Plastic Water Bottles

Recently, we have been buying a lot of bottled water during our travel. I have tried to carry the empty ones back with me. This was because, to my knowledge they are not disposed off well. They are dumped along with the other bio-degradable waste, but unfortunately a plastic water bottle might take around 1000 years to decompose!

I brought all these bottles and tried to put them to re-use. Today, as I got curious and wanted to check out if its "okay" to reuse them for holding water. I found the following information.

==> To be certain that you are choosing a bottle that does not leach, check the recycling symbol on your bottle (bottom usually). If it is a #2 HDPE (high density polyethylene), or a #4 LDPE (low density polyethylene), or a #5 PP (polypropylene), your bottle is fine. The type of plastic bottle in which water is usually sold is usually a #1, and is only recommended for one time use. Do not refill it. Better to use a reusable water bottle, and do not mix these single-fill bottles with other organic waste from your house.

==> Cost of bottled water is : Manufacturing cost of bottle + Cost of "purified" water + Cost of transporting it to outlets + Cost of disposing the plastic bottle + Cost of handling over-water-extraction from ground issue .. and many more which is undoubtedly much much much more than the Rs 15/- we pay ! The balance "price" would be collected by Nature in its own methods. :-)

==> There is no question that clean, affordable drinking water is essential to the health of our global community. But bottled water is not the answer, nor does it solve problems for the 1.1 billion people who lack a secure water supply. Improving and expanding existing water treatment and sanitation systems is more likely to provide safe and sustainable sources of water over the long term. In villages, rainwater harvesting and digging new wells can create more affordable sources of water.

Sources:
BOTTLED WATER: Pouring Resources Down the Drain

Choose your water bottle