A few years ago I was lucky enough to travel around Mexico. One day we took a boat ride through a national park. The scenery was amazing – cruising through a gorge and looking up to see waterfalls and monkeys jumping through the trees, it was a really beautiful place. Then we came across a crocodile (thankfully a reasonable distance away!) resting on the shore – it was surrounded by rubbish, mainly plastic bottles. They were floating in the water and accumulating on the banks of the river, it was awful to see. Such a pristine place, tainted by our pollution.

This is just one example of plastic waste ending up in our environment. We’ve all seen the photos of plastic littering our oceans and know the impact it has on our environment. Unfortunately a heap of damage has already been done, but there are actions we can take to stop the problem from getting worse.

How did we get here?

In Australia we are lucky to have access to drinking water straight out of the tap. Despite this, bottled water is increasing in popularity, leading to the use of incredible amounts of plastic bottles. In 2015, around 5.3 million people drank bottled water in any given seven days[1]. With good marketing by the various brands, this could be even higher by now. Multiply this out by bottles of soft drink and other plastic containers, and you have a big plastic problem.

The production of plastic bottles uses natural resources and creates another source of waste. Energy is also needed to make the bottles, to fill the bottles with water, and then to transport the bottles to where they are sold.

And while plastic bottles can be recycled, many end up in landfill or as litter.

So there are plenty of reasons to reduce the amount of plastic bottles that we use.

So what can we do?

We have plenty of options to make sure our empty bottles don’t end up in our rivers and oceans – the best option being to not use plastic bottles at all. To avoid buying bottled water invest in a reusable bottle – it will last for ages and save you heaps of money on buying bottled water. I drink lots of water every day and can only imagine how much it would cost if I didn’t fill my bottle from the tap. And I don’t mind the taste of Adelaide tap water!!

There are so many reusable options available, and it is an easy way to make sure you always have water with you without creating more waste or using up natural resources. Whether you prefer stainless steel, BPA free plastic, or a glass bottle, the options are endless. Check out our Onya stainless steel water bottle for one option. For a really stylish option, check out our funky Studio Oh insulated water bottles.

If you don’t like the taste of tap water or you are worried about the chemicals used in its treatment, you could install a water filter, or use a jug or bottle with a filter.

If you do buy bottled water from time to time (or any other product bottled in plastic), then the best option is to make sure the bottle ends up being recycled. Some states in Australia offer a container deposit – you can get cash for taking your plastic bottles to the local recycling depot. A great incentive to make sure they get there! The bottle can be given a second life and be turned into a useful product, rather than going to landfill. We get the kids involved in helping sort the bottles so they can earn some extra pocket money and learn about helping the environment at the same time. If this isn’t an option for you, your empty plastic bottle can also go in your kerbside recycling bin, making it really easy to make sure it gets to a recycling depot.

What about the plastic already in our environment?

We can make changes to prevent the problem from getting worse, but that doesn’t fix the amount of plastic already out there. There’s a big clean up job to do.

Next time you go for a walk on the beach, or through a local park, you could pick up a few bits of rubbish and put them in the recycling or rubbish bin. Take a bag with you and be mindful of what you are picking up (be careful of wasps in cans etc).

On a larger scale, you could get involved in Clean Up Australia Day, which is coming up in March. This is an organised event where you can go along to a particular site and help with the clean up job. You can also register your own clean up site and get your community involved. In 2016, approximately 15,312 tonnes of waste was picked up, with 39% of this being plastic[2]. This shows the impact we can have as a collective.

Small changes have a big impact

We can help reduce the impact of plastic bottles by making a few small changes especially when it comes to drinking water. Hopefully, in time, our governments and manufacturers will also make changes to reduce the impact of plastic on our environment. We can all do our bit to help make a change.

To check out some other reusable options, click here

[1] www.roymorgan.com/findings/6763-bottled-water-consumption-booming-201604190004, 25 June 2017

[2] https://www.cleanupaustraliaday.org.au/images/content/8px7dprqdsd.pdf