Welcome to Gaia! :: View User's Journal | Gaia Journals

 
 

View User's Journal

Undo the strings attaching me to myself
This journal doesn't follow a set thing. I write about whatever whenever. Want me to discuss something, send me a PM and I will write about it in here.
-Plastic Water Bottles-
User Image

I know when you think of saving the world, the first thing that comes to
mind is probably the color green. I've seen the commercials just as much as you have about going green and saving the planet. I agree with saving the planet but sometimes the extremes that the world activists want us to follow are very hard to adapt to and many who try, fail, and return to their old ways.

But you see this water bottle. It’s a simple bottle filled with the right amount of water, probably the common amount of 0.9 fluid ounces. And when you hear “saving the earth” this isn’t the first thing that comes to mind. But it shouldn’t be the last thing that comes to mind.

There are many different ways you can recycle.

The first is most obvious:

1. After you’re done using the bottle put it in a recycle bin. If you don’t have one near you at the time, just put it away to later put it in a recycling bin. It’s simpler than you would think. Place a recycle bin beside your trash can and it won’t be so hard to remember to put it in the recycling.

2. You can refill the bottle. Well let’s say you’ve bought that bottle of water because you like it for the health benefits. I mean it contains little to no minerals and doesn’t have any harmful bacteria in it, so it’s good for your body and you don’t want to refill it with mineral water. Well replace your sink with a water filtration system so that you may refill it with filtered water. (EDIT: When I say refill, I mean to only refill it on the day you used it. Never continue to reuse a small plastic water bottle because infection to be spread. After you've finished using it for that day, recycle it)

3. Instead of buying bottled water, buy a water bottle. It may sound like I’m telling you to do what I just said you shouldn’t do but I’m not. I mean a hard plastic bottle that is capable of being washed in the dishwasher and is a heavier, thicker, plastic. Then get a water filtration system in your home and fill your bottle every day.

4. And if you must have mineral-free water, then fill your hard plastic water bottle up at home with your water filtration system and bring a second water bottle with you. It can be the types that are usually thrown away right after use or it can be the heavy plastic ones. But if it is the first one, then remember to recycle it later.

Here are a few facts about plastic recycling I bet you didn’t know.

 Plastic bottles take 700 years to before they begin to decompose in a landfill

 8 out of 10 water bottles become landfill waste

 If everyone in New York City gave up water bottles for one week, they would save 24 million bottles from being put in a landfill. If given up for one month, 112 million bottles would be saved. And for one year, just one simple year without using a water bottle, that would save 1.328 Billion water bottles from being put in a landfill.


Do you see the things that we, human beings on this planet, can do to save the green earth we live upon? These things just seem so simple if you start out small. Just go one week without using a water bottle. It won’t kill you to do such a simple task. Maybe during that one week you can buy yourself a hard plastic water bottle and use that. Then the next week you won’t need to buy a water bottle. Then next thing you know, it’s been a month since you bought one and you probably saved maybe 30 water bottles from filling a landfill. I know it doesn’t sound like much but think of it like this.

If that one week turns into two weeks, which turns into a month, it isn’t that hard. Then that month turns into another month and soon, before you know it, it’s been a whole year that you didn’t need to buy a water bottle. You just saved 365 water bottles from being put into a landfill. That’s a lot of water bottles for just one person, but think of how many would be saved if you convinced a friend to go a year without one too. That would be 730 bottles that just two people saved from the landfills. Then imagine if your friend convinced their friend, and their friend convinced another friend, and so on. Think of how much plastic wouldn’t go into a landfill. The numbers are huge, I know, but that’s the whole thing.

It sounds almost impossible, but it really isn’t. If you and maybe four friends made a pact not to use water bottles for a whole year, you’d save 1460 water bottles from being in a landfill. That’s just four people out of the 6 billion on our planet. Now imagine if all 6 billion people on this planet gave up water bottles for just one simple year, imagine the plastic we’d save from being in a landfill.

As much as you think that just one person won’t make a difference in the world, it’s obvious that one small person can make a huge difference when dedicated. So please help start to save our world by giving up water bottles for just one week. It won’t be that hard and soon you won’t even notice how much time has passed since you had a water bottle. It’s the simplest thing in the world to do, and isn’t hard at all, so please…make a difference…save the world.






User Comments: [1] [add]
paccume
Community Member
avatar
commentCommented on: Mon Nov 17, 2008 @ 06:20am
i'm so proud you actually went through and did all the research and made sure the numbers were precise and everything.
i'm going to post this as anonymous once iin certain forums if you messaga me saying OKAY
i love you, & no matter what anyone else says i'm so proud i got you.


User Comments: [1] [add]
 
 
Manage Your Items
Other Stuff
Get GCash
Offers
Get Items
More Items
Where Everyone Hangs Out
Other Community Areas
Virtual Spaces
Fun Stuff
Gaia's Games
Mini-Games
Play with GCash
Play with Platinum