B is for bottles

B is for Bottles....                                                                  
Billions of plastic bottles......

• It is estimated that  Americans buy about 25 billion single serve plastic water bottles
• about 22 billion (about 8 out of 10 water bottles) are NOT recycled
• “The United States ranks first among countries in soft drink consumption. The per-capita consumption of soft drinks is in excess of 150 quarts per year, or about three quarts per week.”James A Howenstine M.D.     A Physician’s Guide to Natural Health Products That Work  http://fooddemocracy.wordpress.com/2007/11/09/chew-on-this-us-soda-consumption  (We won't even get going on the health impacts of soda!!!!)    
• Oil is used to produce plastic; it takes 1.5 million barrels of oil to make water bottles for Americans
• Plastic does not biodegrade
• The water, soda, and juice bottle are made of polyethylene terephthalate (PET)
• Recycling plastic saves twice as much energy as burning it in an incinerator
• Plastic bottles made of PET can be recycled into many useful things including carpet, fleece, bottles, kayaks, school lunch trays, and much more
•  Only ELEVEN states have bottle bills, but no two are alike
• Only THREE states, California, Hawaii and Maine, include plastic water bottles in their laws for deposits on bottles

I would love it if a national "bottle bill" or "producer responsibility bill" were enacted.  Shifting costs from the government and taxpayers to consumers and producers is what the country needs; if only lobbyists could be stifled and politicians would do the right thing and put a national bill in place.  There would be less litter, less resources used, and energy savings.  

The Container Recycling Institute has put together a handy " bottle bill tool kit" to help anyone interested in getting a bottle bill in their state. 39 more states need to take advantage of the tool kit to get a bottle bill in place, and 8 states need to take a look at the tool kit to get water bottles incorporated into their current bottle deposit bills.    http://toolkit.bottlebill.org/

B is for bottles....and BILL....it's time we had a National Bottle Bill/Producer Responsibility Bill!!! 
http://www.bottlebill.org/

Sources:  http://www.container-recycling.org/facts/plastic/     http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5279230/

Read more: How soda bottle is made - manufacture, making, used, parts, procedure, product, Raw Materials, The Manufacturing Process of soda bottle, Quality Control, Recycling http://www.madehow.com/Volume-1/Soda-Bottle.html#ixzz0pA0NUscJ