Earth Day is a global day of action and advocacy that began in 1970. Now an environmental movement, Earth Day is celebrated by over 1 billion people every year in 193+ countries. From large-scale celebrations to local beach clean-ups to educational efforts, Earth Day has been making a climate change difference for over fifty years. Earth Day 2023 is April 22, and this year, one of the primary initiatives is ending single-use plastic pollution, which here at Discount Filters we are especially aligned with. Reducing single-use plastic usage in our daily lives is a big way we can reduce the overall plastic burden on our planet.
Single-Use Plastic Facts
Single-use water bottles are so ubiquitous in daily life that they can seem like a necessity of modern life. The statistics regarding single-use plastics, though, require us all to reevaluate our single-use plastic consumption:
“Single-use plastics are a glaring example of the problems with throwaway culture. Instead of investing in quality goods that will last, we often prioritize convenience over durability and consideration of long-term impacts. Our reliance on these plastics means we are accumulating waste at a staggering rate. We produce 300 million tons of plastic each year worldwide, half of which is for single-use items. That’s nearly equivalent to the weight of the entire human population.” –Natural Resources Defense Council
Humans use about 1.2 million plastic bottles per minute in total. Approximately 91% of plastic is not recycled.[3] Roughly half of our global annual plastic production is destined for a single-use product.[4] – Earth Day Single-Use Plastics Fact Sheet
Americans purchase about 50 billion water bottles per year, averaging about 13 bottles per month for every person in the U.S.! That means by using a reusable water bottle, you could save an average of 156 plastic bottles annually.[6] – Earth Day Single-Use Plastics Fact Sheet
End Plastic Pollution
There are what feels like endless statistics that support the urgent need to reduce or eliminate single-use plastics in our daily lives—but how can we do it, practically? Making measurable changes to our habits within a culture and marketplace that relies heavily on plastics can seem daunting. Yet, as Desmond Tutu wisely said, “there is only one way to eat an elephant: a bite at a time,” and swapping single-use water bottles for reusable ones is one small bite out of the plastic pollution crisis, so to speak.
If the average rate of single-use water bottles is 13 bottles per month for every person in the US, as cited in the Earth Day Single-Use Plastics Fact Sheet, that’s 156 bottles per year that each of us ordinary people could eliminate. It’s doable!
Get cleaner, clearer water with Discount Filters
If you’re concerned about the quality of water coming from your faucet or fridge, make sure you have a fresh, high-quality water filter plan. If your refrigerator has a water dispenser, you can easily find a fresh replacement filter for it at Discount Filters. Our premium refrigerator water filters use activated carbon filtration to reliably absorb the unwanted impurities in your water and leave the water cleaner and clearer— perfect for filling a reusable water bottle with!
With the single investment of a reusable water bottle, if you don’t already have one, plus a fresh, refrigerator filter, you’re well on your way to saving over 150 single-use plastic water bottles from the local landfill. Let’s do this! It’s a simple but effective way to make a positive impact on the environment in our real lives.
