Environmental Benefits
The impact of the bottled water industry is nothing short of staggering and represents the worst in conspicuous and unnecessary consumption and all in the name of convenience. The facts are nauseating so read on at your own risk:
- 38 billion water bottles end up in landfills every year; enough if laid end-to-end to circle the globe 150 times… EVERY YEAR!
- It takes up to 1,000 years for disposable plastic water bottles to decompose
- Each bottle of water requires 3 to 5 bottles of water to produce
- Each bottle of water requires ¼ of a bottle of oil to produce
- 714 million gallons (17 million barrels) of oil are consumed each year to produce disposable plastic water bottles
- The oil used to produce disposable water bottles could be used to power 1 million cars for 12 months
- Interestingly, approximately 25% of bottled water is actually municipal water (ie tap water) that has been treated (reverse osmosis, deionization, etc) and packaged disposable plastic bottles
- In the US alone 2.5 million tons of CO2 were produced by the manufacture of 30 billion liters of bottles water in 2006. These numbers are expected to increase by 51% by 2011!
Needless to say, the bottled water industry is impacting our environment in the most insidious ways imaginable… from the wasteful use of natural resources to non-organic trash to air pollution… and isn’t it a bit ironic (and sad) that much of this water is no better or pure than that available from our kitchen taps.
Fortunately, it is amazingly easy and cost effective to be a good steward of our planet. Carry and use a Pura Stainless bottle and forevermore bypass the bottled water aisle at your local store, decline the bottle of water at your next meeting, and stop carting around cases of bottled water in your trunk. Your planet will thank you… and so will your grandkids!
