In July, British pilot Jeremy Rowsell is planning to fly from Sydney to London in a Cessna powered by fuel derived from plastic waste. The world will be watching, as a successful trip will further the push towards alternative fuel sources.
Taiwan’s largest charity, Tzu Chi Foundation, has found a way to make a difference with plastic bottle waste.
The foundation runs 5,400 recycling stations across Taiwan with the help of more than 76,000 volunteers. They work through a13-step process that turns plastic bottle waste into blankets, which are in turn used for relief use—both at home and abroad. Since 2007, they have distributed nearly half a million blankets.
For the volunteers in charge of crushing the plastic bottles, who are from two nearby nursing homes for the mentally ill, the recycling work has also become part of their therapy.
Taiwan started recycling plastic more than a decade ago and today it boasts more than 70% recycling rates, according to the Environmental Protection Administration.
On Monday, a ban on single-use water bottle purchases by state and local governments was proposed to the Maine legislature. Proponents said it would save money and position Maine for a leadership role in a nationwide effort to reduce plastic bottle waste.
Rep. Ben Chipman, a Portland independent and co-sponsor of the bill, said the bill’s passage would result in less waste and send a positive message about the state’s public water supply.
Naturally, the proposal was met with opposition. Some claimed that the bill was written too broadly and failed to include a provision for emergency situations. Others downplayed the issue as minor in their state government.
The Maine Department of Transportation spends nearly $30,000 annually on bottled water—about half of all state spending on bottled water.
Proponents pointed to studies showing no substantial differences in the quality of bottled water and public water supplies. They also referred to a similar ban in San Francisco, which in 2007 prohibited city departments from purchasing bottled water, and Concord’s (MA) recent ban on single-serving water bottles within its town limits.
Every April at Arlington High School in Massachuestts, students in an environmental club talk to freshmen about the harmful effects of plastic water bottles. The talk is part of Earth Day activities at the school, and also includes a tap-versus-bottled water taste test (The students claim that 9 out of 10 kids prefer tap water).
Now three classmates in that club are fighting back against single-use plastic water bottles throughout their town.
On January 1, the town of Concord, Massachusetts, became the first municipality in the nation to ban the sale of single-serving water bottles smaller than 34 ounces.
The bill is the result of town activists—primarily town resident Jean Hill, 84. Hill told the New York Times in 2010, “The bottled water companies are draining our aquifers and selling it back to us.” She led two other attempts to ban the plastic bottles before the April measure passed the Town Council.
Stores that violate the ban and sell bottled water will receive a warning on the first offense, a $25 fine for the second, and $50 for each subsequent infraction. The ban would be suspended during emergencies.
We recently had the pleasure of working with KIDS for the BAY, a nonprofit organization that teaches hands-on, environmental science to children and teachers in elementary schools throughout the San Francisco Bay Area. The group was planning their 20th anniversary celebration and was looking for a water bottle giveaway.
“Being an environmental education organization, it was important to us to choose a giveaway water bottle that was healthy and non-toxic,” said Sheela Shankar, Associate Director of KIDS for the BAY. “In the course of our research and after speaking with Bulletin Bottle, we quickly realized that all metal water bottles are NOT the same!”
When Wyatt Workman was seven years old, he set out to save the sea. Literally. You see, Wyatt loves the ocean, and was very upset to learn about all of the trash destroying its inhabitants. Wyatt also loves clay. And that’s how an idea was born.
Wyatt made a Claymation movie, Save the Sea from the Trash Monster!, about a Trash Monster who is taking over the ocean, but the sea animals fight back. Watch the movie and see what happens:
Method, in an effort to advance its environmentally conscious mission, has announced a new soap product, which is packaged in plastic bottles derived from recycled ocean plastics and post-consumer recycled materials. The ocean plastics are reclaimed from litter that’s washed up from the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.
The small cleaning products company set out a year and a half ago to raise awareness about plastics pollution and to demonstrate smart ways of using and reusing the plastics that are already on the planet.
In September, nationwide retailer H&M recalled 2900 water bottles sold in their children’s department due to a choking hazard. According to the CPSC, the bottle’s spout could break off, posing a choking hazard to children.
In August, Senator Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) announced that Saratoga Springs bottled water will be served at this fall’s Presidential Inauguration. Many groups openly voiced their opposition, including DC Water, the utility who provides Washington’s tap water. They all believe tap water should be used to tout our nation’s municipal water system (not to mention save lots of money). After all, isn’t this an event celebrating the USA and its ingenuity?
The General Manager of DC Water asked Schumer to “reconsider your selection of bottled water and instead support the nation’s drinking water systems by choosing DC tap water.
”DC tap water is a penny per gallon and bottled water costs 100 times more,” said George Hawkins. He also offered to provide free reusable water bottles and free water testing in congressional buildings.
