I am dedicating an entire post to this topic because it’s an important one. Every single person on this planet needs to drink water to survive, thus, a good place to start is how much water you should be drinking a day. To figure this out, calculate your body weight in pounds, divide it by 2, and that’s how many ounces of water you should drink a day. For example, a 150 pound person needs 75 ounces of water a day. That’s a lot of water!
Let’s now look at this from a water bottle perspective. Let’s say our 150 pound friend drinks water from plastic bottles bought at the grocery store. Your average water bottle is around 17 ounces, so our friend will need 4.5 bottles of water a day. Taking this a step further: in the United States, plastic is only recycled at a rate of about 23%. This means that only one out of our friend’s four water bottles is going to get recycled.
Now, if our friend used a refillable non-plastic water bottle, then not only would they be saving money in the long run, but they would be using less plastic, wasting less plastic, and avoiding the chemicals that come from plastic.
Yes, that’s right – chemicals that come from plastic. This is main point number one of this post, with main point number two being the actual use of plastic, and its effects on our environment. Both equally as important!
Water with a side of chemicals, please.
Have you ever wondered why there’s an expiration date on water bottles? Water doesn’t expire, so why is it there? Because the plastic bottle expires. This means that once it expires, the plastic will start leaching chemicals into the water. Another thing to note, is many water bottles are made in the same facility as other bottled beverages, such as sodas, which do expire – so for some brands, that expiration date may not be valid for that particular bottle. Instead of separating machines, many companies will just stamp the sodas expiration date onto the water bottle. Therefore, in theory, you don’t actually know when that water bottle is going to start leaching chemicals.
Let’s chat chemicals now – I’m sure you’re wondering what chemicals you may be consuming with your “purifying” water. A German study actually found 24,500 chemicals in a single bottle of water. First up on this long list, is Bisphenol A (BPA). This is a pretty popular one, and has been in the spotlight a few times. BPA is a man made chemical which disrupts the endocrine system by mimicking our body’s natural hormones.
A study conducted last year found that 96% of women in the U.S have BPA in their bodies (7).
In animal studies, this has been shown to affect reproduction and brain development. The FDA actually banned this chemical a few years ago – 24,499 chemicals to go! Naturally, when this chemical was banned, companies had to find 
a substitute *Que BHPF.* Some studies have found that this could be just as harmful as BPA, and also mimics our hormones. If you’re extra moody and drink bottled water every day, you might want to go cold turkey and see what happens.
This particular post is focusing on water bottles, but it is important to note that these chemicals are not only in plastic water bottles. They are in any plastic bottle, your plastic tupperware containers, plastic plates and spoons, your baby’s plastic bottle. Plastic does not discriminate – and it’s been shown to cause developmental problems in children.
You’re not going to drop dead if you’ve drank a few plastic water bottles in your lifetime, but if you are a habitual plastic consumer, you could be looking at some problems down the line. I’m going to include ways to reduce your plastic usage a little later in this post.
Water Bottles vs. Nature: An Unnecessary Battle to the Death
I mentioned before that plastic in the U.S. is not recycled at a high rate – in fact, it’s recycled at a pretty low rate. PET bottles are plastic bottles that are 100% recyclable. Buuuut….
Our recycling rate for PET is only 23%, which means we pitch into landfills 38 billion water bottles a year–more than $1 billion worth of plastic (6).
When plastic bottles end up in a landfill, they lie stagnant, leaching chemicals into the ground. We drink water from the ground. We grow food in the ground. See the problem here? In addition, plastic bottles require exceptionally large amounts of petroleum and fossil fuels to transport them.
Plastic is literally affecting the life on this planet. It’s ending up in our environment and it’s killing animals and creatures who don’t know any better. Plastic bottle tops and plastic bags are not recyclable and they end up in our oceans, being mistaken for food and eaten, or causing an animal to get tangled and die. I’m going to be dramatic here because it’s necessary: consuming plastic products is literally killing the environment and the living things in it – so which would you rather contribute to killing? The environment or plastic?
Tips for Reusable Water Bottles
I’m going to switch gears now and talk about the good guys: Reusable, refillable water bottles. The first aspect you need to focus on, is whether or not it’s plastic. Even the refillable ones that you can buy in any department store can (and most likely do) contain chemicals. Studies also showed that if you exposed these bottles to boiling water, the chemicals released at an exponentially faster rate. Herego, your plastic water bottle sitting in the sun is leaching chemicals into your water during your sports game. I would recommend stainless steel – I have a stainless steel water bottle and swear by it.
Second, I would make sure it’s an honest company with a product that is sustainably sourced. Where is it coming from? If it’s outsourced, is it’s transport sustainable or spewing mass amounts of chemicals into the ocean? Who is making the product? Etc.
Here is the brand I would recommend for your shiny, new water bottle:
Healthy Human Life
~ Eco-friendly, 100% BPA-free, free of phthalates, and made with 100% premium food grade 18/8 stainless steel.
~ This is the brand I use; I have 4 of their steins and 3 tumblers.
~ Use the code “AHOLAS10” when checking out on their website, or follow this link to shop on Amazon!
Other ways to reduce your plastic use
- Glass tupperware containers, instead of plastic
- Cut out the use of plastic baggies (sandwich bags) – check out Stasher Bags if you use them a lot
- Purchase reusable grocery bags, so you stop getting the plastic ones
- Purchase a reusable coffee mug/to-go cup; many places will fill your personal cup with your beverage order, and you’ll be saving the use of a plastic cup! Some places will even take a few cents off!
If you’re interested in reading more about how you can reduce your footprint and make a positive impact in saving our planet, check out my post about being eco-conscious. Every small, sustainable change makes a difference!
Sources:
(1) “Bottled Water Facts.” Ban the Bottle, Link.
(2) Radford, Benjamin. “Why Do Bottles of Water Have Expiration Dates?” LiveScience, 9 June 2010, Link.
(3) University of Cincinnati. “Plastic Bottles Release Potentially Harmful Chemicals (Bisphenol A) After Contact With Hot Liquids.” ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 4 February 2008, Link.
(4) Landa, Jennifer. “More than 24,500 Chemicals Found in Bottled Water.” Fox News, FOX News Network, 13 Jan. 2014, Link.
(5) Wilson, Clare. “BPA-Free Water Bottles May Contain Another Harmful Chemical.” New Scientist, 28 Feb. 2017, Link.
(6) Fishman, Charles. “Message in a Bottle.” Fast Company, Fast Company, 30 July 2012, Link.
(7) “What’s the Problem with Plastic Bottles?” One Green Planet, 1 Feb. 2016, Link.
