Plastic Water Bottles, Poison In Disguise

To understand the despicable horrors of using packaged plastic water bottles let us look at the US market in context, that would give us an idea here in India as to where we stand.

The Container Recycling Institute states that approximately 86% of disposable water bottles used in the US end up in landfills. Now if this is the case for the most developed nation in the world with the wherewithal at its disposal, imagine what could be the case for developing nations like India in this regard.

It is common knowledge that it requires 3 litres of water and 1/4^th litre of crude oil to produce a single plastic bottle. India as a nation consumes, on a rough estimate, about 4.5 million tonnes of plastic every year. The math for the above is mind boggling.

A million plastic bottles are sold every minute around the globe, and these are made with synthetic organic polymers that are sourced from fossil fuels. The primary materials required to make plastic are coal, gas, and crude oil . Of the above, there isn’t a single material that is safe for the environment in any form. Regrettably, the harm caused is all pervasive in nature.

Disposed water bottles make up a third and fourth of the recovered plastic waste as a part of the ocean clean up. Cleaning up the ocean of microplastics is as impossible a task as picking up shreds of plastic from the ocean. Plastic accounts for more than 80% of the world’s marine debris

4-4.5 million tons of carbon dioxide are released into the atmosphere annually on account of the water bottling process.

The packaged drinking water is tested for microbes and other pollutants 4 times less than tap water.

Plastic water bottles are made using polyethylene terephthalate. When these water bottles are transported from the point of production to the point of consumption, they endure heat and humidity en route to their final destination. This leads to the release of bisphenol A (BPA) and antimony. Studies suggest that this chemical can lead to adverse health effects in children. The Agency for Research on Cancer is on record as saying that antimony is considered a “carcinogen” that has a damning impact on human health.

 Lack of proper and systematic drainage systems, driven by indiscriminate disposal of plastic,   can lead to clogged drains, which in turn can lead to flooding, thereby becoming a breeding spot for deadlier waterborne and airborne diseases.

Landfills across the cities are a proven testimony to human apathy and neglect, and plastic is single handedly responsible for 80 to 85% of the trash in landfills. Needless to say, the very plastic that was thought to be discarded from our food cycle comes back to haunt us in our milk, meat, and seafood consumption in the form of microplastics.

The 3 R Mantras – Reduce , Reuse and Recycle that the water bottle industry states correctly are terribly misleading because the plastic that the water comes in is recyclable, and it is naive to believe that recyclable is a synonym for recycled. Therefore, our best efforts will still remain to reduce the use of plastic water bottles because, despite knowing the ill effects of plastic,  affluent India continues to be obsessed with plastic water bottles.

A few initiatives at the micro level that consumers can undertake and contribute towards reducing the impact of plastics are to begin with carrying their own bottles (when they step out), which are preferably made in steel, bamboo, or any other safe containers. At home, they can refill water in glass containers, which will (A) ensure that the quality of the water remains intact and (B) also that one plastic water bottle is consumed. And every time one less bottle is purchased, one less bottle is likely to be manufactured.

 (Ganesh Iyer is India's 1st Water Sommelier and Managing Partner Zero Percent India Pvt Ltd)