[angelicwriter]

Plastic water bottles are rapidly overflowing landfills, polluting the streams, rivers and oceans, altering the environment in which we live. Most people are unaware that 60 million plastic bottles wind up in garbage dumps across the country every single day. There's an article about it that I found interesting.... with some helpful tips listed below. The Organic Mechanic: The Plastic Water Bottle Crisis and How You Can Help

[greentech]

And, that's not to mention the amount of fuel used in delivery and disposal of the bottles.

[mtrent]

Why are the water bottle companies not asking for a deposit on these bottles like they use to do in the golden days? Or why are people not recycling more? This makes me so sick to see this stuff! I feel that if companies would request or offer a deposit on bottles then this would stop so much of this pollution to our planet.

[horselover]

I agree mtrent, the deposit would offer incentive for people to return them to the store.

I remember growing up we could return bottles to the local grocery store and get money for them.

I believe Edmonton still does this, I remember visiting in November 2003 and they were.

I'm trying to recycle more bottles that I buy, and now I just bought one of those h20 on the go Jr bottles, and I'm hoping it will last me a long time.

[RFL1986]

I've personally stopped used plastic water bottles completely except for the few I keep on hand and re-use at home. It's such a waste of consumer money not to mention the environmental issues it causes by creating so much unnecessary waste.

[mollyL]

When we are far from home we usually buy a bottle or two of water. We take them home and wash and reuse them until they get dingy and the filtered water we put in them doesn't taste fresh. Then we recycle them.
One other thing we do is when we fill them about a quarter full is we put them in the freezer so we will have ice cold water as the ice melts. Freezing doesn't seem to affect the plastic bottles.

[atula]

I do reuse plastic boottles...but here India...nowadays most liquids come in plastic bottles...packaged drinking water...soda..syrups..crush etc..so you really dont have any choice but to use them....

[Brendan]

They are also finding that tons of plastic materials that we use are not good for our health. Apparently chemicals from the plastic leach out into the water/food that is inside the plastic. I also heard that it is a very bad idea to freeze water bottles and also to microwave food in a plastic container for these same reasons.

[mollyL]

I never microwave food in those plastic containers; you can see that they seem to melt a little while being microwaved, and that can't be good. I've not heard that it's not good to freeze water in plastic, can you direct me to where you might have seen that? Certainly don't want to do it if it's harmful....

[RFL1986]

I've also heard that the plastic has been known to contain dangerous chemicals. You can tell this if you freeze water in bottles then try to drink it later -- it will taste awful from the chemicals coming to the top of the frozen water.