Mostly everyone over a certain age will remember The Graduate - 1967, and the scene where Mr. Maguire approaches Ben Braddock - played by Dustin Hoffman - at Benʼs college graduation party offering him advice. Mr. Maguire leans in to Ben and says, “One word, are you listening? … Plastics … there’s a great future in plastics.”
Mr. Maguire had a point. Fifty-one years ago, the plastic production pendulum was already making it’s lopsided move one way. And it has stayed there, year after year, decade after decade until now, when we’re all starting to realize what a huge mess we’ve all made. We’re all guilty of keeping the pendulum firmly to one side.
Since right after World War II, when plastic production went global, nearly 10-billion tons of plastic have been produced…and most of it is still around. The stuff simply does not break down or bio-degrade. A great documentary called, Addicted to Plastic is worth watching as YOU WILL BE AMAZED at just how much plastic enters and exits our lives EVERY DAY!
Arguably, some plastics have improved our quality of life; plastics in hospitals and medical care, it helps build better insulated homes, cars, cameras, computers and SO much more stuff — and it’s disposable — and that is the problem.
Of all the environmental evils facing us and the effect of plastic on our planet, the single biggest one which totally infuriates me is the problem of plastic pollution and its effects on marine life.
Most of the trash found in our oceans is made up of stuff which floats into waterways from landfills and trash dumps. Too many disposable things are made out of plastic. We simply use and throw away too much!
There’s construction debris, all types of litter coming from every type of facility whether it’s commercial and industrial, garbage also comes from marinas and ports and from ocean going ships and fishing boats as well.
Plastic is polluting the human food chain. EVERY SINGLE OCEAN on our planet hosts a floating garbage patch. The most famous is the Pacific Ocean Gyre, larger than the state of Texas.
Marine life everywhere is ingesting bits of plastic. Often times, that plastic carries contaminants along with it as it makes its way along ocean currents. That toxic soup is dinner for fish and sea mammals, and sea reptiles.
Disney did its part to raise awareness with its movie, Happy Feet. One character is the self-proclaimed leader of the penguins. He wears the “Sacred Talisman”, actually a plastic six-pack ring caught around his neck until the ring begins to literally choke the life out of him. Subtle but dead on!
Another valuable example of how we can raise awareness within our youth is now coming from Sarah Kraus. In 2010, Sarah launched a company called S’well with a mission to rid the world of plastic bottles. This week, S’well donated more than…ready?...320-thousand reusable bottles to high school students in New York City! The BRING IT campaign was launched with the New York City Department of Sustainability to give students a better option than buying water in disposable bottles.
As a company at PUR2o, we strive to teach that health & wellness go hand in hand with sustainability. We applaud Disney and S’Well for making some pretty big strides to educate future generations about the scourge of single use plastic bottles on our environment and even on our bodies.
Along with changing our own habits, which, can seem an impossible task to achieve globally, there are other evil forces…yes, I will call them evil forces … which make the task of reducing plastic even more daunting.
I’m talking about the plastic industry. Together with chemical companies, it spends millions of dollars and more every year to convince policy makers that in order to stem the awful tide of plastic pollution, there need to be more anti-litter campaigns so that people everywhere learn to recycle and properly dispose of plastic.
A solid idea to be sure, but that’s like putting a Band-Aid on a gushing wound. Less than 10% of plastic is recycled.
A big chunk of the responsibility ought to lie with the plastic manufacturers, who continue to churn out more and more disposable, unsustainable packaging.
What can we do about it? Sometimes I think, is it worth it? What kind of difference do I make alone, when I walk down my meager recycling bin once a week? But it doesn’t matter, because it has to start somewhere. One of the reasons we started PUR2o was to be a better solution to the environment.
By installing an at-home or in-business water filtration system like PUR2o, we are able to reduce the amount of plastic water bottles we dispose of, and we can improve the water quality brought into homes and families. By increasing the consumption of Alkaline water, I believe are able to promote healthy living, reduce disease, reduce plastic waste and decrease the reliance we have on prescription medications that will come back at us in our water.
Does it make you ask, what am I doing for my planet?
About PUR2o
We are striving to provide as many people as possible with filtered, purified, naturally alkaline and ionized water for drinking and cooking straight from the tap, for three reasons. We care about the health of YOU, the health of our PLANET and the health of your POCKET!
THE HEALTH OF YOU
Our goal is to provide as many people as possible with pure, crystal clear, safe & healthy water.
PUR2o Alkaline water is shown to benefit: Overall health and energy, weight management, muscle stimulation, brain power, digestive system, mood, body temperature, youthfulness, complexion, lifespan, and boosting your immune system.
THE HEALTH OF OUR PLANET
We are also committed to creating a greater awareness of how plastic and plastic bottles are polluting our planet and our bodies by providing the best water out of your tap, eliminating the amount of plastic we dispose of and how much water we consume out of plastic bottles.
THE HEALTH OF YOUR POCKET
Aside from all the health benefits of Alkaline Water, you save a tremendous amount of money with our systems! Did you know?…. If you drink eight glasses of water each day, it will cost approximately $55 per year; vs $1,700 if you were to drink the same amount of bottled water instead. The PUR2o system pays for its self in only one year by one persons water consumption.