Topic Revelation Statement: So today, I will shock you with the devastating truth behind the use of plastic water bottles.

Transcription

1 INTRODUCTION Attention Getter: I have always dreamed of an exotic vacation on an island, and while I was looking up a good location to spend my summer at, I came across this island in the Pacific Ocean between California and Hawaii. Open breeze, dazzling sun beaming down, full of colors and miles of unobstructed view. And the most astonishing fact, no man has ever walked on that island. This island is 9 million square miles on area which is approximately twice the size of Texas that makes it the largest island on the planet. But there are a few things missing from this island, we don t smell orchids, instead there is a rotting smell of dead fish in the air. And instead of hot stuffy sand plane, there is plastic, just plastic. This is not a gift of nature if that is what you are thinking; it is a man-made disaster. This is the plastic island. Topic Revelation Statement: So today, I will shock you with the devastating truth behind the use of plastic water bottles. Significance Statement: This water bottle is considered almost a standard of water quality in today s society. Business Insider published on Oct 27 th 2011 states that Americans use more bottled water than any other nation, adding an astonishing 50 billion bottles per year to the problem. In order to make these bottles the manufacturers use 17 million barrels of crude oil, that s enough to keep a million cars going for a year. Besides such a waste of resources, all the plastic used in bottled water is a great threat to the environment. Preview: First we will talk about the problems with using plastic water bottles. Next we will discuss why we face these problems. Finally we will talk about a few possible solutions. BODY Transition: Let s begin with the issues and concerns related to the use of plastic bottles. Main Point 1: The problems associated with plastic bottle use are three folds. A. First is the economic harm. a. Let s calculate the actual cost of bottled water. b. Assuming that we drink those 8 glasses of water a day The New York Times published on July 15 th 2007 claims that those eight glasses would cost us less than 50 cents a year if we use the tap water. c. The article further states that it would cost us over 2,900 times, what we should actually pay for. i. It is like buying a 12,000 dollar sandwich. B. Next problem is the amount of resources used: a. According to ABC news report on July 13 th 2011, if we fill this plastic bottle 1/3 with oil, that is how much oil it takes to make one bottle. b. And it takes three bottles of water to make and distribute one plastic water bottle. C. The problem is not when this bottle is full; the problem is the empty bottle which leads us to the final problem the environmental issues. a. According to Charleston Gazette published on Dec 17 th 2007, health advocates don t recommend reusing disposable plastic bottles as they can leach chemicals which can be a serious threat to human health. b. Bottled water produces up to 1.5 million tons of plastic waste per year.

2 c. We use oil for plastic, oil for transportation, oil for refrigeration and all this effort to make our regular tap water look fancy and a false belief of safer water practically becomes a ton of waste, plastic waste. i. This waste is either buried in landfills causing land pollution. ii. Dumped in the ocean causing water pollution and threatening marine life. iii. And some of it is disposed, releasing toxic gases in the environment. iv. And this is one of the main causes for global warming. d. So, we pay more than just money for bottled water. Transition: Now we know the problems related to plastic used in water bottles, let s see what causes these problems. Main Point 2: So, how does this small, transparent, innocent looking bottle cause so much trouble? A. One of the main causes is the excess production. a. The previously cited business insider article states that the bottled water market is growing at a 12% growth rate annually and the world is spending over $100 billion over bottled water a year. b. One of the reasons why we buy bottled water in such quantity is because we think it is healthier, or safer. i. However LA times published on July 17 th 2006 states that big-city tap water cannot contain coliform bacteria and is sometimes tested over 100 times a month, whereas the bottled water is tested only once a week. ii. And while public water reports their test results, none of the bottled water test results are ever made public. What are they trying to hide? iii. According to ABC news report on July 9 th 2009, 45% of the bottled water comes from municipal water supplies, some of it is further filtered and some is not. iv. And BioMedCentral public health vol9 published in 2009 states, bottled water has no additional health benefits; instead there were concerns between the plastic bottle itself and cancer. B. Second main cause is that only a small percentage of bottles produced are recycled. a. According to the survey conducted in this class on May 28 th 2013, only 14 percent of us would make an effort to look for a recycling bin to throw an empty recyclable plastic bottle. b. Everybody here is aware of the importance of recycling, but only a handful that really cares. c. We face this serious environmental pollution because all this plastic is not recycled. d. If this bottle is not recycled and buried in a landfill, and we dig it out after 500 years, it would look exactly the same, as it takes over 700 years for plastic to decompose. i. So the majority of plastic bottles ever produced still exist out there somewhere.

