THINK BEFORE YOU BUY PLASTIC Many people think

THINK BEFORE YOU BUY PLASTIC • Many people think that plastics don’t pose an environmental risk if they recycle them. • But…production, transportation, and recycling of plastics have a HUGE environmental impact. WHAT’S REALLY IN THAT PLASTIC BOTTLE? • One year (2006) of plastic water bottle production for American consumers: (Pacific Institute) – Required equivalent of more than 17 million barrels of oil (not including the energy for transportation); enough to fuel about 100, 000 cars for a year. – Created more than 2. 5 million tons of Co 2. • A 1 liter bottled of water requires 3 liters of water to produce. • The total amount of energy required for that 1 bottle is equivalent to filling it ¼ full with oil. “Bottled Water Not Cleaner Than NY City Tap Water” (20/20 Report, 2005) § EPA sets drinking water standards. § FDA sets bottled water standards based on EPA standards. § Some components of FDA standards may be higher than EPA, but many municipalities have higher drinking water standards than EPA. § Bottling companies get their water from a huge variety of sources and there’s a huge variety of filtering, lack of filtering, and sometimes even added ingredients. § You’ll need to do your homework to know if your specific brand of bottle water is better or worse than your local tap water. The T-Bldg. drinking fountains have water filters that are changed every 3 months (see CART website for the outstanding recent test results).