Why Should Plastic Water Bottles Be Banned In Schools

Background and Audience Relevance: Everyone including newborn babies uses Plastic bottles. According to Petz. S (2009, October 15) Science, Clean Water “Out of the 50 billion bottles of water being bought each year, 80% end up in a landfill, even though recycling programs exist. ”. Which takes an impact to the plastic trash that travels to what is now a garbage patch in the Pacific Ocean. We are the reason for the global warning, leak of chemicals in our food and water supplies. Yes, water bottles do make it easier for us to carry around but what we don’t know if that our pocket is paying the price of pollution leading to health issues.

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

One of the biggest harms to the world is pollution caused by people. Most of the plastic materials used by people are left to pollute. Bottled water is one of the biggest plastic materials produced. Some people say that bottled water is safer, convenient, and provide jobs to workers in many ways. The reasons for buying bottled water differ. Some people buy bottled water because they don’t like the taste or smell of tap water, while others on the other hand buy it because of health concerns with water contamination. Pollution is one of the biggest problems hurting the environment today, and water bottles that are thrown out after each one-time use, contribute greatly to its increasing buildup. Bottled water is not only expensive to us, but also to the environment. Bottled water is hurting the economy, harming human lives, and damaging the environment.

Water is essential to life, scientific fact, not debatable (Tracy). More than half of all Americans drink bottled water; about a third of the public consumes it regularly (Olsen). Many drink or buy bottled water simply because they believe it is of better quality, cleaner, and better tasting. On the contrary, several individuals do not know the cons of drinking bottled water. Today, there are many misconceptions and myths about bottled water. Many people are uneducated about what goes into our bottles and how it not only affects us but also our environment. In the article “The New Oil” by Jeneen Interlandi and Ryan Tracy they discuss the issues that have to do with water and the privatization of it. They believe there is a crisis and something has to be done. Due to the cost, pollution, shortage, and health issues, bottled water should be outlawed. Water should not be controlled by water bottle companies and should not be allowed to be sold in plastic bottles.

The Australian bottled water industry has been growing rapidly over the past decade. Many Australians drink bottled water on a regular basis, and on average consumed 21.2 litres per person (Australian Bureau of Statistics) in 2001. The boom in consumption of bottled water has moved the product beyond the niche market and into the mainstream as it has become a staple to many Australians. Many people drink bottled water today simply because they prefer the taste to that of tap water or perceive it to have more purity. Other reasons behind the explosion in bottled water consumption are: consumers' passion for fitness which guides them to fewer caloric beverages; increased accessibility of bottled water via convenience stores,

How bottled water is better at school. Bottled water is better for community because it is safer because tap water is in the pipes and that can contain chemicals and bacterias. Another reason why it shouldn’t be banned in school is because you can bring your own water and if you bring your own water bottle you can refill it. Another reason why kids should be allowed to bring bottled water is because you are letting the kids stay hydrated and you don’t have to leave the classroom to get a drink. The last reason why kids should be able to bring bottled water is because you can also

You can’t walk across a college campus, past an office building, or through a park without seeing one, two, or ten empty bottles. Many are plastic water bottles. Trash bins overflow them. Those water bottles are a problem. Why? Because only one out of five bottles actually makes it to a recycling bin. Plastic bottles take centuries to decompose and if they are incinerated, toxic byproducts, such as chlorine gas and ash containing heavy metals, are releasing into the atmosphere. The rest are littered on our streets or over filing our landfills. They degrade our landscape and damage our environment. In addition the plastic water bottles are not biodegradable that is, they don’t decay. They remain as trash a hundreds of years.

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

As aforementioned, there are explanations to believe that bottled water does outweigh its repercussions. Thomas J. Lauria, author of “In Defense of Bottled Water”, states, “Bottled water provides a healthy choice when tap water is not accessible” (“In Defense of Bottled Water”). In this article, Lauria states that bottled water is a topic of great interest. He goes on to discuss that in the United States, “Adults consume 450 calories a day from beverages and sixty-eight percent of those twenty years old and older are classified as overweight or obese, bottled water provides a healthy choice when tap water is not accessible, preferred, or convenient” (“In Defense of Bottled Water”). Sure, this is fact and definitely a benefit to bottled water. Lauria continues to say that if bottled water is not offered then people will be more likely to choose soda, juices, or options similar to those. He says that banning bottled water will urge people to consume unhealthy beverages because

“In Canada, bottled water consumption was estimated at 24.4 litres per person in 1999. By 2005, that had increased to about 60 litres per person, with sales worth $652.7 million” (CBC News, 2008). This dramatic increase in bottled water consumption does not come without severe repercussions and has caused a chain reaction of unfortunate events. Although easily available and terribly convenient, bottled water negatively effects the environment, is extremely costly, and is composed of contaminants that are unhealthy to consume. The importance of discussing this issue is advantageous because the public is unaware that tap water is more favourable than bottled water. Choosing tap water over

One reason that I believe bottled water is not suitable to give to everyone in the school, is because it causes a lot of environmental problems. According to The Story of Bottled Water by Annie Leonard, “Each year, making the plastic waste bottles used in the U.S. takes enough oil and

Schools all across the nation have been notoriously known for banning a ridiculous ammount of things; one of whixh that is now being considered is water. Belive it or not many schools are now thinking about banning bottled water. The articals ¨Goodbye Bottled Water?¨ ,by Gail Hennessey, and ¨Statement from the Internation Bottled Water Association¨ ,by the IBWA, give very different veiws on this topic. Our schools shoulnt not ban bottled water for many reason such as our rights, our health, and tap water contamination.

“One of the biggest challenges facing the bottled water industry is how to respond to the environmental claims levelled against it” (Grocer). Every time someone throws a bottle away, they have taken up more space in a landfill for the next four hundred fifty to one thousand years. Besides the long decomposition rate, water bottles are the cause of several more environmental issues. Overfilling landfills, health hazards caused by refilling, and the economic stresses due to the constant and inconvenient repurchasing are just a few of the negatives water bottles have on us. These plastic pollutants are doing more harm to both the environment and their users than good.

Have you ever had any concerns about bottled water? Do you think that bottled water consumption should be banned? Bottled water is water packed in plastic containers and sold for human consumption (Health Canada, 2013). Currently, the amount of bottled water consumed has increased considerably since many people feel it is safer drinking bottled water than tap water (Parent and Wrong, 2014). According to The Statistics Portal, the global sale of bottled water took a leap from 161, 589 to 181, 608 liters from 2009 to 2011. Only in the United States, each American citizen consumed around 32 gallons of bottled water in 2013, thus meaning an equivalent growth of 15, 94% over 2009 (The Statistics Portal, 2014). In fact, due to good portability, bottled water has been helpful in both simple and complex situations such as daily exercises and natural disasters. Even though having those few considerable advantages, bottled water still have been less beneficial; especially due to the negative impacts in the socio-economic, health and environmental fields.

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