The modern world is a fast pace rat race that seems to never sleep or even slow down even a little bit. To be apart of this world, we all have to find ways to adjust by becoming a bit fast paced ourselves. Fast food, faster cars, fast fast FAST! We have become a society of short attention spans and impatience. We can multi-task while multi-tasking.
It’s not hard to assume that in this blazing fast world of going from one thing to the next, we need things that are “on the go”. That is why disposable plastic water bottles are still popular today, even with all the environmental risks that we are all well aware of. It’s hard for us to change something that we are all so use too. Instead we go around the problem by promoting recycling. We may not stop using plastic water bottles, but at least we recycle! Well it’s a start at least.
Along with all of these things, it has become more common place for people to refill their water bottles or soda bottles in an effort to reuse these items to help out with this environmental problem. The issue is that most of these types of plastic water bottles and soda bottles are not meant to be reused over and over. A plastic known as polyethylene terephthalate (or PET) is a major composition of a plastic water bottle and was never meant for reuse. One of the reasons for this is bacteria. When you use a water bottle the germs from your mouth transfer into the water bottle, typically known as backwash (yuck!). This like any unclean item can reproduce and cause illness in those with weak immune systems.
Now you may be saying, “I wash my water bottle every day with hot water and soap!” That is great, but that is where the second problem comes from. You may have been hearing a phrase being tossed around lately, “bpa free”. BPA is bisphenol-A and is a synthetic material in many plastics. When you use hot water on a plastic bottle, this causes BPA to be released into the bottle from within the plastic. It has not yet been proven that long term effects come from the exposure to BPA but there are ongoing case studios showing that this is a possibility.
So what is the solution? When it comes to these kinds of water bottles, the only thing to do is recycle it. The real solution comes in buying a certified reusable water bottle made for this sort of thing. There are many out on the market that come in all shapes sizes and functions. They are purposely made to be reused on a daily basis. Just look for things like “BPA free” and mention of bacteria resistance of some sort and you should be alright. Don’t reuse those cheap plastic water bottles you buy from the gas station, they will only do you harm in the long run. Spend a few bucks and get a reusable drinking water container and you will do yourself a great service.
