Methods to decrease plastic bottle usage/waste?

Question

In the spirit of Earth Day, I would like to ask for different ideas to reduce the usage of plastic bottles. Most can agree that plastic bottles. such as water, juice, gatorade, etc., contribute greatly to waste and pollution. And of course, it is not only the bottle itself, but the pollution created to produce and transport them in the first place.

The most obvious thing is buying a nice, long-lasting bottle, such as a Nalgene bottle (I have two). For me this works great for water! But I also like propel and lately I've noticed myself buying more bottles of it. I don't want to by hypocritical, so I admit that I contribute to the problem too. I recycle but that only goes so far.

So what are different things I/we can do? Would different materials make a big difference? Try to convince manufacterers to sell more big sizes than smaller bottles? Solutions for tansportation? Etc.?

Answer 1

The best method to force people to change would be to tax or put a major deposit on plastic bottled drinks.  That will drive down demand and encourage behavior change.

Answer 2

If you are into energy drinks I know many of them are now making powder forms so you can make them in your nalgene and don't have to buy the tons of bottles.  I know that you can get gatorade or powerade in these poweder forms since I have been using them for almost 10 years now.  I know this won't help if you want to stick to propell but there are many ways to freshen up your water and make it taste better...though you will have to clean your waterbottles really well.  I hope this helps you.

Answer 3

I know what you mean about the energy drinks, my thing is Vitamin Water and Tazo tea...it'd be great if we could convince manufacturers to sell products in bulk, like Arizona Green Tea does with their 2-litre containers.

Answer 4

I try to buy only glass bottles, glass (silica) is plentiful and recycling glass does save energy when compared to making it from it's raw materials. The metal caps on the bottles are also recyclable, it's not ideal but it is, in my opinion, preferable to plastic bottles. As for transportation the only long term answer is to switch away from oil based fuels and switch to electric vehicles or maybe Hydrogen power, both the latter can be provided/made from electricity generated by sustainable methods, e.g. wind, wave and tide power and/or direct use of concentrated solar rays. Remember the old 'milk floats'; carrying re-usable bottles, transported by electric vehicles? The technology has advanced since then, and now the principle needs extending.