By Jessica Valatka
If you have visited the Marblehead Festival of Arts the past several years, you may have stopped by one of two stations perfect for filling reusable water bottles or compostable cups provided by Sustainable Marblehead. One is the 300-gallon “Quench Buggy” from the Massachusetts Water Resource Authority with power donated by the Arnould Gallery and Framery, and the other is the 125-gallon “Water Monster” with water donated by Whitmore Brothers Construction.
Complete with compostable cups and Black Earth Compost bins, these stations have prevented thousands of single-use plastic water bottles from entering the landfill, while opening up an opportunity for individuals to reimagine waste reduction in local communities.
The convenience of single-use plastic bottles can be tempting. However, it can be helpful to remind ourselves of the science and data that gives us a better idea of how harmful plastics actually are, and if it’s worth it for your personal goals. You may even find that single-use plastic bottles aren’t as convenient as you thought.
According to Earthday.org, Americans purchase about 50 billion plastic water bottles annually, averaging to about 156 bottles per person. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency reports that a single plastic bottle can take 400 to 1,000 years to decompose, becoming harmful microplastics early in the process.
Those microplastics have now been detected in every ecosystem on Earth, from Antarctic ice to tropical coral reefs. More than 1,500 species, both marine and terrestrial, are known to ingest plastics. They’ve been found in humans too — in livers and kidneys — and chemicals that leach from plastics may be linked to developmental, reproductive, neurological and immune disorders.
Bottled vs. tap
You may be partial to bottled water because you have assumed it is cleaner than tap water. In reality, the Natural Resources Defense Council found that there is no assurance to that claim, estimating 25% or more of water sold in a plastic bottle is really just tap water. Consumers of bottled water ingest significantly more microplastics every year than consumers of tap water.
Plastic pollution is a waste issue and a climate issue
The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development estimates that in 2019, plastic products were responsible for 3.4% of global greenhouse gas emissions across their full life cycles, with 90% of those emissions coming from the production and conversion of fossil fuels into new plastic. Without major changes in behavior and policy, those emissions are expected to double by 2060.
The World Economic Forum projects that the global plastics industry could account for 20% of total oil consumption and up to 15% of global carbon emissions by 2050. Choosing a refillable bottle over a plastic bottle is therefore a first great step in supporting a safer climate.
Plastic Free July
Sustainable Marblehead is aligning their water station resources with a global movement called Plastic Free July, which supports millions of people in making choices that reduce plastic pollution. Please sign up to help us at our water station on July 3 and July 4 at signupgenius.com/go/5080A4FA8AC2EA6FA7-64558440-help#/. You’ll be right in the center of action and excitement of the Festival of Arts and do some good for the planet!
For more information and ideas on how to reduce waste and lead a more sustainable lifestyle, please check out our website at sustainablemarblehead.org. Visit our “10 Simple Things You Can Do for the Planet” at the bottom of the homepage. More information can also be found at epa.gov/plastics/impacts-plastic-pollution and nrdc.org/stories/bottled-water-vs-tap-water.
By Jessica Valatka, Sustainable Marblehead summer intern and student at University of Massachusetts Amherst.
