Help Limit Plastic! Go Buy a Reusable Water Bottle!
- emilyybonson
- Nov 13, 2022
- 3 min read
By: Emily Bonson
You may be surprised, but plastic plays a big role in climate change. Climate change refers to shifts in temperatures and weather patterns. Climate change has been happening since the late 19th century. NASA says, "the current warming is happening at a rate not seen in the past 10,000 years." on their page How Do We Know Climate Change is Real? Climate change will never go away but we can do our job to help reduce it. Reusable water bottles are already kind of a big thing and is something that everyone has multiple of, but it is something that they should try and use more, instead of just sitting in the cabinet. If you start using it more often people will pick up and ,maybe start using theirs more too!
Graph of the current level of climate change, picture from NASA
Plastic can release harmful chemicals into the ground and the ocean. When it goes into the soil and the water it affects the animals that eat, drink, or live in it. The plastic water bottles we drink from are very unlikely to actually be recycled. Only 9% gets recycled. The ones that aren't recycled find their ways to the landfill or worse, the environment. It is terrible for them to end up in our environment seeing as how they take 450 years to break down into microplastic, small plastic pieces which can be harmful to our ocean and aquatic life. When they are in the landfill it can take up to 1,000 years for them to even breakdown, but whose to say that the landfill won't leak. (all from One Movement). Every landfill leaks and when it does it pollutes the environment. Not just the stuff around it either, it spreads into the water and the soil.
Microplastic's, picture from The Washington Post
If you were to buy a reusable water bottle it would have positive effects for both you and the environment. In the article How Much Plastic is Saved by Using Reusable Water Bottles? it lists reasons why people should buy a reusable water bottle. You would save money, why spend .25 cents up to $2 on a water bottle when you could get a reusable water bottle which is a one time fee. The next reason is that they are running out of spaces to put trash and recyclables. Since they are running out of space all of the overflow goes into crowding our ocean, lakes, and rivers, while also being scattered on our beaches, parks, and forests. Another reason is for your health. Plastic can break down into small tiny pieces. Which leads these small little particles to be in the air, the water, and our food chain. Lastly, it affects the fish and animals. This one is the worst and is progressively getting worse. It gets so small that fishes end up eating it while it is in the water. Millions of birds, fish, and sea mammals die every year from this. You may think that when you throw your plastic water bottle into the recyclables that everything is fine and you are doing your part to help the environment. When in reality your plastic water bottle may not ever make it to the recycling center.
What Really Happens to the Plastic you Throw Away, a video by Emma Bryce
People know plastic is not good for the environment, but yet they don't do a lot to help change it. If they really cared and wanted to make a change they would do so. Plastic can be harmful to us and the environment and who knows what would happen if we don't do something to change that. Reusable water-bottles are the way to go when you want to save money and keep you and the environment clean and healthy. A plus of having reusable water bottles are that you could get one that fits you and what you like as well as it comes in many different sizes. Now I am not saying you have you completely get rid of all the plastic water bottles you use but start trying to use a reusable one before you instantly grab a plastic one.
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