It takes a lot of water to produce the food we eat, the energy we use and all the things that we buy. Use our water saving tips below to reduce your water use by recycling plastic. You’ll find lots of ways to shrink your water footprint.
When you have other options, avoid plastic because it’s a bad deal for the environment. Plastic manufacturing takes a lot of water and energy and it often ends up polluting our waterways, especially the ocean.
Don’t add to the mountain of plastic we already have on the planet. Unless it was melted and turned into something else, every single piece of plastic ever made is still around.
Don’t drink bottled water. It’s the ultimate form of wasteful convenience. It takes at least as much (and often much more) water to make the bottle as the drinking water it holds.
Choose tap water over bottled – it takes about 1.5 gallons of water to manufacture a single plastic bottle (how crazy is that?) and plastic bottles are always made from new plastic material.
Get a reusable container, fill it with your own beverage or water from a fountain and reduce the need for more packaging-intensive, single serving sizes. Recycled plastic bottles aren’t refilled with water. Most plastic water, juice and soda bottles are made from virgin plastic for various reasons.
Carry a set of reusable tableware with you if you eat takeout a lot. All those plastic spoons, forks, sporks and knives take water to make. Make it your thing and bring your own nice set with you, or consider using chopsticks.
Use cloth or reusable shopping bags. Plastic bag recycling is still extremely limited.
Recycle (or reuse) every bit of plastic you can and only throw it in the trash as a last resort. Plastic bags and water bottles are top forms of pollution in beach and creek clean ups. Don’t let their journeys start with you.
Skip the compostable plastics if a more sustainable option exists (like using washable plates and silverware). They might seem like a good idea, but most only compost under specific conditions that most recyclers and landfill operators aren’t equipped to create.
Make some money from your plastic bottles. Find out if your state has a bottle bill law and if you can get money by recycling plastic bottles.
Rinse containers before recycling to avoid odors and attracting pests.