6 Reasons to Give Up Bottled Water

I know some people don't get what the big deal is with plastic water bottles, but studies show not only is the plastic dangerous to you (check previous posts on BPA) but plastic bottles have a huge impact on our Earth. Maybe one of these facts will help convince someone with a plastic bottle habit to invest in a reusable bottle.

1. North Americans spent $15,000,000,000 on water in plastic bottles last year.

2. Americans consumed 50 billion plastic water bottles last year, made of totally recyclable PET plastic however we only recycle 38% of these bottles meaning 38 billion water bottles a year go into landfills.

3. EVERY piece of petroleum-based plastic EVER manufactured still exists!

4. Plastic is the most common type of marine litter found worldwide, over 300,000 pieces of plastic per square mile have been found in the middle of the North Pacific.

5. The hidden costs of bottled water: the production of bottles uses crude oil, each liter of water sold actually represents three liters of water because manufacturing the PET plastic uses two times the amount of water that each bottle will hold, filling the bottles with water at the factory also uses energy, transporting it to the buyer uses gas, cooling it in grocery stores and home refrigerators, and recovering, recycling or discarding the empty bottles uses even more energy. The Pacific Institute estimates that "the total amount of energy embedded in our use of bottled water can be as high as the equivalent of filling a plastic bottle one quarter full with oil." And you wonder why gas prices are so high!

6. Make a change today to reusable bottles and save money. While reusable bottles, like Sigg aluminum bottles may seem pricey at $20 a bottle, statistics show the average person buys 167 water bottles a year - with water selling for at least $1 a bottle you will save money in the long run!