What’s the right choice?

Misconceptions of Bottled WaterMillions of dollars are spent on advertising campaigns to give consumers the perception that bottled water comes from pristine mountain springs or magical underground aquifers, assuring purity and quality.

The fact is that bottled water is oftentimes only a little more than just tap water in a bottle... sometimes worse! (Bottledwaterblues.com)

There are no regulations or requirements that bottled water must be any higher in quality than tap water.

So what’s the big deal?

What you may not know:

• Plastic bottles can take up to 1000 years before they even begin to compose

• 90% of the cost of bottled water is due to the bottle itself

• 80% of plastic bottles are not recycled

• 38 million plastic water bottles go to the dump per year in America (not including soda)

•The average American consumes 166 plastic bottles of water a year

Let’s take a look…

The Problem is GROWING• In the United States in 2006,

bottled water consumption reached a record 8.3 billion gallons, 185 million gallons of which was imported.

• With sales growing by 10 percent each year, far faster than any other beverage, bottled water now appears to be the drink of choice for many Americans

What does this mean and why should I care?

•It costs more to drink bottled water than to put gas in your car --up to five time more--due mainly to its packaging and transportation. (Earth Policy Institute)

•Making bottles to meet Americans’ demand for bottled water requires burning more than 17 million barrels of oil annually, enough to fuel more than 1 million U.S. cars for a year.

AND…

It’s ruining our environment!

•Over 46,000 pieces of plastic debris float on every square mile of ocean.

•Americans use 4 million plastic bottles every hour.

•Only 1 bottle out of 4 is recycled.

•It’s cluttering our Landfills!

Our Beautiful Island Paradise…

…could soon look like this.

This is an actual picture taken of a landfill on Kauai.

What’s next for Hawaii?

• Export 100,000 tons of trash a year to Washington.

• With 900,000 residents and close to five times as many tourists each year, Oahu is running out of landfill space.

• Bids to ship trash to the mainland estimated to cost

$20 million per year

One day = 35, 000 bottles saved

One week = 250, 000 bottles saved

One year = 13 million bottles saved

If everyone in Hawaii used reusable bottles for just a little while, we could reduce waste significantly

o Do you purchase plastic bottled water?

o Do you recycle?

o How long do you think it takes for a plastic bottle to decompose in a landfill?

73 out of the 100 people surveyed said that a bottle would begin to decompose in 1-100 years.

Our survey of 100 people was centered on the following questions:

What you can do.

Water Bottle Alternatives

Recycle

= BPA (Bisphenol-A) =

Chemical used in shatterproof plastic bottles that could cause severe health issues such as an increase in prostate and breast cancer, uro-

genital abnormalities in male babies, decline in semen quality in men, early onset of puberty in girls, metabolic disorders including insulin-resistant diabetes, obesity and neurobehavioral problems.

(EWG Guide to BPA)

[Bis-fen-ol]

So what can we use?

Aluminum water bottlesBenefits:

• BPA free•Eco friendly•Fashionable•Inexpensive

If every home in America recycled just 1 out of every 10 bottles, we could save 200 million pounds of plastic from entering landfills a year.

•11 states, including Hawaii, have established bottle deposit laws to motivate more people to recycle bottles and cans.• In Hawaii, you are charged a five cent deposit per bottle/can purchased.

• When bringing bottles to redemption centers, this deposit is fully refunded.

• Not returning your bottles can cost you hundreds of dollars in the long run.

• Curbside pick-up programs have made recycling easier for us all.

Reduce, Reuse,RECYCLE!

Presented by: Sean Callahan, Melissa Exstrom, Cherisse Ito, and Jun Yarbrough

Business Writing 209 – Mrs. Oliver – Group Presentation Spring 2009