Report Problem
Translate
For many locals, drinking Louisville pure tap® is an easy choice. It is award-winning water that undergoes rigorous daily testing to make sure it exceeds industry standards and is always safe for your family. Plus, it’s affordable – an adult drinking 80 ounces of water per day will spend only about $0.82 a year when choosing pure tap. But beyond these benefits, the environmental impact of choosing tap water over single-use bottled water may be one of the most important, with an effect that reaches far beyond our individual families and communities.
In the United States, 1,500 plastic water bottles are consumed every second. That’s more than 250,000 bottles in just the amount of time it takes you read this article. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, only 9 to 30 percent of these bottles are successfully recycled. So, what happens to the remaining billions of plastic bottles discarded every year? Many end up in landfills, where they will take over 450 years to breakdown. When they do eventually begin to breakdown, these plastics never really leave our environment. Instead, they break into smaller and smaller pieces called ‘micro-plastics’ – tiny particles that can pollute our soil and water.
Most plastic waste doesn’t even make it to landfills– it ends up in storm drains, rivers, and eventually makes its way to oceans. Miles long ‘trash vortexes’ can be found in all the earth’s major oceans, where currents have collected these non-biodegradable materials in one giant mass, negatively impacting the ocean’s ecosystem and the creatures that call it home. And with the rate of plastic production rising, the volume of plastic materials in the ocean is projected to exceed that of fish by 2050.
So what can our community do to help? Let’s talk about the “Three Rs” – reduce, reuse, and recycle. You hear the most about the third of the Three Rs – Recycling. But as mentioned, recycling is rarely an effective solution in managing our plastic consumption. Certainly, recycling is preferred over throwing plastics into the garbage – or worse, littering – but it is the third “R” for a reason. Reducing your overall plastic consumption by choosing not to purchase single-use plastic items whenever possible and reusing the plastic containers you already have will make the most significant impact on the health of our planet, and on your wallet!
That’s where Louisville Water and pure tap are here to help! Having a safe, reliable, and great-tasting water supply makes it easy for Louisvillians to stay hydrated in an environmentally sustainable and affordable way. The nation’s best water is coming directly from your faucet, making it easy to fill up a reusable container and limit your consumption of single-use plastics. We can even provide our customers with reusable bottles to make it easy.
Here are a few other tips to help you ditch single-use plastic bottles:
- Bring a reusable bottle when you’re on the go! Many Louisville area businesses and venues have bottle-filling stations on site, serving up refreshing pure tap whenever your thirst strikes.
- Planning a road trip? Non-insulated reusable bottles make great ice packs for coolers when frozen, and you can drink them when they thaw!
- Did you know that you can also bring an empty reusable bottle through airport security? Muhammad Ali International Airport has several pure tap hydration stations throughout their terminals, so you can fill up before you hit the skies!
- Finally, make pure tap your beverage of choice and encourage friends and family to do the same. Let’s help save the planet and get #backtothetap!
See more: Show us your pure tap pride and win a t-shirt!
