Stainless Steel, the Eco Solution for Plastic - Delving Into the World of Water Bottles

With most of us attempting to get our daily dose of exercise and required amount of water, the water bottle has become a permanent part of our person. Easy to grab but not so easy on the environment the controversy over plastic water bottles has most of us thinking of a more eco-friendly way to always have water by our side. Are the screams of the environmental evil of plastic water bottles valid and is the push for using a stainless steel water bottle as a replacement the green way to go? Armed with some facts I'm sure you'll make the right decision.

Plastic Bottle Environmental Issues

In the US more than a million barrels of oil are used yearly to produce plastic water bottles. This is enough oil to power 250,000 homes or fuel 100,000 cars. Americans consume over 70 million bottles of water daily or 22 billion dollars in plastic water bottles yearly. In addition to the vast number of bottles produced each year, the energy required to manufacture and transport them drains fossil fuel supplies posing a significant strain on our environment.

With only 17% of the plastic water bottles purchased being recycled our landfills are swelling to enormous sizes. Having a very low redemption value the recycling rates for plastic water bottles is alarmingly lower than soda or beer bottles. Many Americans still are not part of a recycling plan and many public places and parks do not provide separate recycling bins allowing plastic water bottles to find their way into landfills or worse into forests and waterways. And they are not bio-degradable.

Plastic Bottle Health Issues

Many consumers argue that reusing their plastic bottle defrays some of the negative environmental effects. But actually there are concerns with reusing plastic bottles. Each reuse of the bottle compromises the water quality as more and more phthalates from the plastic leach into the water. Plastic bottles need to be kept out of extreme heat for the same reason. It is argued too that the bottle can never be washed thoroughly enough to discount formation of bacteria. Many companies have stopped the sale of hard plastic bottles due to concerns with even low doses of Bisphenol-A (BPA). BPA is capable of altering the normal functioning of genes which could lead to prostate cancer, Type 2 diabetes, obesity, and neuro-behavioral problems.

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