Hopefully you are well aware of the alternatives to using disposable bottles and recycle the ones you do use (consume). The advent of bottled water sent our already wasteful consumer culture into pollution overdrive and it’s a tremendous task to put the brakes on the momentum of this waste. Here is a list of plastic bottle facts that put the magnitude of this pollution into scope.
* Plastic bottles take 700 years to begin composting
* 90% of the cost of bottled water is due to the bottle itself
* 80% of plastic bottles are not recycled
* 38 million plastic bottles go to the dump per year in America from bottled water (not including soda)
* 24 million gallons of oil are needed to produce a billion plastic bottles
* The average American consumes 167 bottles of water a year
* Bottling and shipping water is the least energy efficient method ever used to supply water
* Bottled water is the second most popular beverage in the United States
Although it can be easy and convenient to pick up bottle beverage products the end cost to the environment is staggering. So be mindful when you drink…and remember, friends don’t let friends drink from disposables!
Weekly Statement #5
ReplyDeleteUsing plastic bottles is so harmful to the environment, both globally and personally to the people who buy them. By using bottled water we are polluting our water in more than one way. The plastic takes 700 years to begin composting, and it takes many factories using oil to produce the plastic bottles.
We think that we are drinking purified water when we drink out of plastic water bottles. The brand names of the water bottles help to reinforce those ideas: “Ice Mountain,” “Aquafina,” “Fiji,” and more. Most of the brands logos have pictures of mountains in the background or green springs to make you think that their water tastes like it is from a fresh mountain spring. Although this is the way that the companies want you to believe they get their water, although it is exactly the opposite. It is through advertising that these companies fool the consumers.
The habits of these companies do more to pollute our world than they do to purify it.
If everyone used recyclable bottles and had their own purifier on their tap then we could make big strides in decreasing the pollution of our fresh water. After looking at these facts it is easy to see that plastic water bottles are very harmful. Although the steps that we can take to reducing the amount of plastic that we use are easy, it is still easier to buy plastic water bottles.
Reading the labels is becoming a big thing these days while people are becoming more health conscious and aware of what they eat. I think that just like other food companies need to put the health facts on their labels water bottle companies should have to put the facts of production and manufacture of the water bottles. Maybe more people will start to realize the impact that they are having on our planet once they see these facts.
10/19/09
ReplyDeleteWeekly Statement #5
Just this weekend I managed to drink nearly 10 bottles of water at a tournament, so what’s alarming is that how much water I easily went through in just a couple of hours. By the end of the day, my teammates and I collected about 20 Gatorade and Aquafina bottles to add to Northwestern’s recycling collection. Also throughout the two days I was at Northwestern’s gym I saw bottles littering the floor with many of them were abandoned and half full. I purchased a metallic canteen over the summer, but I often forget to fill it and end up resorting to a water fountain or bottled water.
The one thing I feel paranoid about is when I do drink out of a water bottle is whether the plastic is mixing chemicals as I drink. One thing I have learned is to check the bottom of the plastic bottle and look at the number in the center of the recycling symbol. High school chemistry has taught me to see that the number 7 inside of it represents the use of polycarbonate plastics is the major culprit behind this disguised chemical. Some water bottles we can keep reusing, but the ones labeled with the number 7 are considered a one-time use and then end up in the landfill. The idea behind bottled water is that they are meant to transport water in terms of convince, but according to MSNBC.com’s interview of Patricia Franklin, director of nonprofit group of recycling states “..Opportunity for recycling outside the house are minimal.” (Llanos, Miguel. "Plastic bottles Pile up as Mountains of Waste". MSNBC. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5279230/) So because of this, the transportation of water is easy, but a also a burden for the end result in the long run.
I’m not very trusting of the water that comes from the tap even, so I normally filter it through my Brita pitcher at home. This paranoia that has developed over the years of what is in our food and water has really gotten me on edge.
http://www.vbs.tv/watch/toxic/toxic-garbage-island-1-of-3
ReplyDeleteWeekly Statement Five
Plastics
Although plastic has been very convenient for a plethora of industry in the world, its damage to the world and the environment has been exorbitant. Looking around my room I can point out numerous products made of plastic. Two beverage bottles, a plastic rimmed mirror, my alarm clock, my phone case, my lotion containers, plastic bags, dvd and cd cases and the discs themselves, the list goes on. Knowing that plastics take thousands of years to biodegrade naturally on the earth, I feel bad for consuming so many products that use plastic. While I do not often drink bottled water or soda, today has been an exception. When I do use plastics for packaging of products or what have you, I recycle it. However, I know that while recycling helps restrict plastic pollution, the only real solution is to try not to use plastics at all. Simple efforts like purchasing a reusable liquid container, buying products that use recycled or less plastic packaging or recycling plastic bottles. Although taking those steps can help reduce pollution and reduces the demand for plastic, plastics themselves must be changed immediately if the worlds eco system is expected to survive any longer. There is already an unsustainable amount of plastics being used because its chemical components do not biodegrade naturally for thousands of years. Because the chemical components and the process in which plastics are produced has remained unchanged since plastics introduction to mainstream production and culture.
