RECYCLING WATER BOTTLES There is misconception in the ecological movement the recyclable is the same as biodegradable or ecologically friendly. Yes, a product may be able to be recycled, but unless it is recycled it might as well be waste like any other. In the case of recycling water bottles, it would be better if the plastic was made of some other material if it wasn't being recycled. Indeed, water bottles are not being recycled. Only 2% of the ten millions of plastic trash Americans produce is recycled. Plastic drinking bottles fair a little better, most likely due to some states putting a monetary bounty on them. Still, 66 million bottles are simply discarded every day (adding up to 28 billion plastic bottles annually). Even if recycling water bottles was successful, the first bottle of water to produce and ship takes a quart of oil to make. True, it takes less energy to recycle a plastic bottle than produce a new one, it is better to not begin the cycle at all. First of all, there are just too many alternatives to carrying water (we have been doing it since the dawn of time), than to make the case we need plastic bottled water. The bottled water industry didn't even exist thirty years ago. Secondly, recycled plastic never truly goes away (except maybe by incineration). Again, true that recycling water bottles can go into polar fleece or carpet (there is 100% recycled plastic bottle carpets now), but those carpets and fleeces will eventually too go into the landfill, taking hundreds or thousands of years to break down. Making wool fleeces or wool rugs more ecologically sound again. The best option is the most obvious option and that is to carry your own water. Want purified water? Use a water filter at the tap, from a pitcher, or in a water bottle. And if you are absolutely convinced that you must have bottled water, get subscribed to a water delivery service like Culligan. At least there recycling water bottles will be reused many times over and will come in a more efficient five gallon form. Regardless, carrying your own water is better than trying to convince yourself and others to recycle water bottles, when one could simply carry their own water.

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