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Alternatives to Plastic Water Bottles

Maren Schermer

Educator (NOT Journalism School)

Single-use plastic water bottles are among the most widespread and notorious uses of plastic. After they have been used, only a small percentage are recycled. The vast majority are discarded into landfills or are washed out into the ocean. We shouldn't be surprised, plastic water bottles are designed to be thrown away! But, is there another option? Many think so.

Forward-thinking businesses are now producing biodegradable water bottles. Edible seaweed pouches are available at the London Marathon as creative alternatives to disposable plastic water bottles. Yet, solutions don't all have to be novel - drinking fountains and re-usable water bottles are still just as effective. In a country with a high rate of plastic water bottle use, Berlin is promoting public drinking fountains. Reusable plastic water bottle company S'Well has made it their mission to provide a free water bottle to all New York City high school students. 

It will take a global effort to resist the appealing convenience of the single-use plastic bottle. But, these cases offer a guide of how communities can begin. This solution is one of the People's Ecochallenge actions to reduce the amount of waste we create.