How many bottles of water did you drink today? In American society, having bottled water has become a necessary convenience for many. But have you stopped to think about the problems this convenience is causing for our environment? According to the New York Times, Americans consume 30 billion single-serving containers of bottled water each year. How many of those bottles are recycled and how many go straight to the landfill? Americans throw away 2.5 million plastic bottles every hour, according to the city of Clear Water, Florida’s web site. The Green Guide stated that 90 percent of the water bottles sold in the United States ended up in the garbage in 2002.
According to a study by researchers at Oberlin College, if one of every ten water bottles were recycled in the US, our landfills would be spared 200 million pounds of plastic every year. An article in the USA Today stated, “1.5 million barrels of oil are used to produce plastic water bottles in the US per year. That much energy could power 250,000 homes or fuel 100,000 cars for a year.” If you recycle just one plastic bottle, you save enough energy to run a television for 90 minutes. According to the American Chemistry Council, 24 percent of all plastic bottles manufactured in the US in 2005 were recycled. The Pacific Institute estimates that in 2006 the process of bottling water produced more than 2.5 million tons of carbon dioxide.
Not only are Americans drinking bottled water, we are also consuming carbonated beverages and soft drinks at an alarming rate. Beverage Digest estimates that per-capita American consumption of carbonated soft drinks in 2009 fell to 736 eight-ounce servings, down from 760 servings in 2008. But even at current rates, the U.S. still has the highest per capita consumption of carbonated soft drinks in the world. According to a study by the Washington Post, soft drinks account for 28 percent of total beverage consumption in the US. In a study conducted by the US Department of Agriculture in 1996, American boys consumed an average of 19 ounces of soda per day while girls drank 12 ounces. Research has demonstrated that soft-drink consumption is one of the main drivers of childhood obesity. For example, a study by Harvard researchers found that each additional 12-ounce soft drink consumed per day increases the risk of a child becoming obese by 60 percent.
Soft drink consumption has increased in the past decade in developing countries as that is the biggest growth market for the beverage companies. According to a survey by dumpsoftdrinks.org, in Latin America, consumption of soft drinks has grown from 108 servings per year in 1986 to 235 servings in 2006. In Africa, the servings rose from 18 in 1986 to 37 servings in 2006. Consumers in countries such as Mexico, Egypt and China are being targeted by the soft drink industry with aggressive marketing campaigns that are sometimes aimed at children and youth.
Not only is the soda bad for you, so is the mess these plastic bottles are causing around the world. In June 2009, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) issued a report on marine litter in 12 major regional seas around the world including the Baltic Sea, Black Sea, Caspian Sea, East Asian Seas, East African Seas, South Asian Seas, and South Pacific. The report said plastic, especially plastic bottles, accounts for more than 80 percent of all of the garbage collected in these areas.
The emergence of a garbage island in the Pacific Ocean dubbed the Great Eastern Garbage Patch has been especially troubling to many who are concerned with the widespread pollution of our earth. The island, which is located in an area where ocean currents meet between California and Hawaii, is twice the size of Texas and made up of 90 percent plastic. Researchers estimate up to 80 percent of the trash originates on land such as shampoo bottles, children’s toys and plastic beverage bottles.
So what can be done with all of these plastic bottles? They can be turned into schools! In Guatemala, schools are being built using discarded plastic soda bottles and other trash. The bottles are stuffed with plastic bags for bulk and stacked side-by-sidein between two layers of chicken wire and coated with a mixture of sand and cement, becoming the walls of the school.
Hug It Forward is proud to be able to support communities working together to build bottle schools in Guatemala. By using this eco-friendly technology and by spending 100% of donations directly on projects (not one penny is spent on salaries or other overhead), we can build a school for as little as $6,000.
Can you or your company help by being a sponsor? Hug It Forward is a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit organization in the USA.
