Everyone knows that single-use plastic bottles cause a lot of pollution in the world. But how much pollution do you think that is? It is more than you think. People do not understand just how much plastic bottles affect the environment.

An excellent way to understand this is to consider one fact. Every single plastic bottle you have ever used is still in existence somewhere simply because plastic takes 1,000 years to decompose. Therefore, a bigger chunk of plastic bottles still exists.

Unfortunately, this is an endless cycle because manufacturers continue to make single-use plastic bottles because they offer good convenience. Unfortunately, this is significantly affecting the planet. And it is in more ways than you think.

How Do Plastic Bottles Affect The Environment?

There are three main ways plastic bottles in the US affect the environment. Keep scrolling to learn more about them.

Plastic Bottle Production

Plastic water bottles come from manufacturers that use a product called polyethylene terephthalate (PET). This petroleum product requires a lot of fossil fuels to make and transport. More than that, it takes three times the amount of water in the bottle to make as it does to fill the bottle.

If that’s not enough, manufacturing plastic bottles demands the use of oil. In the US, plastic bottle production uses about 17 million barrels of oil in a year. This is more than what you would need to fuel a million cars in an entire year. When you fill the bottle up to 25%, that is how much oil it took to make that bottle.

And finally, plastic bottle manufacture uses a lot of energy. It takes 2m000 times the energy to produce a water bottle than it does to produce tap water. This is an excessive amount of energy.

As you can tell, the primary theme of water bottle production is wastage. Plastic wastes too much fossil fuels, energy, and water to manufacture simply for the sake of convenience.

Plastic Bottle Consumption

If you think production is bad, wait till you find out about consumption. Every second, 1,000 people open a plastic water bottle in the US alone. This means that each day, millions of bottles are discarded on the streets and landfills.

Sadly, less than 15% of plastic water bottles are recycled. Even those that people put in the recycle bin do not get recycled. Only 50% of trash for recycling actually reaches its intended destination.

Studies show that one person in the US can drink up to 30 gallons of bottled water in a year. If you consider all the water it takes to manufacture a single bottle, you will realize that it would take 90 gallons of water to meet this need. And this is just one person. Now imagine how much water it would take to fulfill all of humanity’s needs.

Additionally, plastic makes up 90% of all the trash floating on the ocean’s surface. Soon enough, we will have more trash than the ocean, and the majority of this will be plastic bottles. And it takes so much fuel to transport the plastic bottle from manufacturers to consumers.

Finally, the demand for plastic bottles will always be on the rise as long as people choose convenience over protecting the environment. Americans drink more bottled water than beer and milk. Therefore it comes as no surprise that bottled water consumption will continue to increase with every passing year.

Plastic Bottles In Landfills

Ever wondered where all the plastic bottles go once you toss them out? Those that do not end up in the ocean go to landfills; about 80% of them. There are well over 2 million tons of plastic water bottles that end up in landfills.

And this is not a good solution because it will take each water bottle 1,000 years to decompose completely. As it decomposes, the bottle will leach harmful chemicals into the soil. This alters soil pH and affects its ability to allow plants to grow. Consistent decomposition leaches toxins into the water supply as well. This means adverse health effects for humans in the long run.

What Is The Solution?

Reusable water bottles are the solution. And if you are trying to make a difference, go for metal water bottles. Metal water bottles are an ideal solution to all the problems that plastic water bottles cause the environment.

For starters, using reusable plastic water bottles ensures that you do not need single-use plastic bottles. On a large scale basis, it means that demand for plastic water bottles goes down significantly.

This is a chain reaction that eventually betters the environment. Less manufacturing means less wastage of water, oil, and fossil fuels. It means people choose a sustainable solution that benefits the environment.

Additionally, with less plastic bottle manufacture, there is less pollution in the soil and oceans. Cleaning up the oceans won’t feel meaningless because there is less pollution coming in than going out, instead of vice versa.

If everyone decides to go green with reusable metal water bottles, all the plastic bottle manufacture will stop. And in a few millenniums, plastic bottles will be gone forever, ensuring that the environment is healthier and more sustainable.

The Takeaway

Metal water bottles are the best solution to pollution from plastic water bottles. Metal is a sustainable solution, especially since manufacturers make many metal water bottles from scrap metal.

Additionally, when you toss a metal water bottle, it turns into scrap metal that sees new life over and over again. Therefore, there is very little wastage, and manufacturing the bottles does not require high energy and resource consumption.

This, coupled with the fact that metal water bottles are better for your health, makes metal water bottles the best solution for protecting the environment. So the next time you need to quench your thirst, do not go for single-use plastic bottles. Select an excellent reusable metal water bottle and do your part in making the earth a better home.