3 C. The excess use and low recycling rate of disposable plastic is causing massive land, water and air pollution, draining our finite natural resources and wrecking our economy at the same time. Transition: Now that we know the problems and their causes, let s explore some possible solutions. But before I talk about the solutions, let s hear from the audience, what can be an effective solution to this problem? Main Point 3: There are only two possible solutions for this problem. A. One, we can really commit to recycling more. a. This will cost us more resources and energy but it will help reduce the effects of plastic. b. It has been said a million times to recycle more, but according to nationalgeographic.com last accessed on June 4 th 2013 less than 17% plastic produced gets recycled, and according to ABC news report on July 27 th 2007 less than 25% of the plastic produced makes it to a recycling bin. i. 17% or 25% numbers may vary, but either way it is a very small number that gets recycled. c. Even at a 100% recycling rate, it will still be just a break even for the current situation. d. Recycling would help the cause, but it is not a perfect solution. e. We have to think beyond a temporary solution. B. I say we reduce our use of bottled water, and substitute it with reusable plastic vessels like so. a. According to tlc.howstuffworks.com last accessed on June 4 th 2013 a family of 4 would consume 2 gallons a day which would cost you over $3100 per year, whereas 19 water filters a year, 8 reusable plastic vessels, 1 pitcher and tap water for an entire year would all cost only $ b. By reducing our plastic bottled water use, we would have only a fraction of the environmental issues that we face today which is then controllable by recycling. c. This is a long-term solution. We develop and promote alternatives which don t destroy the environment. d. And we can actually make this world a better place for us and for our future generations. CONCLUSION: Review Topic: Today we talked about the devastating effects of the plastic used in bottled water. Review Main Points: First we talked about the problems caused by the plastic used in bottled water. Next we looked at the causes of these problems. Finally we discussed some possible solutions. Lasting Thought: We can choose to be careless and add more surface area to the Plastic Island, or be green-minded citizens and keep green in the environment, and in our wallets. Final Call to Action: Don t just recycle, Recycle and reduce.

4 Work Cited Eric Goldschein,. 15 Outrageous Facts About The Bottled Water Industry.. business insider (27 October 2011). Web. 4 June bottled- water- industry ?op=1 Bill Marsh,. A Battle Between the Bottle and the Faucet.. The New York Times (15 July 2007). Web. 4 June Courtney Hutchison,. Waterlogged America.. ABC News (13 July 2011). Web. 4 June america- drink/story?id= #.ua1p80cg13l Reusing Plastic Bottles: Healthy or Unhealthy The Charleston Gazette (17 December 2007). Web. 4 June =12611 Sally Squires,. The Bottle vs. Tap Debate Los Angeles Times (17 July 2006). Web. 4 June =12611 Water Debate: Bottled vs. Tap ABC News (09 July 2009),. Web. 4 June BMC Public Health. 2009, Vol. 9, p p. Web. 4 June b15-4f41- b6c6-4886fe6ac55e%40sessionmgr115&vid=1&hid=123&bdata=jnnpdgu9zwhvc3qtbgl2zszzy29wz T1zaXRl#db=aph&AN= Catherine Clarke Fox,. Bottled or From the Tap?. National Geographic Society. Web. 4 June bottle- pollution/ Bottled Water, Wasted Energy? ABC News (27 July 2007),. Web. 4 June Colleen Cancio,. How Much Money Can I Save With A Water Filter? Discovery Communications, LLC. Web. 4 June money- with- water- filter1.htm

5 Mohsin Moosa,. Plastic Water Bottles. Survey. 28 May 2013