The problem with single-use plastic water bottles

Plastic is a problem. There’s no denying it. Especially single-use plastic water bottles.

According to a recent Guardian article – ‘a million plastic water bottles are bought around the world every minute and the number will jump another 20% by 2021.’ That’s a staggering amount of plastic.

It begs the question. Why? Again the Guardian states,

“The demand, equivalent to about 20,000 bottles being bought every second, is driven by an apparently insatiable desire for bottled water and the spread of a western, urbanised ‘on the go’ culture to China and the Asia Pacific region.”

Sadly only a fraction of these water bottles are recycled and most of them end up in landfill. And worse still, they can take up to 1000 years to break down!

According to Clean Up Australia, 10 per cent of rubbish found on Clean Up Australia Day was related to bottled water.

Protecting our Oceans

The extent of the plastic problem was recently featured in the BBC’s 2017 ‘Blue Planet II’.

Sir David Attenborough highlighted the plastic problem with a haunting message to viewers…

“For years we thought our oceans were so vast that nothing we could do could have an effect but now we know that was wrong. It’s now clear that our actions are having a significant impact on the world’s oceans. Plastic has become an integral part of our daily lives but every year some 8 million tonnes of it ends up in the ocean and there it can be lethal.

We are at a unique stage in our history. Never before have we had such an awareness of what we are doing to the planet. And never before have we had the power to do something about that. Surely we have a responsibility to care for our Blue Planet. The future of humanity and indeed all life on earth now depends on us.”

(Direct quote from Sir David Attenborough, ‘Blue Planet II – 2017’)

The series also featured researchers explaining how Albatross ingest plastic bags, food packaging and plastic toothpicks – all of which can be lethal to the birds.

Another staggering recent discovery was the 18 tonnes of plastic found on a remote coral atoll, Henderson in the South Pacific.

This island has been dubbed, “the most polluted, most remote island in the whole world” Here, even the hermit crabs have resorted to making plastic bottle tops their home!

According to recent research by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, they estimate, “Between 5m and 13m tonnes of plastic leaks into the world’s oceans each year to be ingested by sea birds, fish and other organisms, and by 2050 the ocean will contain more plastic by weight than fish.”

So what can we do to help?

A simple solution is to choose to refuse single-use plastic water bottles. Not just for #plasticfreejuly but forever.

We’ve seen the big supermarkets banning the plastic bag. Now it’s time to give up the bottled water habit, there are plenty of reasons, as we’ve discussed in a previous blog.

A real way to make a difference is to choose a reusable water bottle or flask and fill it up with filtered water from an inline water filter.

You’ll save money, cut down on landfill waste, reduce your eco-footprint and protect the ocean.

About Fressko flasks

For the month of July in support of #plasticfreejuly WFA has teamed up with the water flask company, Made by Fressko.

Fressko’s philosophy is simple…

‘Be kind to mother earth, to others, and to yourself.’

Why Fressko?

WFA and Fressko have similar values – high quality products that are built to last.

“Fressko flasks are a sustainable, reusable alternative to plastic, rubber or paper take-away cups. The flasks are designed in Melbourne, Australia and are responsibly made in China using only 100% BPA Free materials, including bamboo which is sourced from the mountains of Ningbo.” www.madebyfressko.com

The glass flasks are made from BPA-free double-walled glass, so you’ll never have to worry about chemical leaching, flask discolouring or flavour tainting like you would with cheaper materials. They are highly durable and will last a long time.

A Special Offer for WFA friends

Fressko has kindly offered all our WFA customers 20% OFF their reusable flasks for the month of July and August. So there has never been a better time to make a difference to the environment and enjoy fresh, great tasting filtered water from a reusable bottle.

There’s also a great variety of water flasks to choose from with the colour collection and the original collection. Choose a colour collection stainless steel flask with glass lining and it will keep your filtered water hot for 6 hours and cold for 12 hours. Or the original collection glass or bamboo water flask with insulated glass and a 2 in 1 filter / infuser ideal for tea or infused drinks.

Just head to the Fressko website, choose your favourite water flask, add to cart and use the promotional code WFA20 on their website. Be quick, offer ends on 31st August 2018.

We’ll also be featuring some more filtered water recipes inspired by Fressko throughout July.

Check out our Instagram and Facebook page for more ideas on how to use your WFA filtered water in a Fresso flask.

We would love to see how you use yours, please send us your photos or post to Facebook or Instagram and tag us @waterfiltersaustralia.

There’s never been a better time to switch to a reusable water bottle… and if you need to update your inline water filter system or replace a water filter cartridge contact us today.

Read more on the health benefits of filtered water