Did You know Plastic Can Take Up to 1000 Years To Decompose?
Single-Use Plastic and Simple Ways to Change Your Habits
Our modern society is in love with plastic and plastic water bottles. Technically, the bottles are made from plastic that can be recycled, but in reality, they are single-use plastics that end up in landfills and waterways. According to National Geographic, 91% of plastic is not recycled, which clogs our landfills and our oceans.
National Geographic estimates that 18 billion pounds of plastic end up in the ocean each year. The plastic pollutes the ocean, chokes fish and marine life, and often winds up in our food chain. Plastic can take up to 1000 years to decompose, so the problem won't go away without action.
As a US Boulder-based company that is focused on promoting reusable bottles, we assumed that the US was ahead of the rest of the world when it comes to awareness around avoiding using single-use plastics. It turns out that we were wrong. The average American shopper still uses a single-use plastic bag PER DAY, while shoppers in Denmark use 4 bags PER YEAR.
Surprisingly, half of all plastic on the planet has been produced since 2000 according to the National Geographic article on plastic pollution. The problem is growing, but there's still time to change our habits and heal our oceans.
A million plastic single-use water bottles are bought around the world every minute and the numbers continue to rise creating an environmental crisis many believe will be as serious as climate change. Less than half those bottles are recycled.
What Can We Do? 4 Simple Ways to Help Make a Difference
1. Choose Reusable Bottles instead of single-use water bottles. Insulated bottles are not only better for the environment, but they have great benefits such as hot and cold retention.
2. Avoid plastic straws and use reusable straws or reusable straw water bottles.
3. Use reusable shopping bags. There are many options which help the environment and are stylish and fun.
4. Follow and support organizations that are working hard to change our plastic habits and clean up the oceans. A couple of organizations that we recommend supporting include the Surfrider Foundation and the Plastic Oceans Foundation.
Get started now by joining EcoVessel and choose reusables.
Together, we can make a difference #onerefillatatime
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