About
Having The Option to Refill Plastic Water Bottles for say 30 cents - rather
than always needing to buy a new one for 60 cents....
(An ongoing 'practical philosophy' project.)
As a regular walker and ‘litter picker’ I am constantly collecting plastic water bottles from along the paths of the beautiful locations where I walk. I know people talk about re-cycling and putting stuff in the right box for the garbage man – but surely the problem is we are using far too many plastic bottles and other packaging to start with. The hot Mediterranean countries alone must use tens of millions (if not hundreds of millions) of these little plastic drinking bottles each year. Globally the number must be mind boggling
(An ongoing 'practical philosophy' project.)
As a regular walker and ‘litter picker’ I am constantly collecting plastic water bottles from along the paths of the beautiful locations where I walk. I know people talk about re-cycling and putting stuff in the right box for the garbage man – but surely the problem is we are using far too many plastic bottles and other packaging to start with. The hot Mediterranean countries alone must use tens of millions (if not hundreds of millions) of these little plastic drinking bottles each year. Globally the number must be mind boggling
I just want people to be at least ‘have
the option’ to take their empty bottles into a supermarket, local newsagent, or
fast food outlet and be able to get a refill for their plastic bottles if they
wish - at a lower price than if they buy their water in a new plastic bottle.
Clearly, some kind of vending machine or office water cooler perhaps with
re-usable bigger containers - could easily be adapted to make this possible and
indeed some water vending machines already exist - and are readily available at
modest cost. (Could not the bigger containers could simply be collected and
re-used in a similar way to beer barrels?)
Bottled water is big business for
companies like Evian, but with water vending machines they could still make a
profit – and be brought onside to support the idea of saving on disposable
plastic. Indeed, with the growing public opposition to using disposable
plastics, and creeping legislation, their successful business model to date may
not tenable 10 to 15 years from now. The water companies therefore might be persuaded
to help reduce the number of one-use bottles – rather than being the main cause
of the problem as they are at the moment. They could be interested in
suggestions for adapting their business model sooner rather than later. Certainly,
the big water bottle companies have the right people, the right teams in place
with the right skills, and the right distribution networks to get the job done;
that is to encourage people to refill their water bottles rather than
'automatically' buy water in a new plastic bottle. Giving people the choice on
how they buy their water is an important first step in my view.
So how can we encourage the refilling
of water bottles among the thirsty public; and encourage big corporate bottled
water companies to offer refill vending as ‘an option’?
