Re-useable water bottles

People in the U.S. throw away 2.5 million plastic bottles an hour. Plastic is one of the most disposable materials in U.S. culture. We throw away our milk bottles, soda bottles, water bottles, trash bags, grocery bags, product packaging, and more every day without giving it a second thought. Plastic makes up much of the street side litter found in cities and throughout the countryside, and it’s rapidly filling up our landfills as well.

   According to an article written by Mike Hanlon, bottled water uses 2000 times more energy than tap water. The transport of the water to stores alone uses up our oil resources. Apparently, the annual consumption of bottled water in the U.S. in 2007 required the equivalent of between 32 and 54 million barrels of oil, roughly 1/3 of a percent of total U.S. primary energy consumption.

    As the use of bottled water consumption continues to grow around the world there are numerous consequences to consider. What is the impact in our environment? Are you recycling your empty bottles? I hope so. The amount of waste in our landfills is growing. In the U.S. alone, 60 million plastic bottles are hitting the landfills every single day!

    
           Let’s consider the energy that is required to produce and use bottled water. Studies have shown that a single estimate of the energy footprint of bottled water is not possible due to differences among water sources, bottling processes, transportation costs and other factors. Gleick and Cooley calculate the energy requirements for various stages in bottled water production, including the energy to manufacture the plastic bottles, process the water and the bottles, and transport and cool the final product. Combining all these factors together, it requires 2000 times the energy cost of producing tap water. They also calculated that with the global demand of bottled water, the energy equivalent of 50 million barrels of oil per year is used just to produce the bottles, primarily made of PET plastic, almost all of which are currently made from virgin, not recycled, material.


        Making new plastic requires significant amounts of fossil fuels. Studies suggest that between 7% and 8% of the world’s fossil fuels are used in producing new plastics. This doesn’t sound like a great amount, but it accounts for millions of tons of fuels per year. Recycling could preserve these fuels—even reuse them in other markets.

  In my household we are not water bottle buyers...  When we go on day trips we all have our full reusable bottles packed before leaving.  And on big trips or vacation we use those handy dandy water bobbles that are filtered so you can just fill it up in bathrooms, water fountains or wherever you are....  Small steps mean a whole lot to mother earth so let's try...  Here are the great things I have found to aid me along this no plastic water bottle cause!!!!!

For glass re-usable, which is safest.....  They can be put in dishwasher which helps with those germies and bacterias......  

 http://www.betrulyyou.com/category_11/glass-water-bottles.htm

I love this one, have a orange one and it is fabulous...  Don't have to worry about this bad boy breaking..
http://www.lifefactory.com/

http://www.lovebottle.net/store/pc/viewCategories.asp?idCategory=2

http://www.etsy.com/listing/71742964/handblown-glass-water-bottle-spring?ref=sr_gallery_9&ga_search_submit=&ga_search_query=reusable+glass+water+bottles&ga_search_type=handmade&ga_facet=handmade

For those of you that don't want to bother with glass due to breakage, here are some other great finds...
http://mysigg.com/customize/paul-frank-sigg/

http://www.rei.com/product/776892/camelbak-better-bottle-25-fl-oz




The filtered water bottles are amazing as well, I only use these on big hiking trips or vacations..  But they are great non the less..  You can grab them at target, or the sacramento natural food co-op.....  They even have cute little kids ones for yo babes!!

http://www.target.com/s?keywords=water+bobbles&searchNodeID=1038576%7C1287991011&ref=sr_bx_1_1&x=0&y=0


I know everyone has a reusable water bottle, this is not a new wagon to jump on.  The real question is how often do you use it?  So what I am saying is make a effort, when you forget your water bottle, you know you will have to buy a bottle of water so just really try your hardest to NOT FORGET IT.......  Thanks for reading and if you have any questions message me...

Tread lightly!!