The environment has been drastically affected by waste over the past few decades to the point that it has become a problem. The landfills in the U.S. have continued to grow to enormous size and the rates for recycling have remained dismally lower than one would like. This problem is largely due to the number of plastic bottles and containers that are not properly disposed of every day. The fact that thousands of consumers dispose of these bottles improperly only adds to the problem for the environment and creates more trash than we know what to do with.

In a 2001 report of the WWF (or World Wildlife Fund), there were over 1.5 million tons of plastic distributed for the bottling of 89 billion liters of water that year. This has increased every year since. This staggering amount exacerbates the waste problem by adding to the number of unused plastic bottles that are thrown into landfills and never recycled. Not only are there too many bottles produced and discarded each year, but the amount of energy that is needed to manufacture them is overwhelming. Bottled water companies use a large number of unregulated resources in their production of the billions of bottles, and this has had a serious impact on the environment. It has been suggested by the WWF that bottled water companies use local bottling facilities in an effort to lessen the fuel expenditures for transporting the bottles.

How you can help

There are things that consumers can do to help reduce their impact on the environment. One of the best ways, of course, is to always recycle your plastic bottles and containers, and assure that they are taken to a recycling facility and prepared for future use. Another way is to wash your water bottles out and reuse them. This is a great way to reduce the number of bottles being thrown away improperly, although it is recommended that you only reuse your bottles once due to slow contamination of the water from the bottle over time. Besides all these other good ideas, there is one major way you can have an impact, and that is with a water filtration system.

By using a water filtration system you are not only helping the environment by reducing the disposal of plastic bottles, but you are also helping yourself. Water filtration systems are ideal for homes as well as businesses. They remove as many or more dangerous contaminants than the large-scale industrial purification methods out there. Remember, the large water treatment facilities cannot always control dangerous outbreaks of certain bacteria. The water that the home filtration systems produce is not subject to phthalate contaminants, and the systems can remove cryptosporidium, a chemical that neither the water treatment facilities nor bottled water companies can completely filter out. Tap water is not anywhere close to being clear of contamination. Sickness and even death from certain contaminants are what initially began the bottled water revolution and sparked controversy over harmful chemicals in the tap water used throughout the United States.

Drinking home filtration system water is also very economical and reduces the cost of constantly purchasing bottled water. Although you need to replace your filter for your system every so often, if you added up the cost to replace these compared to how much and how often you actually buy bottled water you would probably be very shocked. Water filters are also more energy efficient since they use no more energy than is already required to propel the water through a home’s plumbing system. They can also circumvent many of the environmental problems that the bottled water industry causes.

Purchasing water filters can also help the environment by putting more money back into the economy instead of into the cost of recycling and cleaning up the mess from improper disposal of bottles. This extra money could help aid in other environmental efforts like helping endangered species, protecting the rain forests and defending other of Earth’s natural habitats.

Water filters are cost-efficient, good for your overall health and safe for the environment, as well. Helping to reduce the waste from unrecycled plastic bottles will allow the environment a chance to clean up and begin to change for the better. Reducing, reusing and recycling are important ways to begin your personal environmental turnaround, but putting a good water filtration system in your home is one of the best ways to make a powerful impact in one move.

Water Filters Fast carries a stunning array of water filters and refrigerator water filters for all of your home and business water filtration needs.