So far this week, I have put my new behavior into effect. I have begun using my new reusable water bottle on a daily basis. So far, I like how my behavior has changed. First, I don’t think that I have been drinking less water per day. That was one action that I hypothesized could happen. Actually, I think that I have been drinking more water per day because I am more conscious about filling it up when it is empty. When I used a plastic water bottle, I would only think about buying a new one when it was empty as opposed to filling it up. Therefore, this action is less costly to myself as well as the environment because I am buying fewer water bottles and disposing of less as well. I am using much less plastic and in our environment, every individual action can make a small difference. Some people have also argued that they use plastic water bottles more often because tap water can be dangerous and taste worse. However, studies have shown that there is actually no difference in the health factors for most tap water and bottled water (Baskind, 2010). Baskind also finds that 80% of plastic water bottles are thrown away. That can accumulate to almost 1.5 billion tons of plastic water bottle waste per year (Baskind, 2010). That is ridiculous! This is a preventable problem if people buy in to the fact that bottles can be reused and tap or water fountain water is not bad at all! I think that my new behavior can become sustainable for me and can be a sustainable behavior for everyone if they are made aware of the problems of misusing plastic water bottles. We can save the amount of natural resources that are used if we limit the amount of water bottles that we consume. Using a reusable bottle is a great start! Not only has it saved me money, but also it has made me conscious of making better economic decisions on a daily basis.
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