Sustainability

What a waste!

Most industries are quite wasteful in their production of whatever it is they make. This is mostly put down to the ‘industrial process’. In most cases this is understandable; when you make wooden tables maybe there are off-cuts that cannot be used, or if you make olive oil, the olive pips get thrown away. In other cases, it is much worse; chemical factories spewing out contaminated water into rivers, as an example.

I can’t speak much for most industries but having worked in the film industry I know the waste that is produced there. Some is of course unavoidable, but some perhaps not. For example, a big set could be made from wood, metal, plastic and fabrics then painted and filmed on. Once the set is no longer required it is often dismantled and thrown in a skip. Now don’t get me wrong, the resultant shots in the program, advert or movie will often be quite exquisite (there are super-talented people in the industry), but there must be a better way of disposing of the set once it is no longer useful. There are many people who could use the materials, but unfortunately these days, it is easier (and cheaper) to bin it, rather than have to disassemble it and re-use, donate or sell it.

Aside from the environmental impact, the cost of materials these days is astronomical, so throwing them away also wastes money. This is why so many people these days are doing what is known as ‘skip diving’. This is where you rummage through a skip to find something that is still useful and, well, use it. This includes materials, electrical goods and anything else you may find. This can of course be a dangerous activity as you never really know what is in the skip so I am by no means recommending it, but the environmental benefit is there, even if it is driven by a financial intent.

There are many things we can each do to reduce our carbon footprint, be more economical with the resource we use, both at work and at home. Have a think about what else you could do to minimise what you consume and throw away. I am not a specialist in this field by any means, just someone who cares about the world we live in and the world we will leave for future generations.

Plastic bottles

We all know that plastic is one of the main sources of Pollution on our earth and plastic water bottles are definitely a contributing factor. If just one person drinks 2.5 litres of bottled water per day and gets through approximately 17.5 plastic 1 litre bottles per week that one person is using a minimum of 840 bottles a year. Extrapolate that to all the plastic bottle water drinking people around the globe – that’s a lot of plastic waste. Of course, some of it is being recycled but think of the amount of energy required to recycle this. It is a never-ending, unsustainable cycle.

As well as being an environmental issue, buying bottled water can be a financial burden too.

Assuming per litre bottle costs approximately 60p, one person’s consumption will cost around £504 per year. A family of 4 will be spending over £2,000 a year. If you live in a country where Bottled water is used in kettles or coffee machines as well, then the number of bottles goes up further.

There are countries around the world that are fortunate enough to be able to drink tap water, but that comes with its down sides as the water treatment uses chemicals to clean the water and artificially maintain the required PH level. Although considered safe to drink, people often find the chlorine too strong, particularly in hard water areas. So, despite having access to clean tap water, people may prefer the taste of bottled water.

There is a huge concern that plastic bottled water is causing us more harm than good. Despite the food safe plastic used to bottle water, heating up plastic changes its molecular structure and in turn may potentially leach into the water. No one can be certain how and where the water bottles are being stored before purchasing. Particularly in hot countries, how long has that water bottle been in the sun for before it is presented to you in a refrigerator to quench your thirst?

A practical issue – carrying, storing and disposing of plastic bottles

Some of my bugbears with water bottles, aside from the environmental impact are:

  • Carrying heavy water bottles from shopping trips
  • Finding somewhere to keep them all in your home or tired of seeing the corner of your kitchen floor cluttered with unsightly plastic bottles
  • Recycling bins always full of plastic bottle waste
  • Running out of water because you didn’t have time to shop that day, Yikes!