How many plastic water bottles do we throw away each day? Either they are normal water bottle, energy drinks bottle or just a bottle of carbohydrates water, it is undeniably that we throws tons of them away everyday. Those plastic water bottles end up stuffing landfill, clogging sewers, polluting animal habitats for years. Reusable water bottle appears to be a good alternative. However, it does not get enough attention from consumers.
Both animals on land and submarine animals are suffering from polluted habitats tremendously.
Supermarkets and shopping malls are now offering reusable bags for consumers to reduce the amount of plastic bags being thrown to the environment. However, plastic bottle is still remain an unresolved problem. Companies should come up with more well-designed reusable water bottle to shift consumers from using single-use plastic water bottle to reusable water bottle.
In this blog, I will discuss about the current situation of the environment that being threatened by plastic, the pros and cons of reusable water bottle and my personal opinions on what each individual can do to help improving the environment.
The current situation
The environment are seriously in danger because of the over use of plastic. People throws away hundred of million pounds of plastic each year. According to National Geographic, more than 18 billion pounds of plastic waste flows into the oceans every years from coastal regions.
Submarine animals are really struggling to cope with the fact that their natural habitats are being destroyed day by day by a small transparent piece called plastic. A couple of effects that plastic have on submarine animals are problem with ingestion, entanglement, and damaged habitat.
Ingestion: Submarine animals can accidently consume micro-plastic or mistakenly got it while eating. These small little pieces of plastic can clog animals digestive system or fill up their stomachs, cause them to feel full while depriving them of the nutritious meals they need.
Entanglement: animals can trap them in plastic debris and unable to free themselves. They can be uncomfortable being trapped into these small plastic debris. However, according to some researches, plastic debris can even hurt submarine animals and give them serious infection.
Damaged habitat: another effect of plastic is habitat pollution. A large portion of plastic bags or plastic water bottles are being thrown away directly to the marine environment. In developing countries such as countries in Asia or Africa, the number are even higher. According to National Geographic, half of the world’s plastics are made in Asia. The research also shows that 29 percent of the world plastic waste are from China. It cannot be denied that the environment is seriously in danger as animals are losing their natural habitat day by day.
Recently, supermarket and shopping malls have positively shift the customers consumption by offering reusable bags in store or charging extra for plastic bags. The result is quite surprising, more and more people now are carrying at least one reusable bags with them. Moreover, some people even carry reusable bags as accessories since they looks very trendy. However, this only solves half of the problem. The plastic water bottle still remains an unsolved problem.
Reusable water bottle
This is the current best alternative for the single-use plastic water bottle. It cannot be denied that it has a lot of benefits for both consumers and the environment. However, there are a couple reasons that keep holding them for not getting widely-accepted by consumers.
Benefit
On the positive side, reusable water bottle has a lot of great benefits. First of all, there is a great chance that reusable water bottle will help us reducing the number of plastic waste. People will replace their cheap and portable single-use plastic water bottle with their own reusable water bottle. Moreover, bringing their own reusable water bottle can save people a lot of money, even though the cost for a single plastic water bottle is very cheap, it will add up eventually. Secondly, reusable water bottle appears in a variety of size, shape and design. Consumers will be able to choose one that fit them the most. Furthermore, reusable water bottle can keep cold and hot beverage better than regular plastic bottle. Nobody wants a cold coffee in a freezing cold winter morning.
Drawbacks
On the other hands, there are a few things that keep reusable water bottle way from consumers. Firstly, it cannot be denied that reusable water bottle is not as convenient as regular plastic water bottle. The price tag is the beginning obstacle. While normal water bottle only ranges from 2 to 5 dollars, a normal reusable water bottle can cost you from 20 or even 30 dollars up. While other people say that you pay for what you get, people will now have to bring it along with them.
The single-use water bottle is cheap since it only serves one single purpose only is to carry water for you. When you do not need the bottle anymore, you just throw it away and not have to worry that when you lose one. Another factor that prevents reusable water bottle from consumers is beverage companies. Not many beverage companies are willing to pay a large amount of money to widely distribute reusable bottle for packaging. That is the reason why carbohydrate and energy drinks are still in plastic bottle.
What we should do?
Despite the fact that there are a lot of obstacles to overcome by the industry and the society, the fact that reusable water bottle is getting more and more popular is giving us a great chance for a better environment in the future. Every single individual can start helping the environment by doing such small things like:
- Bring reusable bag with you when go shopping or to the supermarket
Always have a reusable bag with you so that you would never have to use plastic bag when needed.
- Replace single plastic water bottle with a reusable water
Have a reusable water bottle with you to carry water or coffee. You can have one at Refillery Market at a very reasonable price.
- Buying non-plastic household
Reduce plastic and waste as least as possible. You will start recognizing that you produce a lot of waste than you think. Refillery Market provide a wide rage of household that essential, affordable and environmentally friendly.
- Support community about non-plastic product
Help the community grow be spreading the information about reusable water bottle as well as other products and their benefit to the environment. Support small companies such as Refillery Market so that a lot of people will know about them.
You can follow Refillery Market Instagram or Facebook for more details about their non-plastic products
