Less Plastic Water Bottles Meshaal Bannerman

Invention In 2007, Nestle and other water companies created a new water bottle that is slimmer, and has a smaller cap. This new design uses less plastic (between 30-50%), thereby making it more eco- friendly

Recycling and Carbon Emissions The issue with the previous water bottles is that they were made with too much plastic, making it harder to recycle therefore, more water bottles would be stray in landfills. Previous plastic bottles could have taken a lifetime to recycle, so it was clear that a solution was needed Also, the production of more plastic leads to more carbon emissions (about 6kg CO2 per kg of plastic) Plastic water bottles also can contain many hazardous chemicals So the less plastic, less potential chemicals exposed to humans

Need for Reform In 2006, Producing the bottles for American consumption required the equivalent of more than 17 million barrels of oil Bottling water produced more than 2.5 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions It took 3 liters of water to produce 1 liter of bottled water (production requires water)

Implementation Since Nestle’s invention in 2007, Nestle bottled water is being recycled at a rate of 98% for 2010 (that’s up 13% from 2008). Water bottle waste sent to landfills has decreased 75% (compared to 2008) from these efforts.

Impact Personally, this invention impacts my daily life by providing me a sleek, smaller water bottle that I can carry everywhere On average I drink about a case of water every 2-3 weeks, and over time the amount of plastic that I use from water bottles will decrease thanks to less plastic water bottles Globally, the impact is profound. Many plastic bottles are becoming easier to recycle, which is causing less water bottles being at landfills, or even the ocean Using less plastic for water bottles also positively impacts climate change, as less carbon is being emitted throughout the world for the production of bottles

Works Cited http://www.nestle-watersna.com/en/water-sustainability/reducing-our-carbon-footprint http://pacinst.org/publication/bottled-water-and-energy-a-fact-sheet/ http://www.nestle-waters.ca/en/sustainability/reducing-our-impact http://www.sustainability.umd.edu/get-involved/staff/terps-heart-tap/bottled-water-facts-did-you-know http://elua.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Elua-Bottled-Water-and-Our-Environment.pdf http://timeforchange.org/plastic-bags-and-plastic-bottles-CO2-emissions http://www.bloomberg.com/news/photo-essays/2015-02-27/the-life-of-a-plastic-water-bottle http://www.bottledwater.org/education/environmental-impact/environmental-footprint