In addition, many plastic bottles are not recycled and are thrown on the ground or put in landfills. A 16 ounce reusable bottle is around 12 dollars (Contigo). Let us take water for example. We are supposed to have 8-10 cups of water a day, which converts to 32 ounces a day. Since one water bottle is around 15 cents, you will have 4, 16 ounce water bottles a day you will spend 60-75 cents a day (Kmart). This converts to 22 to 24 dollars a year just on spending money for water bottles, double of what you would pay for buying a reusable bottle. This 22 to 24 dollars does not even account for the number of soda bottles, juice jugs, and other beverages consumed in a year. Furthermore, most all plastic bottles are not recycled, yet they are thrown away. “According to Brita: Americans throw away 35 billion plastic bottles a year,” (Hasselberger). Since we use 50 billion water bottles a year, that means only that 15 billion plastic bottles are recycled each year (Leithman). That is only 30 percent of all plastic bottles used in a year. The other 70 percent? They are thrown away into landfills or polluted, where they take 500-1,000 years for plastic to degrade (Hasselberger). Overall, we can see why plastic bottles are not cheap and
In addition, many plastic bottles are not recycled and are thrown on the ground or put in landfills. A 16 ounce reusable bottle is around 12 dollars (Contigo). Let us take water for example. We are supposed to have 8-10 cups of water a day, which converts to 32 ounces a day. Since one water bottle is around 15 cents, you will have 4, 16 ounce water bottles a day you will spend 60-75 cents a day (Kmart). This converts to 22 to 24 dollars a year just on spending money for water bottles, double of what you would pay for buying a reusable bottle. This 22 to 24 dollars does not even account for the number of soda bottles, juice jugs, and other beverages consumed in a year. Furthermore, most all plastic bottles are not recycled, yet they are thrown away. “According to Brita: Americans throw away 35 billion plastic bottles a year,” (Hasselberger). Since we use 50 billion water bottles a year, that means only that 15 billion plastic bottles are recycled each year (Leithman). That is only 30 percent of all plastic bottles used in a year. The other 70 percent? They are thrown away into landfills or polluted, where they take 500-1,000 years for plastic to degrade (Hasselberger). Overall, we can see why plastic bottles are not cheap and