The 10 most 'plastic' excuses 🙈 + my FIRST PRINTABLE!

In my office pantry, there is a whole cupboard of Evian bottled water stacked full, right next to a water machine. I guess one of the perks of working in such a generous French company means that we are provided with these luxurious bottled water for free. 
 

Read on to see:

10 ridiculous bullshit how people justify drinking from bottled water
+
2 tips
+
1 (and my first) PRINTABLE on various plastic types and their pros and cons!!!

Bring on the bullshit!

Later, I learnt that in 1.5 week, the office consumed a total of 864 bottles. What pisses me off is that I see people grabbing 4-5 bottles back to their seat every morning. What the fuck? I was discussing with another colleague and was ‘inspired’ to keep a record of what kind of ridiculous reasons we’ve heard how people justify using bottled water!

Here are the 10 most ridiculous excuses I’ve heard.
(Please vote for your favourite one in the comment section!)

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(1) Bottled water contains minerals, while there’s absolutely nothing in boiled water! 

Well, there is... water? And to be honest,

• are minerals what you *really* have in mind when you take that bottle?
• Is bottled mineral water the *only source* of these minerals?
• Are these minerals crucial for your survival? If yes, then I guess half of the world’s population would have died because they can’t enjoy these minerals from bottled mineral water! 

(2) I don’t want to take away business from the bottled water companies!

Wow, how generous. But if you don’t drink from the tap / water machine, you’re also taking away business of the water department.

(3) Water bottles are recyclable.

You are throwing them into the bin... You know the plastic bottles won’t have legs on their own and walk from landfills to recycle stations, right?

(4) I will recycle the water bottles.

You're still creating waste.

(5) There is a weird taste in the water machine in the office.

If it bothers you, perhaps you can try bringing your own water to work if that’s okay for your fine palate.

(6) My seat is too far away from the water machine.

I am sorry that your legs are incapable of walking.

(7) I am too busy to refill my glass. I am that busy.

You should reconsider working in a company that makes you so busy that you can’t even have the time to probably drink water. Oh, do they give you time to go to the washroom?

(8) I don’t want to wash my glass. Too troublesome.

Please wake up and come back to the real world.

(9) Everybody does that.

You are an adult, please.

(10) I don’t care.

Bye.

what next?

But just as you think you are doing the right thing by reusing those one-off plastic bottles, or using a reusable plastic water bottle, THINK AGAIN.

1.  DON'T REUSE one-off plastic bottles

I’m no microbiologist and I wish I have the time to look into it, but I don’t. So I’m putting these out here for you to judge whether you want to do anything different:

• The ridges and tiny cracks in plastic bottles is a breeding ground for bacteria. ([1] & [4])

• When we drink from the bottle, we migrate bacteria from our mouth to the bottle. Contamination will cause bacterial and fungal growth in the water while kept in storage. [2]
• Washing with a mild soap can keep bacteria at bay but frequent usage and washing will cause the breakdown of plastic especially if washed at high temperature. [1]

Most of non-reusable water bottles are Plastic #1.
“Bottles made of #1 are not durable enough to withstand use, cleaning and reuse without losing their integrity. The compelling issue with these bottles is not whether they leach unwanted chemicals into the water, but that bacteria cannot be easily washed out of them. Long storage time on the shelf or in a warm garage or trunk does increase the likelihood of bacterial growth and may cause antimony to leach from the plastic.” [3]

2. Be smart to select REUSABLE plastic bottles.

• Choosing the right plastics. [3] & [5]
• Wash them well. If we don’t wash them or reuse them despite ‘visual signs of wear and tear’, bacteria might still settle and grow inside. [4]
• Choose one that is easy to wash. Not sure how reliable this study by “TreadmillReviews.net” is, but they mentioned a study on the different types of reusable water bottles according to their mouth opening type (slide-top, squeeze top, and straw-top). Slide-top is the worse, whereas straw-top is ‘cleanest’. However in my opinion it’s more difficult to wash a straw-top bottle...
   

3. Other alternatives:

Glass, Stainless Steel ones. Always wash them frequently.

If you insist on using a plastic bottle...

Here's a printable to help you select plastics!

• I have shaded major limitations of each plastic - as you can see, seems #2 is the best.
• Reusability depends on your purpose, so it really is hard to say. For instance, #2 plastic shampoo bottle is reusable, but if you plan to put water and drink from it, then no, it's not reusable.
• Unless otherwise specified, sources are from Wikipedia, [3] & [5] listed at the end of this blogpost. For the remaining points, the sources are hyperlinked within the printable.

Or click here to download (with hyperlinked sources)!

Source to my post content (not sources in infographic):

[1] https://www.thesun.co.uk/living/1466504/this-is-why-you-should-never-refill-your-plastic-water-bottle-even-if-you-wash-it/

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reuse_of_bottles

[3] https://www.banthebottle.net/articles/battle-of-the-reusable-bottles-plastic-vs-aluminum-vs-stainless-steel/

[4] https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/08/14/reuse-plastic-water-bottle_n_5671681.html

[5] http://learn.eartheasy.com/2012/05/plastics-by-the-numbers/  

[6] https://www.mirror.co.uk/lifestyle/health/refilling-your-water-bottle-more-8607002