Did you know that each year Americans throw away approximately 200 billion beverage containers - including plastic bottles and aluminum cans? These containers make up about 15% of all packaging waste in the US and on average only about 30% of them are recycled. Scarier even still… the plastic water bottles we use each year require 47 million gallons of oil to produce!

As sales of bottled water continue to rise, the number of containers ending up in our landfills will grow as well. Some manufacturers are doing their part by using recycled materials to make new beverage containers. Even better, 11 states currently have “bottle bills” in legislation whereby they will establish a five or ten cent deposit when bottles/cans are returned. While this has proven difficult (manufactures are fighting back saying this will add to their costs) it is not impossible - you can help the cause by supporting the CRI (Consumer Recycling Institute) and educating your state representatives.

You can also help nip this problem in the bud with a few easy steps -

• Use a reusable container for your beverages (skip plastic, try stainless steel)

• Install a water filter on your home faucet if you don’t like your city/well water

• Use a water filter pitcher in your refrigerator - ice cold and always ready

• Always recycle your plastic, glass, and aluminum beverage containers… always!

This entry was posted on Saturday, November 3rd, 2007 at 8:54 pm and is filed under Green Living Tips. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.