My husband was on campus recently and some students were discussing water bottles before class started. He said that they thought they were "doing right" by buying about 40 bottles of water per year and re-using those purchased plastic bottles. One girl claimed that she has been drinking bottled water for so long, she can't stand tap water. She maintained this position even after Robert explained to her that bottled water is essentially tap water, she just doesn't like her tap water. When he asked them why they don't just buy plastic or metal water bottles and nix the whole disposable water bottle thing altogether, they said, "those are too expensive."
But buying 40 or so bottles of water each year and reusing them is cheaper?
Even if you buy the cheapest disposable water bottles available, you'd still save money in the long run buying a quality, re-usable bottle. We recently purchased a new one for me because I lost the first one at the library (so sad), and it came to $10 bucks. The first one was $12. If you look for them and weigh your options, you can find a bottle within your price range.
You can also clean these bottles effectively, which you cannot do with disposable plastic bottles. They're not meant to be re-used. They're meant to be discarded so that you buy more and more and more. The aluminum bottles that Robert and I own can be easily cleaned with denture cleaning tablets.
It's true you can recycle water bottles, but that's not necessarily efficient or optimal in terms of energy and expenses. It's also unlikely that everyone makes a point of recycling their plastic water bottles. Besides, with all of the new styles available, a handsomely designed bottle is way more attractive than some clear cheap plastic bottle.
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