean water to third world countries? 

We must first consider the problems of our normal plastic bottles. Plastic bottles are made out of PET which stands for polyethylene terephthalate and is what is used to make most of our modern day plastics. PET can cause a lot of problems if it reaches your bloodstream. There is this chemical that can leach out into bottle water a carcinogen. These carcinogens are said to cause cancer and hormone disruptions. Another problem with PET is that most of these bottles end up in landfills or in our ocean. Even 70 percent of all solid waste from our landfills goes to poor countries who don’t have the resources to handle it and one tenth of these are plastic bottles.. Then these countries have trash on the side of roads, on the beach, in parks and even in the city. The only positives about PET bottles are that they are much cheaper to make and that it gives access to fresh clean water to third world countries. Something that we should consider is if the positives of plastic bottles outweigh the negatives of plastic bottles. 

Well something that has always bothered me is that most tv shows that talk about climate change and global warming or any man made disaster is that they don’t provide solutions or hope. Luckily with PET bottles there are a few solutions that can be brought to our attention. The solution that I find most convincing is to use compostable plastics. The compostable bottles can be made out of rice, bamboo or any material used to make paper. These bottles can be composted and also reusable. It removes the health effects and also makes sure that less bottles are thrown away or disposed of into the landfill.  So clearly there are several solutions to choses from but what can I do or what can you do to make a difference. 

Well all you have to do is buy a reusable water bottle and challenge friends and family to do the same. Donating to organizations that are working on solutions is another to help reduce the need for making plastic bottles. If you zoned out or you didn’t understand anything I said just take this into consideration. Do you want to give your children or grandchildren a home where plastics outnumber fish or humans? Do you want the nice sandy beaches to be filled with plastic and corpses of dead sea creatures?  I don’t and I hope you don’t either. Therefore head straight to the store and buy yourself a reusable bottle and challenge others to do the same. So please sign the petition to help a great cause.