End of 30 day Challenge

I am now finished with my 30 day challenge. It was harder than i thought at times when i did not have my water bottle. There was times where i needed water at half time during games and all we had was plastic water bottles. Times like these made it hard to stay true to my challenge. However, I saw a label on a water bottle that said "Less Plastic? FANTASTIC, Thanks! You saved a plastic bag." This shows that there is some change being made weather i made it or not i am slowly reaching my goal of less plastic!

My Hypothesis

IF- If I stop using plastic water bottles for 30 days

THEN- I will reduce the plastic in landfills

BECAUSE- I'm not using them

I have proved my hypothesis that I stated before the thirty day challenge according to this label. If I keep this up America would be using less and less plastic and even maybe everybody will be using reusable bottles as well. Reusable bottles are better! Usually it fits more water, the bottle doesn’t lose its shape, and you are helping the environment. An article I found gives ten more great reasons not to use plastic water bottles

1.       Bottled Water Is More Expensive- This is very true you can spend 5-7 dollars on a 24 pack of water for the week or 5-7 dollars on a reusable bottle for years.

2.       Tap Water May Be as Good- Tap water is not much different from bottled water, there are even chemicals sometimes put into the water to help clean it.

3.       Resources Are Trashed- Plastic water bottles are usually disposed of in the wrong way. They are either thrown on the ground or not recycled.

4.       You Need Water to Make Bottles- To make the plastic, they use 46 million tons of water.

5.        Transportation Impacts the Environment- Bottled water comes from a distant source, meaning valuable resources like gasoline are used up for transportation through trucks, polluting the air.

6.       Disposal Produces Toxins- To dispose of trashed bottles, waste management facilities use incineration, which produces toxins like chlorine gas and ash laden with heavy metals, the EPI reports.

7.       Plastic Bottles Stick Around- After disposed the water bottle sit in a landfill until they eventually go underground.

8.       They Use Oil to Make Bottles- To produce nearly 30 billion water bottles annually, manufacturers use 17 million barrels of crude oil.

9.        Bottled Water Isn’t Federally Certified- Although water is regulated to maintain consumer safety, neither the EPA nor FDA certifies bottled water, which means taste and quality can’t be guaranteed

10.    Americans Drink Too Much Bottled Water-In the U.S., we consume more bottled water than any other nation, which is a bit ironic considering we have a well-functioning and wide-reaching water system.

More info at http://betterforyou.com/article/healthy-living/10-reasons-ditch-disposable-plastic-water-bottles

Midway Through The Challenge

So far this challenge has been easy, but the hardest part is if I was to leave it in a class or at home. I really haven't learned anything new from this challenge besides some more responsibility. The most difficult part of this challenge is when I don't have my bottle and I really need some water but cannot use a plastic bottle. I inspired Trey Bowie before the challenge to give up the same thing I did. If I can inspire more people to do the same the amount of plastic used and the less plastic bought the less that will be produced. That means more reusable bottles produced if I can keep up with my bottle I can save a lot of money and bottles.

During this challenge I have not learned much new besides the fact that plastic does nothing but helps to fill the landfills in oceans and river. I know I will be able to finish this challenge I may even try to continue this through the rest of the school year. I want to; using this reusable bottle keeps me hydrated and sometimes saves me money when going out to eat.

Article from http://www.eatingwell.com/food_news_origins/green_sustainable/what_s_the_best_reusable_water_bottle states that

"There are plenty of good reasons why many universities and communities have enacted bans on single-use plastic water bottles, following in the footsteps of Concord, Massachusetts, which in January 2013 became the first town in the U.S. to ban the sale of single-use plastic water bottles. By switching to a tap-filled reusable water bottle, you'll drink water just as pure and help reduce the global glut of plastic bottles."

—Gretel H. Schueller, Contributing Writer

It has even been banned in cities around the country proving that the prevention of plastic water bottles can really help the country. 

Hypothesis

IF- If i stop using plastic water bottles for 30 days
THEN- I will reduce the plastic in landfills
BECAUSE- I'm not using them

9/16/13

 

        For our 30 day challenge I chose to give up plastic water bottles and just use a reusable bottle. I probably use an average of 30 or more water bottles a month and out of those 30, half of them I would lose so they are not being recycled or disposed in a way that can benefit the environment. There is about 1500 plastic bottles filling up our landfills every second. After knowing that information what kind of citizen would I be to continue to contribute to the destruction of our environment? It takes 151 billion liters of oil to produce plastic water bottles each year, all this oil being used for bottles can help to run 500,000 cars. So if I can keep using my reusable bottle and influence others to do the same I will first save my mom a lot of money and at the same time slowly reducing the damages done to the environment.

          Although my usage of plastic bottles damages the earth, using a reusable bottle can present the same problems as my plastic bottles. For example, yesterday I lost my water bottle almost forcing me to use a plastic water bottle but I did not cave in. It is not enough for just me to stop using plastic water bottles, but I have to influence others to do the same. Believe it or not we actually use three times the amount of water that's in the bottle to actually fill the plastic water bottles. So not only are we polluting the earth but we are also wasting water. Something has to be done and our solution is as easy as using a reusable bottle. Will you be the solution or problem? Reduce the amount of plastic bottles you use. Reuse a refillable water bottle, and lastly recycle the plastic bottles that you do use.