What exactly is the impact of water from plastic bottles?
A product that is still often sold and used today. But what exactly is the impact of plastic water bottles on people and the environment? A question that the Barcelona Health Institute has been looking into.
New Spanish research calculated the environmental cost of "plastic water" and compared it to tap water. From extracting the oil for plastic production to burning the plastic bottle at the waste plant. Something that is difficult to measure properly, as there are many different aspects involved. The results are perhaps not surprising: a bottle of water is worse for the environment than tap water.
"Spring water from plastic bottles causes much more damage to the environment and requires 3,500 times more material than water from the tap."
The problem does not seem to be so shocking in the Netherlands as the tap water in the Netherlands is good to drink. However, this is not true for all of Europe. In Barcelona, there is a relatively high level of trihalomethane in tap water, a substance that can cause bladder cancer. This is one of the reasons why the majority of the population drinks bottled water. However, this has disastrous consequences for the environment. And has a huge impact on the number of living species in the environment. In addition, the use of materials is hundreds of times greater with bottled water than with tap water. This has a significant effect on the amount of CO2 emissions.
De beste oplossing om dit plastic probleem tegen te gaan is om over te stappen op het gebruik van kraanwater. Daarnaast kun je een grote impact maken door het gebruiken van herbruikbare drinkbekers/drinkflessen. Wil jij ook een steentje bijdragen? Bekijk dan ons aanbod van herbruikbare drinkflessen. Bij elke aankoop doneert 1000 keer de inhoud per Retulp fles aan drinkwater aan ontwikkelingslanden. Zo streeft Retulp ernaar de plastickraan dicht te draaien en de drinkwaterkraan weer open te zetten.
