Are you thirsty? Have you thought about getting some water? Now if you are going to get some water will you get it out of the tap with a reusable water bottle or will you just grab a plastic water bottle on your way out the door? Americans buy and estimated 28 billon plastic water bottles a year, and eight out of every ten of those water bottles will end up in a landfill. That’s a scary statistic and what is even scarier is the harm those water bottles do to the earth.

Each day in the cafeteria at school I see a large number of kids drinking from plastic water bottles. My school does offer recycling cans and the majority of kids do choose to recycle them, but there’s still a handful that don’t. I just can’t wrap my head around the fact that people don’t recycle. It’s really not that hard at all but I think the problem may be that people either are to lazy or they don’t care. Here’s the thing though, it’s really not that tough and it doesn’t take anymore energy then throwing a water bottle away would. If people don’t care, they should. You may not think that one water bottle that is not recycled would make a difference but it very well could make a whole world of difference.

I will agree that grabbing a plastic water bottle on the way to practice is much easier then refilling a reusable bottle, but that reusable bottle could save the earth. I think that school should stop selling plastic water bottles. If kids aren’t going to take the time to do an easy task then they should not have the opportunity to purchase the water bottles. As an alternate solution I think that at the beginning of the year when schools are selling planners, sweatshirts, books, and all the other school supplies they should sell reusable water bottles. Students could then use the bottles throughout the year and would also save lots of money by not having to purchase a plastic water bottle at lunch everyday. Students could just strictly keep the bottle at school so it wouldn’t get lost and they would always have it with them. They could also have stations where one could fill up their bottle either during a break or class.

Even a small step like using a reusable water bottle could make an enormous impact if everyone gets involved. The earth isn’t just going to save itself. It’s going to take every single one of its inhabitants to pitch in and help.