A zero waste lifestyle is one that dramatically reduces the amount of rubbish that you send to landfill. With the average UK person creating around 500kg of waste each year, any changes that you make can have a significant impact. With that in mind, owning a HydrateM8 water bottle with straw or an insulated water bottle can be a great first purchase for your zero waste journey.
Water Bottle Statistics
In the UK, the average person sends around 117 plastic bottles to landfill each year. By replacing those disposable items with a reusable water bottle, you will be responsible for 117 fewer bottles each year. Your HydrateM8 water bottle should last you for quite a few years, taking the place of hundreds of disposable bottles in its lifetime.
Why Not Just Recycle?
Recycling is a great option if you have no other choice, but unfortunately, the recycling system in the UK is not perfect. Of the possible products that could be recycled, only 45% actually are. This is due to a lot of confusion over what can and can’t be recycled, causing contamination inside the recycling vans, and a lack of demand for recycled plastic at the manufacturing end. While things are slowly getting better, recycling should always be a last resort. Also, a lot of our recycling is transported overseas, which brings its own pollution issues and then is not always recycled in an environmentally friendly way. So, before recycling, we should look at reducing our use or reusing or re-purposing products. Of course, disposable plastic bottles are not considered safe to reuse over and over again, which is why a reusable water bottle is such an important purchase.
How to Make a Water Bottle Part of Your Life
In order for your plastic water bottle to become a useful tool on your path to zero waste, you have to remember to use it. The best way to do this is to take it with you wherever you go. Fill it up first thing in the morning with a beverage of your choice – water is best for hydration but anything that stops you craving convenience drinks is great. Then keep hold of it all day. Whether you are loafing around at home or out and about all day, that water bottle will help to reduce your plastic bottle use. Even if you drink it all, there are lots of places that will fill up your water for free or will happily pour your hot beverage into your stainless steel water bottle.
Another great idea is to purchase five or more water bottles and fill them all up at the beginning of the week. Take the one that you want to use that day with you and leave the others in the fridge so you have one for every day of the week. That way, you can’t blame a lack of time for your decision to purchase a convenience beverage.
