Americans buy over $22 billion plastic water bottles annually, which translates to over 70 million bottles consumed daily. Recent reports have many consumers confused concerning whether it’s safe to drink from these bottles. Since only 17% are recycled, additionally, there are environmental concerns.
The safety reports about Bisphenol a (BPA) in plastic are not generally within the single use plastic water bottles purchased by most people. If you have a resin recycle code #1 on the bottom of the bottom, it uses PET, which is generally considered safe. The resin code that could indicate the clear presence of BPA is #7, although not absolutely all code #7 bottles contain BPA.
Although most plastic Best water bottle do not contain BPA, they can still leach chemicals in to the drinking water. To minimize this risk, keep bottles out of extreme heat, which can accelerate the leaching process. Internet rumors about freeze risks are false (however since water expands when frozen, drink a little before freezing to permit room for the expansion).
Plastic water bottles could be reused, but you must ensure that you wash thoroughly with soap and water to get rid of bacteria. Allow to dry before refilling. I recycle mine after several uses or if it gets subjected to heat or the water develops a funny taste.
Bottled water could cost 2500 times more than tap water. Many brands of bottled water, including Dasani, are simply filtered tap water. Bottled water costs about $3-$5 per gallon. Regular community regular water, which is perfectly safe and tested regularly, costs about $2 per thousand gallons. You can get a tap filter and make your own personal filtered water for around $0.10 per gallon, or make use of a tabletop model like Brita for around $0.25 per gallon. To remove chlorine with no filter, you should use a key I learned when I worked for a garden center about removing chlorine in irrigation water for delicate plants: leave the water uncovered overnight to permit the chlorine to dissipate.
Plastic bottles certainly have their use, and you will find places where it can be impractical to create a lasting reusable water bottle, but whenever you can, it is most beneficial to make use of a metal or aluminum reusable water bottle.
Unfortunately, significantly less than 20% of water bottles get recycled, despite demand for the resin from companies like Coca-Cola and Pepsi which may have pledged to make use of 10% recycled resin in their bottles. Few states have deposit programs that have been shown to boost recycle rates. In addition, no more than half all Americans do not need curbside pickup of recyclables. While becoming more common, most public places do not need water bottle recycle bins close to trash cans. We discard near to 60 million plastic water bottles each day.
The underside line is that plastic water bottles are safe, but damaging to the environment. The responsible choice is to employ a reusable water bottle whenever you can, and make all efforts to recycle the plastic water bottles whenever a metal water bottle is impractical.