I have included a link to a series of short documentary-style films. In the first part of three that I have included, the Vice Team takes a boat trip to the plastic island floating in the middle of the ocean between Asia and North America. The plastic island is explained in how it came to be. Plastic particle samples are taken out of the water and the findings are absolutely disgusting. In later episodes the island is further examined and conclusions and solutions are found. While the solutions are short-term because no real solutions can catastrophically change plastic island until plastic itself is changed and the world’s actions and policies on recycling and garbage regulations are altered.
Everyone should check out other episodes on the website page under the Toxic show.
While Vice leans towards a more liberal state of mind, accurate, fascinating, first hand information is shared.
Alexis Newton
ReplyDeleteWeekly Statement #5
I have always grown up drinking from plastic bottles, and was never really aware of the damage that they can cause to not only our health, but the state of our environment, until taking this course. Since we have begun talking about plastic and it's negative effects on the earth and our bodies, I have been so much more aware of the amount of plastic I use everyday and rely on, as well as what I do with the plastic bags and containers when I am finished using them once.
At our house, my roommates and I save all of the plastic bags we get from the grocery store, and try to use them for other things such as trash bags for small room trash bins and for packing lunches or other things in. I also have looked online for other ideas on how to use plastic bags to make other things that can be useful. I found many links about how to fuse plastic bags together, (though maybe this releases toxins form the plastic bags, so I'm not sure if this is the best idea), and crocheting plastic bags into reusable bags. I definitely want to try to crochet a reusable bag out of all of the leftover bags we have around our house.
For my Birthday last week, I also recieved an aluminum water bottle. (Thanks Emily!) This made me very excited because I have been trying to use less plastic bottles. While going to the store wth my mom, I also convinced her to get one for herself and my three siblings, who, together, go through a LOT of plastic bottles.
I work at Ulta Cosmetics, and every time I go to work, I think of all of the plastic bags that the store goes through every hour even. Because I am a cashier, I am the person who has to bag the customers products and ring up their purchases. One thing I have started to do is before I even start to bag a customers things, I ask them if they have their own bag. I hope that this makes people start thinking about getting their own bag and the difference it might make. If a customer has only one or two small things, I ask them if they need a bag at all instead of just giving them a bag no matter what. I have also asked some of the other cashiers that I work with to do the same thing.
Some of the links to plastic bag crafts:
http://blog.craftzine.com/archive/2007/08/plastic_bag_crafts.html
http://www.myrecycledbags.com/my-pattern-links/
Kyla Suchy
ReplyDeleteWeekly Statement: Week 5
Had I known sooner that water bottles were so terrible for the environment, let alone so terrible for my health perhaps I would have changed my habits sooner. Water always seemed like the right choice. In fact, I barely remember my transition from reusable bottles to disposable ones. Drinking out of water bottles was always so convenient and almost fashionable. The people with the expensive water were clearly cooler than me with the Meijer brand or the poor bloke with the *gasp* reusable water bottle. It strikes me as ironic that metal bottles have now become the fad, although I am still the un-cool chick with the freebie plastic bottle, but hey, at least I’m saving the environment.
I have played team sports all of my life and I never thought twice about how the beverage I was consuming to keep me hydrated would be recycled later. Water seemed like the best choice, it was natural, good for my body, and not loaded with sugar. All the girls on my teams and I would go through bottle after bottle on hot summer days, while my dad would go out and buy another case to fuel the team. The worst part is that I would let half drunk bottles sit in my hot bag or my hot car for days and then finish them off later when I was desperately in need for a thirst quench.
It wasn’t until two summers ago that my best friend informed me of all the terrible carcinogens that were being released into my water from the cheap disposable bottles. I really didn’t believe her until I read about it myself. (http://dailynightly.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2008/04/17/914073.aspx)It has been my duty since to quit using bottled water. My freshman year, my roommate and I invested in a filter to use in place of bottled water. Over the summer, I volunteered at an Art studio where we did crafts with the children using old water bottles so at least the bottles will be of some use on a mother’s desk at work then in a landfill. Also, I have received a lot of free water bottles at school functions. Instead of hoarding them all to myself, I’m coercing my parents and brothers to use them. Although it isn’t much, I would like to think that I am doing something good for the environment. Perhaps it is some sort of penance for all of space my bottles now take up in a landfill.
Weekly Statement 5
ReplyDeleteI usually get packs of water at grocery store. Aquafina usually cost a dollar per bottle at any on campus stores. I feel like if I get the packs I would save a lot of money and if I save all the bottles and recycle them I can even get some cash back. However I didn’t realize that if I use a water bottle instead, I would have saved a lot more, not only money from my own wallet but also the invisible cost behind using plastics.
