In the United States, it is estimated that humans consumed an average of 400 billion gallons of water every day, while some countries can barely survive with the water they currently have. It is also estimated that over 780 million people don't have access to clean safe water and have to rely on other sources to survive. The main source for clean water is consuming plastic water bottles. While there are many pros to purchasing and consuming bottled water there many cons and possible risks. While over 50 billion plastic water bottles are produced each year, but only about 23 percent in the United States is recycled. That is roughly about 38 billion water bottles; more than $1 billion worth of plastic are wasted each year. The majority of plastic bottles are made from polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastic, which is produced from crude oil. The oil is then extracted which releases greenhouse gases and harm …show more content…
They can be safe to drink; it is available to any vendor that sells it and to some consumers bottled water taste better. While advantages seem great there are some disadvantages to consuming bottled water. Some companies will claimed that their water sources may come from natural springs but in reality, its purified tap water or adding some chemicals claiming it's mineral water. As mention before, only about 23% of the plastic water bottles are only recycled, the rest end in landfills or water sources leading to being harmful to the environment. The last disadvantage is the cost. A 12oz. bottled of water is estimated to cost between $1.30 to $2.30 (depending on the brand and location of sale) and in Campbell County in Kentucky it cost $4.25 for 7.5 gallons of tap water. You would have to purchase just over 10 bottles to equal 1 gallon, costing an estimated $13.78 for 10 bottles of water for 1 gallon of tap
There are many impacts that bottled water has on the environment. The choice of packaging determines many impacts. The bottles, which are either plastic, aluminum, or glass, that are not recycled are thrown into landfills and buried. According to the Container Recycling Institute, 86% of plastic water bottles in the United States become garbage. If water bottlers would have used 10% recycled materials in their plastic bottles in 2004, they would have saved the equivalent of 72 million gallons of gasoline. If they used 25%, they would have saved enough energy to power more than 680,000 homes for a year (Jemmott, 2008). Incinerating used bottles produces toxins such as chlorine gas and ash. Water bottles that get buried can take up to thousands of years to biodegrade. The most common type of plastic is polyethylene
One of the plastics that are used everyday are plastic bottles. Approximately 185 pounds of plastic are thrown away each year by the average american. Some of these plastics are plastic water bottles. Each year americans throw away 35 billion plastic water bottles. These plastic bottles end up in landfills or the ocean. When they reach
Have you ever considered what is happening to all the plastic bottles you use? According to "Bottled Water: The Wrong Choice paragraph 2" it states, that when plastic bottles are made we are using more fossil fuels. By doing this we are damaging environment!
Most bottled waters come from factory, where the waters is treated, packaged into chemically produced bottles, and then sold to us. Millions of people are amazed to the fact that they’re drinking water combined with chemicals. Tap water and bottled water are essentially the same water. Despite in some areas tap water may be polluted depending on the area in which you live. Although you may think bottled water is more suitable for you to drink, you’re wrong.
Attention getter: “Every five minutes in the U.S over 2 million plastic bottles are used (Arrey).” Americans drink about 7 billion gallons of bottled water a year that’s about $8 billion dollars in sales per year (Arrey). We all drink bottled mineral water these days. We all like to think it's a far healthier option than tap water. It's extremely handy to be able to carry around your own water supply in in this hectic and fast paced world
Some consumers feel that if the bottles of water being purchased are being recycled, then the environmental damage is greatly decreased. This is a reasonable and valid assumption, but unfortunately the statistical truth behind recycling gives way to a dimmer reality. There is an estimated 50 billion bottles of water being consumed per year worldwide, with approximately 80% of these bottles not being recycled. This amount of waste burdens our landfills tremendously.
Making all the plastic for those bottles uses 17 million barrels of crude oil annually. That is the equivalent to the fuel needed to keep 1 million vehicles on the road for 12 months so why are so many people drinking bottled waters? They believe that they are making a healthy choice. But the truth is that tap water is just as safe, often safer than bottled water. In fact, some bottled water is
Americans live in a consumer society where majority of products are packaged ready for use. This is attributed to the availability of disposable merchandise that is favorable and efficient in delivering the various products that are on demand. Among the various favorably consumed packed products is bottled water. It does not however, make sense for people to buy bottled water and throw the container away after they have emptied it. This is because the plastic bottles have a number of defects to the environment as well as to the general welfare of the economy. For example, in 1976 an average American drank 1.6 gallons of bottled water and since then the quantity has increased to an average of 30
Obsession may be the word used to describe American’s outlook towards bottled water. Many people buy it without thinking twice while others are thoughtful about the product. However, the use of bottled water establishes a challenge worth a discussion. As Susan Freinkel and Peter Gleick illustrate in their books, the use of plastic bottled water has birthed several consequences, which are not only economic but also environmental.
In 2004, Americans, on average, drank 24 gallons of bottled water, making it second only to carbonated soft drinks in popularity (Standage). In the article “Plastic Water Bottles Causing Flood or Harm to the Environment,” the Earth Policy Institute factors the energy used to pump, process, transport, and refrigerate bottled water as over 50 million barrels of oil every year (Schriever). It’s absurd that so many resources are used to make plastic bottles which are not necessary at all. Bottled water does allow us to drink water out of it but in reality bottled water is very bad for
Plastic water bottles are considered one of the healthiest beverages you can find in any shop. But are they really all that healthy for the environment, or is there a fine line between a plastic bottled water drink and what’s best for everyone? Let’s take a look at bottled water from the very start to find out. To manufacture plastic bottles, polyethylene terephthalate (PET) is used, and to produce PET, crude oil and natural gas is required. If one fills a plastic water bottle 1/4th full with oil, they will be looking at how much oil was used to make that one bottle, so how much oil does it take to make all of America’s water bottles? According to the Pacific Institute, in 2006, making plastic water bottles
The water bottle industry is one of the fastest growing industries in the United States. This being said, our landfills are filled with more than eighty five percent of plastic bottles. Their long lifetime and thoughtless consumers are not only filing our dumps with these plastic bottles, but hurting our oceans too. Since water bottles do not biodegrade, they can float aimlessly on the ocean surface for years. They also may cause a passing predator to be fooled into thinking it is a resting prey. Little did that predator know, they were going to have a serious stomach ache trying to digest a plastic bottle. It also pollutes the soil and waterways as well. Besides the space water bottles physically fill, their production waste is just as dire. In America alone, we use about seventeen
When the term “Internet of Things” is first heard, some might envision a snow covered island inhabited by misfit toys that is stumbled upon by Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer and companion Hermey like in the children’s Christmas classic Island of Misfit Toys. However, it is quite the opposite. The “Internet of Things” is a simple term used by tech geeks to describe the everyday electronics that connect and communicate to one another via the world wide web. So, how does the communication of millions of machines benefit humanity? And to a greater degree, can these devices behave badly like a toy from Island of Misfit Toys?
Bottled is more convenient to carry than tap water. For instance, in a state of emergency bottled water will be the only water available. During hurricane Irma many people was left without any power or clean water and had to use bottled water to take baths. However, bottled water isn’t only convenient for devastating emergency’s, but is a great source to choose from when people are always on the run.
Plastic water bottles are seen and consumed everywhere. Without knowing the deadly effects that water bottles have on the environment, consumers will keep buying them and contribute to the problem. About 17 million barrels of oil are used each year solely to make water bottles