CPHS Reusable Water Bottles
Cliffside Park High School recently received a grant from the Bergen County Utilities Authority for reusable water bottles. The bottles are meant to lessen the use of plastic water bottles at the high school. So why is this so important, and how are reusable water bottles better than plastic water bottles?
For starters, it is a well-known fact that plastic water bottles take a while to decompose - 1,000 years to be exact. The reason they take so long to deteriorate is because the plastic, also called polyethylene terephthalate, is not biodegradable. According to the non-profit organization, Planet Aid, only 34% of Americans recycle. This means that more than half of the country’s bottles end up in landfills or the ocean. The Ocean Conservancy organization stated that “eight million metric tons of plastic enter the ocean every year.” Sea animals, such as turtles and fish, often eat plastic or get trapped in it. Fish, which many people enjoy eating, even pass on the plastic in their systems to humans. Reusable water bottles will last you a long time. You will not have to worry about throwing them out on a daily basis or recycling them. Also, reusable bottles do not hurt innocent sea creatures or pollute the ocean!
Secondly, the water that plastic bottles contain is not as safe to drink as many people assume. People usually opt for plastic water bottles because they believe their contents are cleaner than tap water, but this is not entirely true. Microplastics, or minuscule pieces of plastic, are often found in plastic water bottles. Frequent users of plastic water bottles risk these microplastics entering their system, which can cause health issues. Plastic also has a number of different chemicals in it, such as dioxins, phthalates, vinyl chloride, ethylene dichloride, and cadmium. Chances are, you are ingesting some of these chemicals through the plastic water bottles regularly. This is the same water that is believed to be “cleaner than tap water.” Also, in a report by the Food and Water Watch, “Take Back the Tap,” it was reported that 64% of the water found in plastic water bottles was actually tap water. Reusable water bottles, on the other hand, do not pose any of these threats. Stainless steel or aluminum water containers do not give off chemicals or microplastics.
Lastly, plastic water bottles are expensive. A bottle of water normally costs $1.45. If you drink one bottle of water per day, that amounts to roughly $529.25 per year. It is recommended that you drink eight bottles of water a day. If you drink eight bottles of water a day for one year, the total cost would be $4,234. Rather than spending that much on water, why not buy a reusable water bottle?
Thanks to Mr. Bernstein and the Bergen County Utilities Authority, you can help make a difference. Get your reusable bottle for $5.00 from Mr. Bernstein or the student government. Help save the environment one sip at a time!
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