It is easy to find drinking fountain in public places. Most of drinking fountains incorporate with filters. In contrast a lot of so-called purified water that came in bottles has the same quality as tap water. I feel that a lot of money I spend on bottled water is for mental comforting--- I don’t really know where the water in the bottle comes from and what the quality is. The packaging or advertising tricks me into trusting them that they are pure and fresh.
There are a lot of disadvantages of using plastic bottles. First it is bad for our bodies. Almost all the plastic bottles contain BPA, which has been linked to cancer and certain disorders. Reuse of plastic bottles will increase the impact of BPA on human body. The best way is to use the plastic water bottle for just once and don’t refill them. In that case it will create a lot of waste, since plastics are not biodegradable.
I used to drink at least one bottled water per day. That is 365 bottles a year. I don’t even want to picture myself sitting in a huge pile of bottles. It is not that expensive to buy a BPA free water bottle. It will make a difference to the environment and it is better for our bodies too.
Letao Zhang
Weekly Statement #6
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, I love the last phrase in the post you used: “…friends don’t let friends drink from disposables.” If that isn’t a phrase used in the media already, then it definitely should be. Earlier this year, when my roommate’s mom bought him a huge case of Kirkland water bottles from Costco, the rest of us yelled at him incessantly about it. I think he got the message. But I used to do the same thing a few years back. My dad would buy me huge cases of water bottles for school because they had really good sales on them. I have no idea why I just didn’t buy a Nalgene bottle, or some other non-disposable bottle that I could just refill from the sink. Maybe I made myself believe that bottled spring water tasted better, and it was easier to grab out of my fridge on my way out the door. Plus, I always thought people looked cool having expensive brands of bottled spring water, like Fiji, with them. An expensive bottle of water said ‘I have enough money to even buy expensive water, and I am being healthy at the same time.’ I hope that not everybody sees bottled water the way I used to see it, but if they do, I hope that their mentality changes the way mine has.
It really surprises me that it takes 700 years for plastic bottles to just begin to decompose. I wonder if the amount of years it takes is different for the plastic bottles that they have come out with recently that are composed of thinner plastic. I was also surprised to see that 24 million gallons of oil are needed to produce a billion plastic bottles. That just seems extremely excessive and such an unnecessary use for the already limited amount of oil we have now on the planet.
Now whenever I see commercials for bottled water, it makes me angry. It is better that they are using 50% less plastic in their bottles now, but that will probably make more people buy more bottles then because they don’t feel as bad about buying them and disposing of them. After looking up some information about Aquafina, I found out that they are going to start stating on the label that the water is tap water. Hopefully this will make people realize that they can get the exact same water from their faucets and don’t need pay a dollar or more for it. I also found out that Ann Arbor passed a resolution banning commercially bottled water at city events. It makes me feel good to always hear about how more eco-friendly our city is. I hope that more cities start passing similar resolutions. It is a good start for more awareness of this issue.
Erica Wagner
ReplyDeletePlastic consumption
I understand more now that drinking from plastic bottles is bad, but before this class I really had no idea. I had never heard about the problem of heating of plastic bottles and just how bad it is not only for the environment but also for our bodies.
In high school, I played three sports, and I was constantly using plastic water bottles, esp. during two a days because of the convenience of them always being in my house because my mom and dad bought them on a regular basis just to use around the house instead of having to the dishes all the time with cups. The convenience factor is a big issue with most people now, because we are lazy and when products are placed with in our grasp that take a half a second out of our "busy" schedules, we jump at the opportunity to consume it and use it.
Looking back now, I remember getting into my car in the beginning of every school year and having to literally push plastic water bottles out of the way to pick up my friends before classes. Most of the time too, there would still be water in the bottles, and I would pick them up and re-use some of the them through out the day, thinking that I was helping because I WASN'T going and buying another bottle, even though now looking at it that was probably terrible for me because the heat from the sun would most likely have been heating them up through out the days before.
Another thing I’ve noticed is most people when they bottle water they buy in bulk. Places like Sam’s and Kroger sell in large quantities so people feel as though they are saving money, but the reality is that they are doing themselves no good service because I highly doubt that half the people that buy in bulk and use water bottles everyday of their lives instead of reusing non-disposable water know about how bad using plastic bottles actually is for them. Everyone knows that it’s bad for the earth but I feel as though if people knew that they are bad for them themselves, they wouldn’t buy them anymore. Since finding out about the effects that all those years of drinking plastic bottles probably did to me, I have gone out and bought a bottle I can reuse and it actually has become like my new best friend, I take it literally EVERYWHERE with me. It’s convenient and good for my environment and me.
