Today is Earth Day. It was started in 1970 to increase awareness of taking care of our environment. Reducing the use of plastic bottles or at least recycling them is one of the simplest ways to show the earth some love.
Below are some facts I saw above a plastic bottle recycling bin. The amount of plastic being used is staggering. The numbers are a few years old but I’d guess they’ve gotten worse.
- In 2006, Americans drank about 167 bottles of water each, but only recycled an average of 36 bottles per person, which equals about 50 billion plastic bottles consumed, with only 23% begin recycled. That leaves 38 billion bottles in landfills.
- According to the Beverage Marketing Corp. the average American consumed 1.6 gallons of bottled water in 1976. In 2006 each person consumed 28.3 gallons of bottled water.
- In 2006 we spent $15 billion on bottled water. That’s more than we spent on iPods or movie tickets. We will spend $16 billion in 2007.
- 31% of soda bottles were recycled in 2002, BUT we only recycled 11% of water bottles.
- Bottled water costs between $1 and $4 per gallon and 90% of the cost is in the bottle, lid and label.
- Plastic bottles go to the landfills and take 700 years before they start to decompose.
- Manufacturing bottle water uses over 1.5 million barrels of oil per year. In one year, that’s enough oil to fuel 100,000 cars.
- Amazing Recycled melts plastic and whips it in an electric mixer, making a foam. The foam is spun into fibers. They take the fibers, mix it with cotton and make white T-shirts that are 50% cotton/50% soda bottles.
- It takes 14, 20-ounce PET bottles to produce on Extra Lart T-shirt.
- Made from recycled plastic, the nails and screws in plastic lumber hold better than wood for at least 50 years.
- In New Baltimore, NY, the first recycled-plastic bridge made from 68,000 recycled milk jugs mixed with fiberglass is strong enough to hold cars. Plastic Lumber Corp in Chicago supplied the plastic lumber for the 30-foot long bridge.
- 8 out of 10 plastic water bottles become landfill waste.
- Factoring in packaging and transportation, drinking bottled water costs up to five times more than putting gas in your car.
- A one liter soda bottle can be recycled and manufactured as a ruler.
- The filling for one sleeping bag could be made from 85 20-ounce soda bottles
– UltraRob
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Tags: environment
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I shifted over to a Nalgen bottle years ago and recently a aluminum bottle from there. They last longer and they cost so much less in the long run.
Good information. We didn’t think anything was going to happen to reduce plastic bottle pollution so as an environmental company we decided to find a solution to the billions of bottles that are going into our landfills. Our bottle is recyclable and biodegradable. When an ENSO biodegradable plastic bottle enters the anaerobic environment of a landfill, it biodegrades, leaving behind biogases and humus. We know that our bottle isn’t the final solution but it is a step in the right direction.
Max
http://www.ensobottles.com
“Bottles for a Healthier earth”