Imagine a world, where there are no plastic bottles? What will we all do, if the government banned plastic bottles or plastic pollution becomes so dangerous that we have to stop using plastic bottles? What will we do? Well, before we reach the threshold of destroying this planet with plastic, it’s better to adopt some better alternatives to plastic bottles.
Plastic Pollution is one of the biggest problems in the current world. It is adding a lot of non-biodegradable waste to the land and polluting our resources. But what is the major source of Plastic Pollution? Plastic Bottles, more specifically Single-Use Plastic Bottles are the major source of plastic pollution.
As per a 2017 report from The Guardian, every minute, 1 million single-use plastic bottles are cracked open every minute. Further, as per research by National Geographic, only 9% of the total plastic bottles produce, come back for recycling. This means more than 90% plastic bottles never reach recycling stations and either end up in landfills, garbage dumps and the worst-case scenario, in our oceans.
We humans, as a civilization, are slow to learn. So, to fight this evil practice of littering plastic everywhere, we cannot hope to change our behaviour. Therefore it is wise to find alternatives to the plastic. So here are some of the best alternatives of plastic bottles to deliver mineral water, soft drinks etc.
1. Canned Water
Soft Drinks & Beverages companies, as well as alcohol companies, are already serving soft & hard drinks in these aluminium packed cans. So why not deliver the base of these liquids, water, in these utensils too. Unlike plastic, which can only be recycled to a limited number of times, aluminium can be recycled as many times as we want. Aluminum Association tells that 75% of aluminium that’s ever been produced is still being used today. Canned Water can be seen during emergencies that cut water supply to large areas like hurricanes, earthquakes etc.
Well, to our merry, several companies, such as Cano Water and Aristos Beverages are already selling canned water and are using re-sealable tops on their cans. Thus, once you finished drinking the canned water, you can remove the top, refill it with water and keep it in your bag pack for reuse.
2. Boxed Water
Just like you drink a fruit juice like Appy, Fruity, Maaza out of a tetra pack, you can pack water in there too. As per the companies producing Boxed Water, the option to sell water in tetra packs is 100% recyclable. Not only this, the production cost is much lesser, it costs less to ship and it has a smaller carbon footprint as compared to plastic.
3. Flow Alkaline Spring Water
A company named ‘Flow’ is selling boxed alkaline spring water. The special thing about these boxes is that once they are used and emptied, they can be recycled to make different use papers. So, once your thirst has been quenched, you can rest easy. Because the carton you used to drink water is not ending up the polluting environment but is recycled to make writing paper, tissue paper, paper towels, roof tiles and other paper-based products and building materials out of it.
4. Edible Water Pods
A London based start-up company, Skipping Rocks Lab, has been working on developing eco-friendly ways of packaging water since 2014. They have come up with an idea of packing liquids in pods, called ‘Ohoo!’. These single-use pods are edible as well as bio-degradable. The water or other liquids are frozen in ball shape structures.
These frozen liquid balls are dipped in a special solution, made using seaweed. The solution makes a membrane around the frozen liquid and acts as a packaging for the content. This membrane is bio-degradable for it is made up of seaweed. Since it is tasteless, it is edible too. Companies are using it to pack water, shampoo, shaving creams etc.
5. Clay Bottles
We do not have the source of the origin of this concept but have seen many of the local vendors, hawkers and potters in Indian streets selling bottles made up of clay. This clay-like bottle is inspired by the traditional concept of making pots (Mataki & Surahi) which are used in our Indian households.
These bottles are made up using eco-friendly pot clay. Further, these bottles help in keeping water chilled for a good time. Although these bottles cannot replace the single-use water bottle for packaging mineral water, it can change the way we carry water for daily use to our workplaces and educational institutes like offices, school, colleges, etc.
6. Bamboo Bottles.
Dhritiman Borah from Assam India has come up with an innovative solution to replace daily use of plastic bottles with Bamboo made bottles. The bottles are made up of Bamboo Sticks and hence are eco-friendly. Hence, it is a nice and innovative approach to sustainable development. The bottles are available for sale online and are very affordable.
These are some of the best alternatives to Water Bottles. If you liked the article, must share it with others so that people become aware of these sustainable methods and we can save our planet from congesting with tonnes of plastic.
