Isaiah 24:5"The earth lies defiled under its inhabitants; for they have transgressed the laws, violated the statutes, broken the everlasting covenant."
Single use plastic bottles are everywhere!
Each year around 22 billion water bottles are used, the majority end up on landfill and the ocean.
For every six bottles that are bought, only one is recycled. Water bottles do not biodegrade, they break down into tiny microplastics. It can take up to 1000 years for a single bottle to decompose, leaking pollutants into our soil and water along the way.
Landfills are overflowing with discarded bottles. Plastic bottles are made from oil, and currently 6 percent of the global carbon emissions comes from plastic production. The production of bottled water uses 17 million barrels of oil a year. That’s slightly more than it would take to fill one million cars a year with fuel. If you fill a plastic water bottle so it is about 25% full, that’s about how much oil it took to make the bottle.
It takes almost 2,000 times the energy to manufacture a bottle of water than it does to produce tap water.
Out of everything we put in our recycle bins at home, approximately 50 percent of it is never recycled. 80 percent of the plastic water bottles we buy end up in landfills.
What can I do?
Ditch the habit: Make sure you have enough reusable water bottles for each member of the family.
Invest in a filter: If you do not have access to clean safe water considering putting a water filter on your tap. When you look at the savings you make from not buying bottled water over the year you can see if you can afford it.
Raise awareness: Tell your friends and family about the impact bottled water is having on our environment. Encourage your workplace to ban plastic water bottles, and educate your children about the positive impact they have on the environment when they use reusable bottles.
Recycle: When you do use a plastic bottle, make sure that you recycle it. When you see an empty, used water bottle sitting on the street or in a park, pick it up and recycle it.
Use water fountains: Ask at work if they can install a water fountain.
Change is coming!
The good news is that at the UN Environmental Assembly a resolution was passed and agreed to by 175 countries that there will be a global, legally binding treaty on plastic pollution. There are many details to work out before it will come into action, but it is exciting that the world has now recognised the problem. The details of the treaty will include putting a cap on the production of virgin plastic, banning of certain non-recyclable items and universal labelling on products.
https://www.unep.org/news-and-stories/story/what-you-need-know-about-plastic-pollution-resolution.