Plastic water bottles are readily available across the markets. These bottles are easily accessible, cheap, and convenient to use therefore a huge amount of people purchase these bottles on a daily basis. Despite the convenience, the fact cannot be denied that plastic water bottles are a serious threat to the environment and the health of the consumers. Plastic has known to have several adverse effects when it comes to environment and the human health. Following are some of the points that highlight why plastic water bottles are bad for the environment as well as the human health:
- It is estimated that approximately 9% of the plastic gets recycled whereas the remaining 91% of plastic reaches the landfills or the oceans. This is an alarming sign because the plastic which is not recycled is hazardous for the marine life when it is dumped into the oceans. This plastic also ends up in our food when we eat something that has been sourced from these oceans hence causing a serious threat to the consumers of the sea food.
- Plastic water bottles are made from a chemical known as polyethylene terephthalate. This chemical is hazardous and it mimics the endocrine enzymes. It is also responsible for serious adverse effects including BPH and prostate cancer. Using plastic water bottles increases the risk of development of these diseases in humans.
- The fact that plastic takes several years to disintegrate also shows that plastic water bottles which are not recycled end up creating a lot of waste. This increases the pollution and degrades the level of cleanliness of the environment.
There is no doubt that plastic water bottles are very easy to use. They are cost effective as well because they are not very expensive to buy in the first place. Also, another aspect that makes plastic water bottles popular among the masses is the perception that bottled water is the cleanest water to drink. All of these factors largely contribute to excessive use of plastic bottles. The use of plastic bottles is becoming inevitable now. It is the need of the hour to switch to environment friendly packaging that are also safe for the human health. Also, initiatives like free plastic bottle refills should also be introduced by authorities in order to make sure that new purchases of plastic bottles remain to the minimum.