Sea•thos Foundation

As reported by BBC, plastic water bottle waste is a growing problem around the world and tourism is largely to blame. While traveling abroad, individuals tend to leave their reusable bottle at home and use as many five to six plastic water bottles a day.

Plastic bottles, made of petroleum-based plastic (a non-biodegradable material), are accumulating everywhere- our streets, parks, beaches, rivers, and oceans. This contributes to the existing problem of floating plastic debris in the pacific ocean known as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.

In effort to combat the plastic waste dilemma, some tourism destinations have “banned the bottle”. In 2010, Italy’s Cinque Terre national park, located along the beautiful Mediterranean coast, banned plastic water bottles. Early this year, the US National Park Service banned the sale of plastic water bottles at Grand Canyon National Park where bottles accounted for 20% of the park’s waste.

Franco Bonanini, president of Italy’s Cinque Terre national park, told London’s Telegraph newspaper 3 million annual tourists are responsible for the park’s waste. “With so many visitors, the footpaths and villages of the Cinque Terre are at risk of being transformed into a great big open-air dustbin,” he said.

 

Pictured is a water refilling station at Grand Canyon National Park

What you can do
Here are 5 easy steps to reduce your plastic footprint while abroad:

1. Carry your own reusable bottle. Fill it up with fresh water whenever you can.

2. Some eco-friendly hotels offer water-filling stations. If not, some hotels may be willing to boil water for you on request. Check to see what your hotel has to offer.

4. Buy big water containers to keep in your hotel room and refill your bottles. That way you’ll only use one water bottle rather than 5 to 6 a day.

5. You can even treat tap water with your own purification device. Lightweight devices, such as ultraviolet light purifiers, don’t leave an aftertaste.

Happy travels! : )

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These marine animals have been caught-up in marine debris 

Over 100,000 marine mammals and 1,000,000 seabirds die each year from ingesting or becoming entangled in plastic

Estimates show that marine litter is now 60-80% plastic, and can reach 90% in certain areas

Plastic now outnumbers sea life 6 to 1 
44% of marine mammals and 86% of turtle species have plastic in their guts

How you can help: Reduce your consumption of single-use plastics (plastic bags, plastic utensils, water bottles etc). Pick up litter from beaches and off of streets!!

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Plastic water bottles are hazardous to both our health and our environment. The majority of them are recyclable yet most end up in the landfills or the ocean. Over 60 million plastic water bottles are thrown away annually; posing a threat to our land, waters and wildlife. Here is the truth about the big bad plastic water bottle:

Plastic bottles in a landfill: Every piece of plastic ever made still exists today. As you may already know plastics take an extremely long time to biodegrade. Many unrecycled bottles end up in already overcrowded landfills indefinitely, taking up space that could be used for other purposes. Landfill waste is linked to to the production of methane. An overproduction of methane is in turn linked to greenhouse effects and global warming!

Recycling plastic bottles: Although recycling is a much better alternative to merely tossing them in the trash, it is still not the greenest. A significant amount of energy and resources are involved in the recycling process of plastic bottles.

Plastic bottles and their chemicals: Many of us think by refilling our plastic water bottles before disposing of them we are being more conscientious individuals. In reality, this practice is quite hazardous to our health. Microscopic scratches and cracks allow for harmful chemicals from the plastic to end up into our water. Unwashed reused plastic is also a bacteria breeding ground which can make us quite ill. Furthermore, the supposed reason we buy plastic water bottles in the first place, the quality of the water, may actually be worse than tap water!

The making of a plastic bottle: New water bottles must be produced to keep up with consumer demand. Unfortunately the amount of raw materials and fossil fuels required to produce new bottles is extremely high. Most interesting, however, is that the water required to produce a single water bottle far exceeds the amount of water the bottle can hold!

Plastic bottles in our oceans: Often trash, particularly in coastal cities, ends up in our oceans. The ocean is vast, it can absorb all this garbage without any harm being done to it… right ?!?! WRONG! Marine debris, which is largely comprised of plastic, is actually very harmful to the health of our oceans and marine life. Firstly, when sunlight hits floating plastic it begins to photodegrade, a process which breaks down the plastic into tiny pieces and releases harmful chemicals into the water. Secondly, marine animals often ingest plastic debris mistaking it for pray. This has disastrous consequences on their own health and those that consume them (including us humans). Lastly, Marine animals often get entrapped in marine litter including the cap rings of plastic water bottles and six pack rings!

After being confronted with the reality of plastic water bottles and their effects on the planet you may want to consider the alternatives:

A) Drink tap water: the water quality may be even better than its bottled counter part.
B) Buy a home water filtering system: Some are relatively cheap while others can be quite pricey. Regardless, over the long run you will not only benefit by drinking cleaner water and being kinder to the environment but you will also save money!
C) Refill your water: Generally, your local health food store can provide you with clean water at a reasonably low price. Be sure to use a glass container!
D) Use a LifeFactory water bottle: These smartly designed glass water bottles are a clean and great alternative to plastic water bottles. Click here to get one.

Kick the habit of buying plastic water bottles and you will be ensuring your own health as well as that of our oceans and planet!

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