If you’d like to find a way to replace single-use plastics with something better for the environment, especially when it comes to bottled water, you have options.
How Do Single Use Plastics Affect the Environment?
There are many different ways that single-use plastics are harmful to the environment. For example:
Environmental Pollution
Single-use plastics are one of the worst products for the environment. They have a negative environmental impact from the moment they are produced until they (finally) degrade.
Even the raw materials used to make plastic water bottles damage the environment. Single-use plastic water bottle use:
- Release harmful pollution into the air
- Contaminate our water supply and soil
- Destroy our ecosystem
Plastic Waste Accumulation
Plastic products have been a part of our lives for decades. But only recently have single-use disposable plastic items become so common. This includes disposable plastic bottles, plastic cutlery, plastic straws, plastic bags, and more.
Single-use plastics are just as they sound: you use them a single time and then throw them away or “recycle” them.
Instead of drinking from one water bottle for a week, month, or more, people drink the water in one bottle and then toss it. This leads to millions of single-use empty bottles of water winding up in landfills, oceans, and waterways.
Marine and Wildlife
Single-use plastics are one of the worst risks marine life and wild animals face. The world’s bodies of water are filled with tons of ocean plastic pollution.
Many people think these plastics will degrade and eventually disappear. They’re only partially correct, at least on a short-term basis.
The plastics break down into smaller pieces called microplastics, which are small enough for marine animals to eat.
Eating these materials can lead to digestive blockages, injury them internally, and cause injuries severe enough to lead to starvation. It’s also common for animals to become entangled in or suffocate because of single-use plastics.
Microplastics not only contaminate water, but they also negatively impact our soil, air, and food chains. Scientists have found microplastics in:
- Drinking water
- Seafood
- Salt
- Various other food products
These materials harm all living things, from humans to domestic and wild animals.
Chemical Leaching
Single-use plastics are known to contain bisphenol A (BPA), a harmful chemical that is linked to many different health concerns. Plastic also contains other harmful chemicals that leak into our water, soil, and food.
This means if you’re drinking water out of single-use water bottles, you’re consuming BPA contamination.
Resources
Single-use plastics aren’t just a problem once you’re finished with them. Making these products is also harmful to the environment. Making single-use plastics requires the use of fossil fuels and other natural resources. The manufacturing process contributes to:
- Greenhouse gas emissions
- Deforestation
- Habitat destruction
Non-Biodegradable
Most single-use plastics have stuck around in the environment for hundreds to thousands of years. Because they break down so slowly, they accumulate. Landfills are filled with plastic water bottles and other single-use plastics and will be for generations to come.
Why Is It Important to Reduce or Eliminate Single-Use Plastics?
Allowing these plastic products to continue to pile up in landfills can only go on for so long before the negative impact is noticeable to everyone.
Each year, we see more and more damage caused by these items. How often have you walked across a parking lot, visited a park, or gone for a walk and seen at least one empty plastic water bottle somebody tossed aside after their last sip?
Fixing the Problem of Single-Use Plastics
One of the things that’s so astounding about the number of people still using single-use products is that there is such a simple solution to the problem.
At least, this is true when it comes to plastic water bottles. There is no reason anyone needs to drink out of single-use plastic water bottles in any case other than an emergency.
Using a refillable or reusable water bottle is convenient, affordable, and available just about everywhere. There are also water fountains and other water bottle filling stations just about everywhere. Access to clean, safe drinking water is usually just a few steps away.
What Are the Pros of Refillable Water Bottles?
Using a refillable water bottle offers many benefits, including:
- Sustainable for the environment
- Reduce plastic waste
- Inexpensive
- Convenient
- Promote reusable containers and materials
- Healthy
- Customizable
- Durable
- Long-lasting
If you’re a business owner or event planner, you can use reusable containers for marketing. You accomplish three things: Reducing single-use plastics, keeping everyone at your event hydrated, and sending them home with an item they’ll use again and again that features your company name or logo.
How Does Quench Buggy Help You Reduce Reliance on Single-Use Plastics?
Quench Buggy is one of the best tools for reducing reliance on single-use plastics. This is true whether you are looking for a solution for your office space or workplace or need a hydration station for a special event or festival.
Our water bottle filling stations are vital in helping communities reduce their reliance on single-use plastics.
Investing in a Quench Buggy water system means you’ll get access to free, filtered drinking water that everyone can use to refill their reusable bottles.
If you’d like to know more about what you can do to reduce single-use plastics or you’re ready to invest in a solution, contact us or visit our website at QuenchBuggy.com.