Learn

Why you should bring a reusable water bottle everywhere

Driven by the thirst for drinking on-the-go, a million plastic bottles are consumed every minute or roughly 20,000 bottles every second¹. These bottles are highly recyclable but it is estimated that 90% of all plastic is not recycled at all². The sad fact also remains that plastic bottles, usually made from polyethylene terephthalate or PET, can last up to 400 years before decomposing³.

¹Laville, Sandra & Taylor, Matthew. "A million bottles a minute: world's plastic binge 'as dangerous as climate change'" 28 June 2017. Web. 24 May 2018.
²Parker, Laura. "A Whopping 90% of Plastic Isn't Recycled" National Geographic. National Geographic Partners, LLC. 19 July 2017. Web. 24 May 2018.
³Nace, Trevor. "We're Now At A Million Plastic Bottles Per Minute - 91% Of Which Are Not Recycled" Forbes. Forbes Media, LLC. 16 July 2017. Web. 24 May 2018.
⁴Johnston, Ian. "Plastic microparticles found in flesh of fish eaten by humans" Independent. Independent Print Limited. 2 July 2017 Web. 24 May 2018.
⁵Katz, Brigit. "Study Finds Microplastics in More than 90 Percent of Tested Water Bottles" Smithsonian. Smithsonian Institution. 16 March 2018. Web. 24 May 2018.

Aside from accumulating as trash in the environment, plastic bottles can also break down into small plastic particles called microplastics. These microplastics have been found in the seafood that we eat⁴. It's also scary to know that 90% of 259 bottled water brands from all over the world tested in a recent study were revealed to have contamination from microplastics⁵.

So why drink from a disposable plastic bottle when you can always bring your own reusable water bottle when traveling? After all, you can always refill from your hotel, restaurant, and other establishments. Not only can you help save the beauty of these destinations from plastic bottle trash, you can also save a lot of your travel money.