Drinking Tap Water — the Simplest Solution to Ocean Plastic Pollution?

Is the solution to plastic water bottle pollution as simple as educating the masses that their tap water is safe to drink? Photo: Elite Reader

Beaches are beautifully serene places. Imagine waves rolling in over a beautiful white sand beach in a calming splash. Relaxing, no? Now imagine a place where the sand is covered in plastic debris – all of which was fluttering through the ocean before it arrived on said beach. It’s a starkly different picture.

This year about 480 billion bottles of plastic will be produced and less than 10% of them will be recycled. The remaining 90% will end up somewhere – whether discarded in nature or in landfills – where it breaks down into microplastic and ends up in our groundwater, rivers and eventually lakes and oceans.

In addition to plastic pollution, bottled water also has an enormous carbon footprint from production and transportation. And the problem is getting worse as bottled water consumption is growing, all while households may already have access to a clear and present solution – their tap.

Unfortunately, some people are afraid to drink from the tap. A survey of 1500 households in the US and Europe found […]

Full article: Environment Drinking Tap Water Might Be the Simplest Solution to Ocean Plastic Pollution

About bottled water vs. drinking fountains:

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Upper Dublin parents asked to send kids to school with bottled water

Bottled water overtakes soda as America’s No. 1 drink — and you should avoid both

Bottled water, brought to you by fracking?