The Nalgene Saves The Day

    I made it through the first week without dying of dehydration! In fact, I am starting to like the convenience of my new Nalgene water bottle… but it does have it’s challenges.

I’ve been carrying my bottle with me everywhere I go. To class, to the gym and I refill it at each meal in Upper or Marquis. The big 32 ounces usually lasts me through most of the day and I often fill it up from the fountain before bed.

The elimination of plastic bottles from my day to day life has been easier than anticipated. I do miss my gatorades and the occasional soft drink, but by only drinking tap water from my Nalgene, I’m not only helping reduce my plastic waste but I’m also improving my health!

For the most part, the transition has been smooth but I’ve had the opportunity to slip up! The chance for mistakes have almost always been connected back to the concept of laziness and the convenience of bottled drinks. On various occasions, I have forgotten my Nalgene bottle in my room. The immediate tendency in this case is to grab bottled drink from a vending machine or Lower (where I’ve eaten most of my meals this week). Instead, I’ve refrained from these impulses and simply made a better effort to find alternatives.

In one of these such cases, I made a great discovery in Lower! I had forgotten my Nalgene and was about to break the rules of my commitment. As I went to grab a bottle of water from the refrigerator case, I decided to take a closer look at the soda fountain. To my excitement, I found a tap water option! I gladly filled a paper cup with water and brought it to the register. My luck continued from there. Not only was I avoiding the temptation to waste plastic, but the tap water was also free! A win win situation!

My change in actions this past week have intrigued me to learn more about the impacts of my actions. In last week’s post, I noted the implications on the climate that come from the production of plastic bottles and argued that by reducing my consumption of such products, I would subsequently be reducing my carbon footprint. This week, I will focus on the impact that individual plastic consumption has on waste production as a whole.

I found some interesting statistics about waste production in the US. As a nation, we use nearly 2,000,000 plastic bottles every 5 minutes!!! And in a year, the average American goes through 168 bottles. This is frightening to me! Plastic bottles sit in landfills for hundreds of years before the even begin to decompose. Even worse, they are a wide source of pollution in the world’s oceans. While I can’t change the world (yet), I can do my part to to stop the pollution. By eliminating plastic bottles from my life, I’m decreasing my carbon footprint AND reducing the amount of non decomposable waste in our landfills!

Bring on week 2!

Link 1- http://earth911.com/news/2011/09/13/wasting-away-our-garbage-by-the-numbers/

Link 2 – http://www.safebottles.co.nz/News/Plastics+and+the+Environment.html