Money in a Bottle

Here are a few ways on why buying a reusable water bottle can help accomplish saving your money, help save the environment, make more time in your day or be healthier! Save Your Money The average American buys an average of 167 disposable plastic water bottles, costing you $266, a year. Want to cut the costs? With our average life span soaring to 80 years old, you could theoretically save $17,290 in your lifetime with a reusable water bottle. Save Your Environment When you save a dollar, you also save around a quarter of that water bottle’s volume worth of petroleum. That’s how much it takes to produce each disposable plastic bottle. It’s estimated that 17 million barrels of oil, which could fuel up to 100,000 cars, are needed to supply the demand of water bottles worldwide. But with all the bottles we buy, a low average of 23% of plastic are recycled each year. The rest ends up in our oceans, landfills, and communities—polluting the environment and killing thousands fish, dolphins, whales, turtles and birds every year. It is estimated that 10-20 million tons of plastic ends up in our oceans every year, costing up to $13 billion a year in losses from damage to the marine ecosystems, clean-up costs, financial losses to fisheries and ocean-based tourism. Health and Happiness Most disposable water bottles contain a chemical called bisphenol A., more commonly known as BPA. It predominantly enters your system by seeping into your food and liquids leading to damages to the immune system, digestive system, brain, behaviors and prostate glands. Although safe in moderation considering you can pick up BPA through air, dust and water, if you are consuming it in excessive amounts then you are at a higher risk of health issues. What should you use instead? Stainless steel water bottles!  With the health risks in mind, some reusable water bottles contain a BPA alternatives but they have not been tested enough to know the long term health effects. Think about it Let’s stop the cycle. Buying plastic that ends up in your trash, then going out to buy more plastic bags and more plastic bottles—where is the reason in that? Be proactive! Water is a necessity. It is a public good and not a money draining, health risk.  Buy a stainless steel water bottle to help everyone, everything, and every creature around you. Stephanie Toft, Intern