7. Love (and reuse) the one you’ve got!
I will only use my reusable water bottle and my reusable hot beverage cup, not individual plastic bottles or cups.
WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT?
Using disposable plastic water bottles is bad for the environment and our health. The average American utilizes 167 single use water bottles a year. Collectively, Americans buy approximately 50 billion disposable water bottles annually, which requires more than 17 million barrels of oil to produce, not including transportation. While a plastic water bottle may take only a few minutes to use, it requires at least 450 years to degrade completely -- polluting our waterways, our oceans, our lands, our landfills and our wildlife. Furthermore, a study found microplastics in 93% of tested bottled water.
Almost all single use hot beverage cups for coffee and tea contain both paper and a thin plastic (polyethylene) waterproof lining. To make these cups, over 20 million trees are cut down a year, together with petroleum products. Because the lining of the cup starts degrading when the hot beverage is in it, the cup releases, on average, 25,000 micron-sized plastic particles into the coffee or tea that is being consumed. The plastic lining also makes the cups almost always not recyclable Then there is the plastic lid, which adds to pollution and human health problems.
TAKE ACTION!
Carry and drink from a reusable, BPA-free, cold beverage bottle. Aluminum, stainless steel and glass water bottles are a good choice, as well as bottles made from HDPE (plastic #2), LDPE (plastic #4) or PP (plastic #5). Here are some “best of” lists: Best According to Hyperenthusiastic Reviewers (New York Magazine); 8 Best (New York Times); 7 Best (Good Housekeeping)
Utilize a reusable hot beverage cup / mug. There are many great reusable hot beverage cup/mug options. Here are some “best of” lists: Best According to Coffee Snobs (New York Magazine). 11 Best (Good Housekeeping); Wired’s best; and New York Times best.
If you want flavor, vitamins and or electrolytes in your water, just add powder or tablets to the water in your reusable water bottle. There are many highly rated options, including lists from: 99Boulders; Rolling Stone; Yoga Journal; and Influenster.
ADDITIONAL MOTIVATION THOUGHTS
Over 500 billion plastic cups are used every year throughout the world.
When you use a reusable cold beverage bottle and/or hot beverage cup or mug, you’re not only decreasing your carbon footprint, you’re also helping to influence others to do so.
Drinking bottled water is expensive. The average annual water bill associated with drinking 8 glasses of tap water a day is approximately 50 cents; but the same amount of bottled water costs around $1,400 annually. You’re paying for all that plastic.