Fifth Weekly Statement
ReplyDeleteJim Christian
10/14/09
The great thing about ADP III lecture is that no matter the topic, Joe always manages to get me thinking about the broader picture. In math class, I spend my time copying equations and wrapping my head around simple, meaningless, and seemingly irrelevant (most of the time they manage to become useful weeks later). In Physics, I spend my time desperately trying to understand how resistance and capacitance in electric circuits are related. In ADP III, I spend my time listening to stories and statistics about our environment as I frantically take notes on my individual thoughts on the topic. This is where the picture comes together. Joe gives us facts and stories, but they are presented in a way to be analyzed and immediately developed into something more.
The “something more” that I attempted to identify in class today goes as follows.
Joe was reviewing last lecture and talking about successful artists who have done interesting projects in their towns to improve the local environment. Many of these were based around the topic of irresponsible action – such as the lady who found concrete deposits in the river because construction companies would dump wherever was convenient. This irresponsible action immediately reminded me of Jevon’s Paradox – where he made coal production more efficient to improve the process, then instead we just went and used more coal. It also applies to more fuel-efficient vehicles – where we get more miles to our gallon, but then we buy more gallons to get more miles. All that happens here is we find a way to lower the cost so that we can have more. More More More.
Now, why don’t we just slow ourselves down a step? Why do we need to go farther? We don’t. The only reason we go farther is because we are given the tools to get there on our budget. And now, unfortunately, we need to get there, because our economy has slowly evolved to centralize businesses and spread franchises. Now, we can’t live without a car, because without a car, we can’t get to our job. Do you think people had a problem getting to their job before cars existed? No. Maybe they had a longer walk, but it was manageable, and they were in better shape because of it.
Now, I’m not saying that the car was a bad invention. All I’m saying is that in the excitement of rapidly advancing technology, we tend to lose sight of what is good for us. We get so excited about the new stuff we can acquire that we forget to stop and carefully analyze the situation. Do we need this? Will it harm the environment? Will it lead my lifestyle ultimately in a direction that I do not want to go?
The moral of the story is the first thing that Joe brought up in summarizing Monday’s lecture. Under the topic of Consumption: We should be cautious and informed consumers.
Weekly Response 13
ReplyDeleteBacktracking a bit to…Bottled Water
Up until this past year, I was guilty of shamelessly consuming multiple bottles of bottled water a day. In high school, the floor of my car was usually covered with bottled waters and products. This was because I would go to school and grab a bottled water on my way out the door, by the end of the day I would have acquired a second plastic bottle from lunch and both would end up in my car. Then after school I would go to dance rehearsals and usually bring two bottled waters with me, at the end of the night, these too would be added to the pile. This is A LOT of plastic, now that I think about it. And I am just one person. And since Michigan doesn’t have a deposit on plastic water bottles (which I still don’t understand why not) I always threw them out when the stash became overwhelming. If everyone had habits such as these I cannot even imagine the consumption of plastic bottles per year. Why is water bottled in the first place and why do you have to pay for something you cold get out of your tap at home?
It wasn’t until I was cleaning up after the A&D graduation ceremony last year and there were dozens of bottled waters with the caps opened and what looked like nothing being drank from them. Someone who was cleaning with my was using this water to water the plants and I thought, “Wow what a waste of time”. Then this person told me that it takes three bottles of water to produce one bottle of bottled water. That’s insane! So, for every 24 case of water you buy, 72 bottles worth of water were required to produce it. I think this tells us where a lot of our precious resource of water is going. Reusable water bottles can make a bigger impact on our environment that one can imagine and this simple practice should really be enforced in order to conserve water as well as keep these plastics out of our landfills.
My house has never used plastic water bottles. I have never understood the draw to them, or why so many people use them. First off, they aren’t cheap. A single bottle of water costs about $1.25. If you were to drink the recommended amount of water, you would be spending upwards of eight dollars a day. Even buying water bottles in bulk can become expensive if it is your main source of water. Filling up an aluminum water bottle of a glass with tap water is theoretically free.
ReplyDeleteBuying water bottles is not easy or efficient either. In order to purchase bottles of water; most people have to drive to a nearby store. This takes energy to drive the car, along with the exhaust polluting the environment. The packaging of the bottles isn’t efficient either. Not only is each eight ounces of water covered in plastic that takes 700 hundred years to begin to decompose, the bottles are usually also covered with some type of plastic sheet and cardboard. When you can use a reusable glass, this all seems unnecessary.
Plastic water bottles are also horrible for your health. The chemicals that can be emitted from these bottles has been shown to contribute to certain types of cancer. Leaving the water bottle in a warm area, or in your car out in the sun for a long period of time is especially dangerous. It is also dangerous to put plastic bottles in the dishwasher in an attempt to use them again. These facts are slowly becoming more widely known. This all seems unnecessary when you can drink clean, fresh water right from the tap.